Wednesday 5 December 2007

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE



We have two cats living with us in the house. There is Mitsi the female stalker hunter and big heavyweight Katzi. Is he hunting, too? I am not sure about that. During daytime, when he is not sleeping, he follows my wife and gives her those tragic looks of total love.

Mice are aplenty here. Must be. They are basic fare for barn-owls, called white lady in French, for the buzzards, other owls of all kind and naturally for the dozens of village cats that are generally kept but not fed by the local farmers.

If God has created mice he must have done so just to supply food to scores of other more fortunate animals. Thanks therefore for not having been created on that precise part of the food chain. Thank you.

Well, that's not the subject but it might be useful to give it some thought.

So, with our two predators over here, mice don't have a chance. Nearly every morning I find some dead and/or mutilated corpses on the premises.

Unfortunately, the situation changes when it rains at night. Cats don't like water . Without being sure, I think rain does not keep them from hunting but they prefer to have dinner in dry places, meaning here in this house. And as everybody knows, cats like to play, fooling around with the dinner prior to eating it.

Next morning of a rainy day, I find Katzi and Mitsi sitting in front of a bookshelf or another piece of furniture. Miaw, miaow miaow or mie, mie, mie, meaning mousy has escaped from the playground and is now in hiding.

At this precise moment, my wife swings into action. She is a great hunter, too. Mousy has no chance. As a indoor hunter, she does not carry a gun but but a dish towel plus sometimes a coat hanger or a broom stick. Boum, the towel zeros in on the little beast and some seconds later it is wrapped in and carried out of the house. Second chance for the mouse to go on living a mousy life. Or get caught again by our two home predators.

Katzi and Mitsi are mere onlookers at that stage. For them, towel hunting is far too fast. The mouse is already back to nature for a considerable time and our cats are still prowling in front of the book shelf looking for the vanished mouse.

As to me, I am just onlooker. Like any male lion (I am born in August) I don't hunt but get a share of the food.

10 comments:

  1. Hello Georg,

    thank you for your comment on my blog. Yes, PG Wodehouse is one of my favourite humourous writers.

    I have read a bit of your blog and enjoyed it. Thank you for your work!

    God bless,

    Gordon

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  2. I was relieved to hear to hear, after being in dreaded suspense for a short while, that your wife gives the mouse another shot at life. For a brief moment I thought she was the third cat in the house! Is she?!

    Georg, you write beautifully, and your sense of humour is terrific. May be you should write to publish.

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  3. Bonjour Vinod,

    Thanks for this very flattering comment on my writing.

    However, to tell the truth, I am only good for short texts and my sens of humour is certainly not appreciated by everybody.

    No, my wife is more of the life preserving kind. Your question makes me think you asked as a Hindu
    or even a Jain. As far as I know neither H. nor J. eat animals and don't wish to destroy life.

    As to hunting in general, I loath it. One of these days I'll write something truly venomous about hunters.

    Cheers
    Georg

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  4. No, I did not ask as a "Hindu". Jains do not touch meat at all. For Hindus, there is no blanket ban. Some sects are vegetarian, though. I was a voracious meat-eater till 1998, when the 'vibrations' generated by reiki made me develop a certain revulsion to its consumption.

    Yet, despite all these years, occasionally I do experience a certain amount of salivating when I see or smell cooked meat!

    Of course, now when people ask me as to whether I enjoy sea food, for example, I tell them that what is food for them are living beings for me.

    I especially find it hilarious that some of those who protest the loudest about cruelty to animals, enjoy eating them the most!

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  5. re: Patrick O'Brian---


    my understanding was that this book had been published during his lifetime but had just been out of print for years. The recent re-releases of O'Brian's ( including the Catalans and Joseph Banks ) have not been at all disappointing. In fact, even the fragmented conclusion to the Aubrey-Maturin canon ( entitled 21 by the fans and the Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey by the publishers ) was a welcome recess from other fiction.

    If you are just on the tenth of the O'Brian stories during an inaugural read, then by all means do not venture anywhere else.

    I have read the 20 volume canon more than once and they comprise by far the best historical series I have ever read.


    You will find, however, and this is a sweet yet depressing caveat, that once you conclude the first round of O'Brian readings, your appetite for more will be insatiable. Thus, the tempting perusal of other works reissued as the Road to Samarcand was recently .

    :)

    Have fun reading !

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  6. i don't like cats they poo to much their kinda weird but i guess they are pretty cool

    sebouh

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  7. come on cats are dumb

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  8. come on cats are dumb

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  9. Hey Sebouh,

    Right, cats are dumb but they look good, they purr and they catch mice.
    Furthermore, they are able to fall asleep at a moments' notice. All things neither you nor me are able to achieve.

    Cheers Lion Hunter
    Georg

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  10. okay but cats are very cute



    sebouh

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