Thursday, June 07, 2007

cat and mouse

"The Great Hunter" lives in my house, and is otherwise known as "Sammy" or "Sammy Sosa" or "Sammy Kitty." For the last several days, I have found him sitting smack in the middle of my kitchen, haunches not quite on the floor, a slight tail tic going (just at the tip), and eyes unwaveringly set on the space under my oven.
Ugh.

So this morning, the kids and I found him in his ready position again, and I grabbed a flashlight to check it out. Unfortunately, there was too much dog hair (yuck) under the oven to get a good look. So I pulled out the vacuum cleaner to give it a quick cleaning. (I am not so swift until my 3rd cup of coffee has been completed, no?).

So with the kids happily eating their waffles over at the table, I stuck the hose under the oven and turned it on. After just a few seconds, I heard and felt a small "thump." And thus commenced the shrieking and the leaping and the burying of the head in the sofa (which is WAY across the room). I ordered the kids to look under the oven to see if the bottle tops I'd spied earlier were still there. (yup.)

Ick. Ick. Ick.

I pulled out the vacuum filter and Q thought the, um (let me find the correct and PC way to say this)...stain...on the bag was quite telling. I steeled myself and promptly carried it to the garbage cans outside. No, I did not look inside of the bag. Not even almost.

So far, Sammy has been sleeping on his favorite spot on the back of the couch all day, at peace once again.

7 comments:

J said...

Our Seymour (17!) became a mouser for the first time in his long life just four years ago - after a few weeks on the "New Dog in the House Diet." He was suddenly agile for the first time in a long time.

He's brought us many gifts, in various forms of animation. Most recently was the vole he deposited on our bed as a parting gift the morning we left on a our ski vacation in February.

An unfortunate part of living in the 'burbs is the occasional critter. Sometimes we seem to have more than our share - some of which we attribute to the poor maintenance by the previous owner. We're still dealing with their shortcuts and ignorance. Ugh.

Jodie said...

I'm certain this was quite traumatic for you, especially early in the morning, but I am LMAO! Some day you'll look back and find it funny, too.

That's some suction you got there!

I have a bagless vacuum, so I'm not sure how I would have handled this had it happened to me.

Anonymous said...

Ole Sammy seems to not care how the rodent got disposed of, did he? I just love the way that you narrate, J.... Makes me laugh or cry every single time.

trouble.

Anonymous said...

That is FUNNY. Lucky did the same to us a couple of weeks ago, except he wouldn't step on the floor, just lept from furniture to furniture. Seems we had a bad flea infestation in the carpet and he knew it before we did! He's back on the floor now!

Kelly Senf said...

Our cats let us know anytime a snake escapes. It's better than finding one wrapped around the closet rod as you take out a pair of pants. That's a creepy feeling also. However, it's sad to lose a pet snake from puncture wounds of a cat's claw, too.

Ruthie said...

So.... what was it? A mouse? A rat? A vole? An errant canary?

The suspense is killing me.

Anonymous said...

ROFLMAO! That's awesome! What a way to go. Wonder what the last thought in its little head was? I see a tunnel...a long dark...ZIP!

Tra, I literally shuddered when I read your comment about the snake on the clothes hanger. Have mercy. I would flip out.