to catch a chipmunk

I'm trying to get better about posting here; however, I don't have much motivation lately.  I figured I would tell a funny story--something that happened this week--and make it easy on myself.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a lot of cats. Like, A LOT--11 at the moment. Yes, 11. Double digits. Having 11 cats means my house is sometimes a circus. The cats chase each other, play together (usually), sometimes fight, crowd us out in bed and hog the covers, step on my boob, cry for their dinner two hours early, and do various other cat things. (One of my favorites is when they sit and stare at the ceiling for no apparent reason. I know they probably hear a critter in the attic; however, my house was built in 1735 so I tend to wonder if they're seeing a ghost. Freaks me out.)  Sometimes they leave me all-natural, homemade "gifts" that I sometimes don't see until I've stepped in them, which is always fun. And occasionally the one indoor/outdoor cat I have, Lou (above), brings me outside "gifts." These "gifts" are typically dead mice, dead birds, and once a dead chipmunk. Key word here is "dead." He leaves them on the door step to show me what a good hunter he is and how proud he is of his kill.

Earlier this week I was getting ready for work–getting ready to step into the shower, actually–and Lou was crying to come in the house. He was using his weird cry, which means, “Ma! I caught this cute, fuzzy animal and killed it for you! Come look!!” When I hear that cry, I know to check and make sure it’s dead and laying on the patio, and not in his mouth and alive. That was followed by normal cries, so I didn’t check like I usually do. Well, I let him in and he’s got a live chipmunk in his mouth. He trotted in like he’s all that and a bag of chips. The other cats were VERY interested. 

(Now, before I go on, keep in mind that I was just getting into the shower, which means I was naked. Seeing what was about to happen, I panicked for a second and then threw on a sweatshirt and underwear. For some reason, I couldn't find my pajama pants.)

Lou proceeds to drop the chipmunk on the floor in front of me. It promptly plays dead for a few seconds while the others look on--chipmunks are smart like that. Then it gets up and runs around the house, starting with the living room.  So there’s a chipmunk running around with no less than six cats chasing it. Bailey (above) catches it and runs off in another direction and the others follow. Bailey drops the chipmunk in the den and they all race to get it, but Bailey is too fast--there's no way he's giving up his prize. So Bailey gets it again and runs into the family room. Luckily the family room has a door and  I thought to close it so at least the situation is contained in one room. I then had to figure out how to get the chipmunk out of the house without getting bit (those things have jaws like a vise and very sharp teeth!). It then occurred to me to throw a towel over him and the chipmunk.  So I grabbed a bath towel and flung it over Bailey, who still has the chipmunk by the tail, then picked them both up and brought them outside on the back stair. (Yes, in nothing but a sweatshirt and underwear. Luckily it was the back stairs and the neighbors aren't too close.) Since Bailey is an indoor-only cat I couldn’t just put him outside. He wouldn’t let go of the chipmunk, so I did the only thing I could think of--I shook him until he dropped the chipmunk…and then the chipmunk grabbed on to the towel! Rather than put the towel on the ground like a normal person would have, I started shaking the towel until it let go and ran away. I tossed Bailey back in the house and I got on with taking a shower.

Took me just a few minutes to contain the situation. I got on with my shower and got to work on time. :)

Wondering what other live "gifts" I've received from various cats over the years, and which made it into the house?  Mice, birds, and a live snake. Yes, a snake! And now a live chipmunk. I'm not sure what was more fun, though:  the live bird that flew around the house while multiple cats chased it, jumped in the windows, trashing the blinds and knocking stuff over, eventually catching it and giving it a bath (nope, they didn't kill it!), or this chipmunk.

Best ever dead "gift"? A dead catfish from the pond behind my old house. It was delivered to my front door and was sitting on the Welcome mat.