Shelley The Hunter - Dec 2011

by Kate

Shelly has always been a hunter and likes nothing more than seeking out small critters.

The picture above was taken when he was only 4 months old and you can see he liked to forage even then and he has never lost the urge.

It is now December here in the UK and the weather is cold, wet and windy and yet Shelley can still be found on some nearby rough ground looking for mice for many hours.

He even brings us a live present every now and again and what fun we have running around trying to catch the poor creature before Shelley gets hold of it again.

Byron on the other hand prefers to chase Squirrels (in vain thank goodness). We have a very large tree near the house and Byron can be seen sitting either at the base looking up , or in the branches perched perilously.

I often see the chase as he bolts along the fences in hot pursuit of a young Squirrel but he never gets close. And yet he never gives up.

I’m sure if he ever did manage to get his paws on one that Byron will end up the worse for wear out of the two.

Even though I hate the thought of other animals getting hurt I have to accept that cats will be cats and that you cannot stop them and their instincts no matter how much good food they get at home. I am fairly lucky with my two cats though as they are both two soppy soft boys who just want to play with things and it is rare that a mouse or bird get hurt during one of their games.

I have seen the utter look of disappointment on Shelley’s face whenever a mouse does pass away. He spends ages tapping it and trying to make it run away again. He has no desire to eat the mouse (which I am grateful for as I don’t fancy clearing up the remains).

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