Evil Kitty & Susan, our two indoor / outdoor cats, go in and out during the day (and in, and out, and in, and out, and……) but we bring them inside at night to keep them safe from any nighttime predators. Paul leaves for work before daybreak and when he was bringing in wood for the stove this morning, Evil Kitty scooted out the door. Nothing really to worry about as it’s starting to get light out and the fact that it was darn cold out this morning; meaning that she soon would be scratching and meowing at the door to come in and thaw out by the stove.
About twenty minutes later I hear the meowing & pawing at the door. Rhiannon is still sleeping, so the lights are out so I quietly shuffle through the maze of Duplo building blocks (big Lego toys) to the back door to let Evil Kitty inside.
But my head is still foggy from early morning and forget one of the cardinal rules of letting the cats inside. So I open the door for her, feel her brush past my leg & quickly shut the door. A few minutes later I hear weird “mah….mah…mew….mah…mew” kitty noises coming from underneath the kitchen table. Thinking that she may be hurt (I’m a worry-wart when it comes to my outdoor critters), I flip on the lights and look under the kitchen table to find a small bird stuffed in Evil Kitty’s mouth. So I quickly extricate the ruffled and wet bird from the jaws of death (much to the cat’s dismay) give it a quick once-over to determine that it is still alive, then look around for a something to put it in while it recuperates. You’d think that by now, after having several birds enter our home via Evil Kitty’s maw, that I would have a dedicated container or cage for such incidents. But no. Hence the canning pot.
So, what's cook'n Ma?
But wait, it gets better (worse?). I also forget the second cardinal rule of letting the cats in if first rule is broken (the first one being never let cats in before checking to see if they have anything in their mouth). After rescuing critters from jaws-of-death, and after securing critter into safe container, do not open lid to said container just to “check-up” on critter that will, undoubtedly jump or fly out once lid is lifted.
So now Evil Kitty, Susan and even Moonshine (who somehow managed to drag her bulk out from under the woodstove) are running around the kitchen trying to catch the bird. So for the second time in less than a half-hour, I extricate the bird from Evil Kitty’s mouth and place bird back into the “safety” of the pot. By now Rhiannon is awake and is seemingly quite amused with all the ruckus going on in the kitchen given her almost hysterical giggling.
Return bird back to the pot. Place pot on countertop. Turn around to get teapot that has been whistling for the past five minutes. Look over to pot just in time to see Rhiannon lifting the lid off. Bird is out of the pot flying around again. Bird smacks into window. Grab bird before cats or dog get it. Put semi-conscience bird back into pot & put pot in utility room.
Not-so-happy Birdie. I think it's a Junco.
I gave the bird another half hour of peace, then took pot out of the utility room (without lifting lid) and to the front yard. Lift lid, bird looks at me for an instant & flies to nearest tree, probably swearing at me the entire time.
All this before 8:30 in the morning. I need a nap.
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