Missy has gone in for hunting in a big way this Spring, first bringing in (live) mice for us to admire, then moving on to (dead) wrens and moles in the hallway. Recently, she graduated to something just a little bit larger.

My daughter, Michelle, and I were in my room, which has a screen door with a pet flap in it leading out to the back deck, when we heard a loud "Eeep! Eeep! Eeep!". There was Missy with a poor baby bunny in her jaws, standing just outside the screen pet flap. "No, no, no, Missy, not in here!" I cried, running over to the door to stop her from bringing the bunny in. "Eeeep! Eeeep! Eeeep!" cried the bunny.

I opened the door and grabbed the cat, hoping she would let go of the rabbit. Well, she did. The bunny hit the ground and immediately ran directly into the house, dashing between Michelle's feet and under the bed. The first reaction for all of us was to go after the rabbit, with Missy dashing in first. How could I let her new toy get away?!

It took just a second for me to realize we would need a little teamwork here. I made another grab for the cat and shouted for Michelle to get the bunny. After a little scrambling, we ended up with both animals safely captured. "Eeeep! Eeeep! Eeeep!" cried the bunny in my daughter's hands. Missy just glared at it hungrily.

We locked the cat in the house and inspected the bunny ("Eeeep! Eeep!"). We could only find a little scrape on its leg, so we took it out to the fence at the edge of the yard and sent it on its way, hopefully back to its mother.

Back at the house, I opened the door and Missy dashed out, looking around frantically. Surely I couldn't have lost her prize? She did a quick inspection of the deck, and then headed back to the garden to look for more prey. I hate to think of what she'll try to drag through that pet flap next!

Copyright © Robin Ilardi
May 31, 2001

Read Robin's story: Mouse Season
See pictures of Robin's kitties