Thursday, May 05, 2011

What were we thinking?


Well, we obviously were not thinking. At least not clearly.

Our simple solution to the cat bothering me all day came to an inglorious end.

We should have remembered that the main reason why we removed the our home-made doggy door contraption out of the bottom pane of the storm door at the back of the house about 5 years ago was that Squeaker would periodically bring in live animals that she had caught and then let them go.

Once we had to unhook our propane heater and cart it outside for a few days because a rat she brought in had climbed up inside of it.

And then there was the chipmunk who happily lived with us for about a week, gorging itself on sunflowers seeds that I kept in a bucket, before we figured out a way to catch it unharmed and release it outside.

So, why were we so surprised when the cat trotted in the back door a couple of days ago and dropped a very live vole behind my chair? I had it momentarily cornered in a corner, but before I could grab it, it bolted and disappeared. We had visions of it dying and stinking up the house – that has also happened before.

We laid out glue traps and it got stuck on one late last night. So the vole-in-the-house problem is solved.

And the storm door is now firmly shut, and I am getting more exercise.


5 comments:

Have Myelin? said...

I've been lost in bloggy land... glad I found your blog again.

Your everyday stories make me smile.

I am trying to get some exercise too BUT walks tend to make me cry. Getting better...

Love the vole story!

Just Stuff From a Boomer said...

Boy, you lived my fear. I have had a cat that brought animal parts to the door and left the offering, but thank goodness I didn't have a door.

What I do have is a screendoor that doesn't fit tight enough to keep out the little green lizards we have down here. I've had one run inside that I managed to get trapped and removed. Tis the season again...

Lo said...

To anyone with the problem of gifts the cat dragged in....here's a tip. It is not very costly to pick up a long handled net....either a fishing net or a pool skimming net....whatever. Kept it in a closet. You will find it comes in handy more often than you'd believe. I used mine recently to catch a hummingbird who flew in my house and was bashing its brains out on the skylight trying to get out.

Makes you feel virtuous too....I hate glue traps...they are inhumane.

S.M. Elliott said...

Never a good thing when the pets bring in more pets. ;D

Leilani Schuck Weatherington said...

Lo... You are absolutely correct -- glue traps are horrible and I hate them--except sometimes there is no other choice (this rodent was too big for a mousetrap). It is possible to free a creature stuck on a glue trap by using cooking oil.