Cat Tum

Ain't no beam like a sunbeam. Ain't no tum like a cat tum in the sun. When Mabel isn't killing things, she can be found relaxing in her favourite sunbeam. Cute. Fuzzy. A little smile pulling at her lips. Carefree. Probably dreaming of dismembering something.

What do I know about what goes on in the minds of cats? I mean, c'mon! "Lookit dat face!" Little hearts pulsing from my chest, "She's so tranquil," I sigh, "my perfect little angel."

Yes, she is all of those things. She, and her sister, are also assassins of the highest order. These wee bundles of fur are still nature's perfect killing machines. Cats are responsible for the elimination of entire species.*

No fly is safe in our house. No mouse carefree traversing the catio I built her. And when the chimney was open, the birds fared no better — the girls caught every single one. Before the bloodshed I returned each one, still breathing, to the tree in our front yard; feathers askew, smelling of cat spit. Then I capped the chimney.

She is daddy's little angel. Ain't no tum like a cat tum in the sun.

* Doherty et al., Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss (PNAS, 2016) — invasive cats are implicated in 63 vertebrate extinctions (about 40 birds, 21 mammals, 2 reptiles), more than any other invasive predator.