Posted on July 26, 2022    Posted by John Scalzi      9 Comments

I came downstairs this morning to Spice on the kitchen counter, which is a place she is generally never on, so I figured something was up. Sure enough, Spice was hunting prey, in this case an adult antlion, which had positioned itself just out of paw-swatting reach. The antlion was escorted outside via a small plastic container; the cat was escorted to the floor, mildly protesting all the way, by my hands. No one died, and nothing on the counter was destroyed by a fast-moving predator. And Spice was praised and petted for her diligence in keeping the house safe from invaders. So in all, a good morning for everyone.

When we had cats (three of them) in Maryland, we never had to hire an insect control service for the house. They kept it free of insects.

My dad, in Utah, had a cat that regarded scorpions as toys. He’d bite off the stinger then bat them around for a bit. Eventually we’d feel sorry for the scorpion and put it out of its misery.

What a good kitty! So Spicy!

Glad that everyone was safe enough at the end. I very rarely think of scorpions as vulnerable. This gave me one such moment.

When one of the outside cats presents me with half a rat, they are highly praised. They are contributing to the household upkeep. Zorro’s latest attempt at the role of ‘mighty hunter’ was to draw my attention to a large centipede in the pantry; I don’t blame her for not wanting to do more than poke at it.

Our two younger cats love to chase houseflies in the summer, which we very much appreciate – any housefly that is sufficiently ill-advised to come indoors never lasts more than 30 minutes, and frequently not even that long. Based on the cats’ reactions, they must be very tasty, as they are certainly crunched up with great enthusiasm.

We do have to watch carefully to be sure the boys don’t try that game with spicy flies (wasps, yellow-jackets and the like), which also occasionally wander indoors. We haven’t yet had to make any trips to the emergency vet with an indignant cat yowling about how his snack bit back (knocks wood), though I won’t be surprised if it happens some day.

Our old-man cat used to catch mice in our basement, which was also much appreciated. He’s far too feeble for that now, but all his efforts at mouse control have more than earned him his honorable retirement, so no worries.

Keep up the good work, Spice – your family appreciates it!

I had to Google ‘antlion’ and then I was like OMG I would have stomped on that SO HARD.

Spice is a good kitty. :-)

I also had to Google antlion, and holy crap! I would have run screaming out of the house and let Spice handle it.

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Taunting the tauntable since 1998 John Scalzi, proprietor – JS Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS About the site

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