the cat 3

one day, i had just laid down for a rest when i heard joe from the front door, “come here! come here! quick!” presuming he had chopped his finger off in the garage, i vaulted from bed and went running. instead of a severed limb, much to my relief, he showed me a little lizard catching sun on the driveway. it had a yellow and black striped body that tapered into a green and black tail which ended in a blue-purple tip. i looked it up in my reptile book and found it to be either a female or an adolescent five lined skink.

i have always loved reptiles and was happy to learn that there were some indigenous to our area. ultimately, it turns out this one was probably an adolescent, but i’m getting ahead of myself.

another afternoon, i was hanging out laundry when the great gray lump finally decided to show her hunting prowess. when she stalked past the clothes line to the clump of weeds that currently passes for a flower bed, i wondered what had attracted her attention. i found out, a moment too late, that it was one of my family of mourning doves. well, two actually. they must have been making out in the bushes, and one of them flew away fast enough, while the other didn’t. i whacked the great hunter with a dish towel that i had in my hand, but too late. she had already killed the dove. i laid it in the fence row so its mate could mourn.

ever since, k’tigu has been trying to prove her loyalty by delivering various dead things to our doorstep. i generally forgive her for the gifts, but i wasn’t too happy when joe showed me the severed tale and dead body of the skink, who must not have been experienced enough to get away. at least we won’t have mouse problems.

there is only one creature who is safe around here, and that’s the resident toad in the garage. he’s a big fellow who comes out to blink at us whenever it rains. often, the cat goes up to sniff him. he gives her a disdainful expression, because he knows, as we do, that no sane cat wants to eat a toad. he is the king of all he surveys. now, if only she would show me that much respect.