I honestly suspect I’ve been so busy rendering the yard a nice place to hang out Badger’s been pissy I’m not hanging out with him in it these last few warm, sunlight nights
Badger and I trying out a new modus vivendi this season where he’s always lazing on the stoop but when I come through from either direction he just moves to the side for a while
Yesterday Badger did his come-in-the-window-meowing-to-show-off-his-latest-rodent-trophy-and-get-praised-and-rewarded thing and showed off a rye potato chip
Just saw Badger devour a mouse, skull and all.
The art of being just arbitrary enough you don’t give your cat trust issues, but he doesn’t take you for granted
Aw, fuckin’ wonderful, just stepped in a little pile of mouse guts Badger left around ‘cause they were full of shit.
Honestly I think the thing is Badger has realized is that once he brings rodents back to show me and collect his bounty he can eat them, so if he’s hungry between meals he can get his own.
First thing he always does is chew through the neck. It’s a crap shoot if he eats the head, but if he wants he can bite through any of the bones including the skull.
Since I doubt that I could go directly against his hunting instinct, I’m trying to train Badger out of killing birds by giving him more pieces of reward kibble when he brings home a rodent or a live bird I can release; this DOES mean I’ve woken up to one flapping around my room banging into the window multiple times.
(I catch them by throwing a t-shirt over them and toss them out the window.)
Since I doubt that I could go directly against his hunting instinct, I’m trying to train Badger out of killing birds by giving him more pieces of reward kibble when he brings home a rodent or a live bird I can release; this DOES mean I’ve woken up to one flapping around my room banging into the window multiple times.
Dad outside on the side path assuring his daughter that though she just saw Badger scamper off it’s safe to continue through.
Getting to the warm season when Badger’s out so much I fear he’s gone; he wasn’t here when I woke up early for the tree guys and afterwards couldn’t find him, no one touched the food in the dish, I was thinking about how it would make it ironic if he went missing that I just talked about being specially blessed lately, and what a shadow it would cast over my weight loss posting if I was hoping for him to come back the whole time, but he finally came in the window and meowed complaining and I got to pick him up and nuzzle him.
Badger skimming next to me, I pick him up, put him on my shoulder, nuzzle his flank and sniff like “nope buddy, you gotta go out the window and take a shit”
