He IS a Killer

It turns out that Cosmo the kitty really is a killer, and I can’t be more excited.

I mentioned in this blog before that Cosmo was able to hunt and catch the mice in our house, but he seemed to be the type of cat who liked to torment and play with his finds rather than just killing them.

But this morning I went to the bathroom and there was a mouse – dead – on the floor beside the toilet.

I am lucky I didn’t step on it.

I am also lucky Cosmo didn’t decide to drop the dead mouse on me while I was a sleeping.

Way to go, killer.

He’s Not A Killer, Unfortunately

There was some action at our house yesterday.

My son was playing playdough while I was getting ready for work. I looked down and Cosmo, the cat, was running through my guy’s bedroom. After asking Cosmo what was up, I realized he was chasing a mouse.

I calmly picked my son up and put him on the chair and joined him there as Cosmo chased the mouse around my son’s desk, under the chair, down the hallway and into our bags I set at the door.

My guy wanted to see the mouse. I wanted to make sure the mouse wasn’t in my work bag. I told Cosmo to get the mouse, not to play with it but kill it.

The mouse ran out, through the banister and into our couch.

Great.

I pulled off one of the cushions and the mouse ran to the next one. I told Cosmo to be ready as I lifted off the second cushion and the mouse ran under the stairs and I can only assume down the stairs and into the basement.

Damn.

Our cat – the chaser and torturer of mice. (The first time this happened, the mouse was hurt. I have never heard a cry like that. I could hear it outside. It was awful.)

I told Cosmo that I expected to see a dead mouse when I got home, preferable sitting in the hallway and not in my shoe.

Sadly that didn’t happen.

Mouse traps are next.

Oh Yes, I Remember Now

Saturday night I broke many of my own rules. I went outside after putting the baby to bed and I went out of my house wearing only shorts, a T-shirt and sandals.

That will learn you.





Praise to Cosmo
On a non-itchy note, our four-month-old kitten got lots of praise when we got home from the grocery store Saturday morning.

Cosmo caught – and killed – his first mouse.

Way to go, Cosmo.

Mousecapades

There are people in this world who have not had the pleasure of co-existing with mice.

A couple years ago, mice made an appearance at our office. It makes sense; if I was a mouse, I would find hanging out in a newspaper office where there is no shortage of food and lots of nest-building materials, ideal.

One co-worker asked another if what was on her desk were mouse droppings and when confirmed, most people were freaked out that they were sharing their work surfaces with a mouse.

Then one day, the quiet in the office was broken by a shriek and the sight of JL jumping from her desk and screaming that a mouse ran across her toes.

While JL’s side of the room was erupted by people fleeing from their desks, NN, who lives in an old house in the city and understands mice, and I, were in hysterics as three grown men, equipped with various mouse-catching paraphernalia, cornered the poor thing and took it outside.

Making a statement
Growing up, we had mice in our house but we also had cats, and the rodents were smart enough to stay in the walls.
When our cats died, the mice started coming into the house and my mom put out poison.
One time my mom was in the kitchen, when a mouse staggered out, looked up at her and died. That was the end of the theatrical mouse.

Welcome to the theatre
Our cat, Sylvester, was born in a barn but became a spoiled house cat shortly after.
Sylvester is not the world’s greatest mouser and the mice in our house know it - they are rather bold.
One day my husband and I were having dinner and Sylvester joined us. I asked him what was in his mouth and he promptly spit it out. I looked over and noticed a mouse laying on its back, panting with its beating rapidly. As I pulled back to ask my husband to deal with it, the mouse jumped up and ran away, disappearing behind a shelving unit.
I sat back down, looked at my husband and said “Oh, dinner and a show.”