Cats and Supplemental Dining
/This last Sunday morning I was lying half asleep in bed when our cat, Autumn, bumped open the door and jumped up onto our bed. She came over, rubbed her head against mine, kneaded my neck with her claws and settled down comfortably on my chest.
Coincidentally, about the same time a fly started buzzing around between the curtain and window behind our bed. Autumn's head shot up and looked around at the window. She slowly got up and climbed behind the curtain. We heard the fly buzz followed by some bumping, a minute of quiet, some more buzzing, some more bumping around, and then silence. A minute later Autumn emerged from between the curtains, walked down the length of the bed, jumped off and walked out the door. As soon as she left, I parted the curtains and looked for the fly. I couldn't find any fly.
It's nice to know our cat can supplement her diet of dried cat food with fly appetizers. Since she is an indoor/outdoor cat we know she also catches mice and occasionally a bird. I was a dog person and still am, but our previous cat and Autumn have captured my heart. Not only do they have great personalities, but they have a certain practical appeal in that they help keep the mice and rat population under control.
A rental I have managed was built in a beautiful forest setting. A developer came in and bought the adjacent property, cleared out the trees, and built about 10 houses. The tenants living in the house at that time said they saw waves of mice head toward the house and the remaining forest. I asked them what happened to the mice and they said they trapped a few and the cat got the rest. Needless to say, the cat looked well fed. Those tenants moved out and some new tenants moved in who were allergic to cats. Since they moved, in I have had the pest control people out multiple times to bait and trap mice. Some people don't like cats for various reasons, but in certain situations they can be very useful and cost effective in keeping the rodent population under control and out of your house.