Sort of.
This is Mitzi.
There's an alley cat in my neighborhood that I named Marly. After Marlboro cigarettes since she's the color of an ashtray. Marly likes to sleep on my porch furniture which is really annoying when I want to lay on my bench and take a nap only to find cat hair all over.
I think Marly must've had a litter because I saw Mitzi following her for a little while when she was a new kitten. She's a teenaged cat now and she LOVES my yard.
I don't put out any food or water. And I haven't been growing catmint or any other food substance a cat might like. But I find her in my yard all the time.
I came home this past weekend to find her hunting around my yard again. I do have a lot of tall plants which would provide the perfect hiding spot for field mice or even chipmunks. I bet that's what she was after. We have a pretty clean alley so I'm sure it's hard for her to find good garbage to eat off of.
I walked up to her slowly expecting her to skitter away but she didn't. So I sat on my chair and she nestled into the grass only four feet away from me to await the next hunt.
I was talking to her the whole time and she didn't even flinch. Weird, for a feral cat. Then she spotted it. A mouse? A frog? I couldn't tell. But she walked right up to me (my legs were blocking her path). She debated for a brief second about whether to chance it passing me or give up the hunt.
She went for it, leaping over my legs over to the strawberry patch. Quietly she strategized her battle plan:
She began to stalk the unsuspecting prey:
It caught on and tried to run, but she was right on its tail:
And, whatever creature it was, she followed it into the neighbor's yard.
I love this kitty and I don't know why. I won't put food out for her (I don't want to encourage more alley animals). And I won't let her into my house. The Conductor and I are both allergic, I really don't like cats, and I have no desire to rehab a feral animal.
But I just adore her. She's the prettiest thing. (She's got the most beautiful gold colored eyes!) It's amazing to me how, even though I live in the city and have a yard the size of a postage stamp, Mother Natue still sends amazing creatures my way.
In my next post, I'll share some more of the visitors to my yard.
1 comment:
Maybe this cat does not expect anything from you. I think she represents you. She does not see the patterned concrete. rather, she indulges in the wonderful jungle that is your backyard... just as you too enjoy your little piece of heaven inside the city.
It's because of you I try to teach my son not to kill bugs. And its because of you that when I borrowed my brother's car, I did not kill the spider that lived inside the side view mirror. Instead she traveled with me for days and I even named her Suzy (a compliment to the car who was named Sammy). Dr. Suess would appreciate you. One of his characters is an elephant named Horton who lives in a jungle and he taught everyone that "a person is a person no matter how small". Cheers to you and Mitzy. Meow.
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