Yesterday morning we had a bit of an adventure at my house. Just for a bit of background, know this: when we had that fire in our oven a few months ago, the firefighters kicked out all the screens in our windows to let air the apartment out. Most of the screens were damaged after that and wouldn't fit properly in the window frames (I'm not complaining -- the firefighters stopped my apartment from burning down, so they can trash whatever they want in doing so). Now, I never really trusted the sturdiness of the screens to begin with, so we've always opened the windows about an inch at the bottom and at the top. The bedroom screen has been missing since before we moved in (it was taken out so a former tenant could put in a window-mounted A/C unit in, and god only knows where it went to after that), and the bathroom screen fell out a few days ago. The screens are really only good for keeping bugs out, but security isn't much of an issue as our apartment is on the second floor ... If you really want to break in, just smash in the window in the door and unlock the door. *shrug* Anyway, long story short: no screens in the bedroom or bathroom, flimsy screens everywhere else.
So, yesterday, J left early (he's been working a lot of overtime lately and leaves for work at 5:30 am), so it was just me and the kitties. I was sitting at the computer desk, having my breakfast, when I heard a strange scuffling sound coming from the bathroom. My first thought was What's Spike doing now? but then I saw Spike tear off towards the bathroom. When I got up to see what the commotion was, my jaw dropped.
There was a squirrel in our bathroom!
At first I was concerned about how I was going to get the squirrel out -- it's early in the morning, I'm tired and groggy, I'm home alone, and squirrel-wrangling is not one of my talents. Spike resolved that issue rather quickly, however, much to my surprise: he charged the squirrel. A brief scuffle ensued, during which I saw Spike very clearly bite the squirrel on its furry little butt, but then he lost his grip and the squirrel darted back out the window. Spike tried to follow, but the window wasn't open far enough for him to get through (and, honestly, I wouldn't have thought it was open enough for the squirrel to get through!).
I quickly checked Spike for injuries -- I know that squirrels can be vicious and I saw the two of them fighting -- but he was fine. There was a bit of black fur (from the squirrel) on the bathroom floor, but no blood; I think Spike just got a mouthful of fur and that's why he lost his grip on the squirrel, but from the violence of the fight I would not have been at all surprised to find the squirrel lying dead on the ground outside our apartment (I didn't, though).
Spike received a great deal of praise: hugs, pets, treats and vocal praise. I also contacted our vet, to make sure he'd be okay (and had fun explaining how my indoor-only cat was able to attack a squirrel!), but since he's up-to-date on all his shots she thinks he'll be fine; I'm bringing him in to get dewormed on Saturday, though, just in case.
I am just so very (pleasantly) surprised by this. Spike is not an aggressive cat at all and, if anything, I would have expected him just to try playing with the squirrel (he can be very confused about the whole predator/prey concept -- he tried playing with gerbils), but he was definitely not playing. He wanted that squirrel dead. And, honestly, if Spike (or Oz) hadn't gone after the squirrel, I'm not sure what I would have done -- closed the bathroom door and hoped to god the squirrel escaped on its own?
Called the Humane Society? I just don't know.
So now Spike's my little hero and is still receiving a great deal of praise (even though he probably has no clue why he's getting it
). Oz, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found during the entire escapade. We think Oz has been working for the squirrels all along.
So, yesterday, J left early (he's been working a lot of overtime lately and leaves for work at 5:30 am), so it was just me and the kitties. I was sitting at the computer desk, having my breakfast, when I heard a strange scuffling sound coming from the bathroom. My first thought was What's Spike doing now? but then I saw Spike tear off towards the bathroom. When I got up to see what the commotion was, my jaw dropped.
There was a squirrel in our bathroom!
At first I was concerned about how I was going to get the squirrel out -- it's early in the morning, I'm tired and groggy, I'm home alone, and squirrel-wrangling is not one of my talents. Spike resolved that issue rather quickly, however, much to my surprise: he charged the squirrel. A brief scuffle ensued, during which I saw Spike very clearly bite the squirrel on its furry little butt, but then he lost his grip and the squirrel darted back out the window. Spike tried to follow, but the window wasn't open far enough for him to get through (and, honestly, I wouldn't have thought it was open enough for the squirrel to get through!).
I quickly checked Spike for injuries -- I know that squirrels can be vicious and I saw the two of them fighting -- but he was fine. There was a bit of black fur (from the squirrel) on the bathroom floor, but no blood; I think Spike just got a mouthful of fur and that's why he lost his grip on the squirrel, but from the violence of the fight I would not have been at all surprised to find the squirrel lying dead on the ground outside our apartment (I didn't, though).
Spike received a great deal of praise: hugs, pets, treats and vocal praise. I also contacted our vet, to make sure he'd be okay (and had fun explaining how my indoor-only cat was able to attack a squirrel!), but since he's up-to-date on all his shots she thinks he'll be fine; I'm bringing him in to get dewormed on Saturday, though, just in case.
I am just so very (pleasantly) surprised by this. Spike is not an aggressive cat at all and, if anything, I would have expected him just to try playing with the squirrel (he can be very confused about the whole predator/prey concept -- he tried playing with gerbils), but he was definitely not playing. He wanted that squirrel dead. And, honestly, if Spike (or Oz) hadn't gone after the squirrel, I'm not sure what I would have done -- closed the bathroom door and hoped to god the squirrel escaped on its own?
So now Spike's my little hero and is still receiving a great deal of praise (even though he probably has no clue why he's getting it
