Cat Question (ick, seriously ick)

[Seraph]

I've never seen this before. Ever.

I just went into the backyard with the kids, and was wandering around, and came upon what looked like a fuzzy lump. upon closer inspection, I noticed a squirrel. I poked it with a long stick to make sure it wasn't dead, and it fell off....the pile. Yes, it was a pile. Of squirrel parts.

I nearly lost my lunch right there. Oh my god, the smell. The sheer grossness to boot. There were paws and various other half eaten parts just all piled up, plus another ENTIRE squirrel.

My only explanation is that our cats, who have been unexpectedly excited to go out at night lately, have been putting what they can't eat of their kills into this one spot. I don't know any other reason why I should find something that looks like its from a diminuitive Aztec ritual.

Is this typical cat behavior? Or should I be looking for another reason?

[MoonCat]

Well, cats are hunters, and the instinct doesn't go away just because they're well fed. And wild cats do save kills for later, so I don't see why domestic cats wouldn't. The "wild" part of any cat is not that far under the surface, really.

You might want to bag up the remains and throw them in the garbage. Rotten meat isn't good for anybody, and it will attrach rodents, flies, feral cats, etc.

There were some stray kittens (well, half-grown really) years ago around our old house, who killed a squirrel. Don't know how, because squirrels can usually outrun cats. Maybe it was old and slow, I dunno. I lost track of how many times I tossed a leg off the front porch; they kept bringing it back up there to play with. And the tail was under our house. Oh, and friends of ours had some semi-feral cats around their house (in a rural area), and those cats killed chipmunks...for fun, I assume, because my friends fed the cats.

[blondemarmot]

My cat always left bits he didn't like and the entrails in a neat little pile. And once, we think just to warn my pet rabbits what could happen, he caught a wild rabbit, desembowled it and strung out the guts in front of both rabbits' cages and left the other bits ringing their enclosure. So, yes, diminutive Aztec ritual may actually be spot on.

[fireheart]

I'm actually surprised that they didn't bring the squirrel inside and drop it at your feet, like "Master, I brought you a present!"

[Dasota]

Don't you know, those aren't presents, but a warning to us!

[Sakka]

Last summer, there were a couple squirrels in the trees who would take great delight in annoying the boy cat.

Later that summer, the boy cat took great delight in leaving bits of squirrel all over the yard. The fluffy tails had a spot of honour on the deck.

[dalesys]

If your cat really loved you...


They'd be on your pillow, next to your face.

[Kara]

I'm actually surprised that they didn't bring the squirrel inside and drop it at your feet, like "Master, I brought you a present!"

Something like that happened once, when I was in high school. Our cat was knocking on the door (yes, he learned how to pull himself up with his front paws on the screen door and kick it with his hind legs) so we let him in and he bolted by with something large and furry in his mouth. It was a squirrel he killed, and he ran right to his food dish and plopped it down on it.

[ArcticChicken]

Grey rug. Disemboweled mouse. Bare feet. That is all.

[Pixilated]

I'm actually surprised that they didn't bring the squirrel inside and drop it at your feet, like "Master, I brought you a present!"

Or: "Okay, now, were you watching? NOW do you get how to hunt??"

Yeah, cats usually do leave bits and pieces lying around (if they don't offer them to you, that is ...) Just dispose of them and I'm wondering about sprinkling pepper or something where they were lying? Or is that an exercise in futility?

[Andrew B.]

My cats do that all the time. They have caught several birds and brought them in, though, they are not given to anyone.

[Seraph]

You might want to bag up the remains and throw them in the garbage. Rotten meat isn't good for anybody, and it will attrach rodents, flies, feral cats, etc.

Yeah I buried the entire....pile....quite deeply. The smell was...dear lord. /shudder And after I buried it, I scraped some rock bits over it, and then shoveled more dirt on that.

I'm actually surprised that they didn't bring the squirrel inside and drop it at your feet, like "Master, I brought you a present!"

Kyo used to do that, actually....I'd have been more prepared for it if they HAD done that.

My mother STILL talks to this day about the time we came home and Kyo brought me Old Bart, the giant bullfrog from our pond. Old Bart was so big, he was weighing Kyo's front end down, and Kyo was having to drag him over.

What's worse, is that Bart was still alive, just stunned. About ten minutes after Kyo dropped him at my feet, he flipped over and kinda stumbled off. Had to bring Kyo inside because he kept trying to go catch him again. /sigh

[MoonCat]

A rat once got into our back hallway. One of the cats was in there at the time. Bye-bye, rat. You never saw a cat look so proud of himself! He ate part of it, too. That rat must have been the dumb one, because I know there were others around (the house next door had been abandoned) but no others ever came into our house.

[Racket_Man]

My Exs and I first set of cats were a little too domesticated.

One time they caught and killed a mouse and played with it a bit but then just sat there seeminly not know what to do next. one had been an outdoor cat before we got her.

[Draper Mel]

Grey rug. Disemboweled mouse. Bare feet. That is all.

My old apartment had a brown mottled rug in the bedroom. Hairballs blended in perfectly.