Intrepid Hunters

The cats found a cockroach in the kitchen yesterday. I entered the room, saw Winky, Dinky and Orlando sitting comfortably on the floor, and next spotted the cockroach in the corner. It was utterly still so I thought it was dead, and judging by their lack of interest, it seemed that the cats thought so too.


I walked a little nearer, and then the cockroach started moving and (before a whisker could shake) squirmed beneath a cabinet door into one of the cabinets. I opened the door and tried to spot the cockroach - ended up half-emptying the cabinet before catching a glimpse of the cockroach scuttling into a far corner. Put Winky in - but something spooked him and he ran away. Put Orlando in next and (after some sniffing in the wrong spots) he emerged with the cockroach in his mouth! He dropped the cockroach on the floor, the cats surrounded it and after some initial tapping of the cockroach, they lay down around it again and did nothing further! In the end, we had to administer the killing blow and disposed of the cockroach. This is what happened when house cats get soft and lose that instinct to pursue the hunt right to the death.


Anyway, the incident inspired this poem:

Three intrepid hunters
Go stalking through the house
Searching high and low for
A cockroach or a mouse

A cockroach! They spy one!
Who will get there faster?
One lad streaks ahead and
Traps it in a corner.

One hard tap is needed to
Dispatch this wriggling prey
But once he lifts his paw
The cockroach gets away!

Foiled again! The hunters
Look for another trail
Excitement mounts - they spot
Long whiskers and a tail!

One pounce - the mouse is caught!
No need to jump for joy
Just take a closer look -
It's only a soft toy!