Cupid the Mouser

For the past few days, my cat, Cupid, has been hanging around in front of the fridge and the stove. Not all the time but in the evenings. I thought he was watching the dust bunnies and thinking they were a mouse. I wasn’t about to pull out the fridge and stove and see if there was a mouse back there. I figured, if there was, he would catch it. His mom was a great mouser and he probably was also although he really didn’t have any experience with it.

A few minutes ago, I heard a squeaking sound in the kitchen. I thought he was scratching the front of the fridge because it almost sounded like nails on a blackboard. So I got up to investigate. I found Cupid playing with a mouse. A live mouse!! Hmmm…guess he is smarter than I thought. Here I thought he was being a cat of little brain and chasing dust bunnies and he was really stalking a mouse.

What did I do? Well, I wasn’t about to let him kill it. Not that I am that attached to mice but I didn’t want mouse blood to clean up not to mention having to dispose of some of it’s body. Based on my experience with cats who catch mice, they tend to take them apart rather than actually eat them. Cupid’s mom used to only bring me the body of the mice when she killed them (she was the only outdoor kitty I ever owned). I would  leave for work in the morning and there would be a decapitated mouse body by my steps. Not all the time but several times a year. Always made me wonder about the heads. Was she eating them? Was she saving them for something? Was there a little monument of mice heads in the woods behind the house as a tribute to her hunting abilities? I never knew and I never wanted to find out. Just a little too gruesome for me.

Back to Cupid and the mouse. I took Cupid’s basket that he sleeps in that sits in the kitchen and I pushed Cupid aside and put the basket on top of the mouse. I then tried to figure out how to get it out of the house. I didn’t think a broom would be effective because he could escape and Cupid would have to find him again. I thought about picking him up and tossing him out the door. That seemed the best solution so I put on two layers of latex gloves (I have bunches of them for when I clean out the kitty litter). I did two layers because I was that disgusted by this whole operation.

I approached the basket and saw it’s little tail sticking out from under the basket. Cupid was trying to grab it so I had to shoo him away. I reached for the tail and realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t touch the thing. So I opened the door, edged the basket as close to the door as possible, and then, in one fell swoop, I used the basket to launch the mouse out the door and onto the step. I quickly shut the screen door. I watched and it sat there stunned for a moment and then scampered off.

I picked up Cupid and thanked him for catching the mouse but he climbed out of my arms pretty quickly. I think he is pissed at me for getting rid of his new toy. Oh well. I’m sure he will get over it.

This is the first mouse I have had in my house. It beats having a bat flying around. Cupid is also good at stalking those but would have no hope of catching one. He just lets me know one is flying around by chasing it.

I’m glad he is  such a good mouser. It seems like all he contributes to life is a little love, when he wants to give it, and the ability to keep my feet warm. Now he has something else to add to his resume. I may have to give him a special treat for this. Maybe I’ll buy him a mouse with catnip in it. Yeah…that might help him get over my stealing his new toy.