If anything slithers, crawls, flies, or hops inside the house - it is considered something to stalk and ultimately consume. That an unwritten rule in the minds of Gracie and Benjamin Bunny. It is a rule rarely bent or broken I am afraid...unless I can get to whatever IT is before consumption actually begins.
Prior to Benjamin Bunny becoming a member of my feline-human family, I was under the impression that domestic cats were solitary hunters. It never occurred to me that they might tag-team hunt like professional wrestlers fight. (I only know this detail after years of teaching fourth grade wrestling fans.)
But, that uninformed opinion recently changed. After watching the last flight of the most recent big bad bug to accidentally enter my home, I am convinced that my cats, Gracie and Ben, could take on any pro-wrestling tag-team and win - hands down.
It must have happened while I was bringing groceries into the house. A delusional and/or extremely cocky wasp flew inside the front door and decided to take a peek around. His timing couldn't have been worse. For Bunny you see, loves to meet me at the door to inspect grocery bags. You never know if one might contain some celery or carrots just waiting to be licked - bag included. (Yes, another reason we call him "Bunny".) And Gracie - ever curious to see what interesting mischief Bunny might get himself into- is rarely far behind.
On this particular day, there weren't any new veggies to discover. So, Bunny was not distracted when the wasp did a low "fly-by" as it attempted to make its way further into the house.
It was as if someone shot Bunny from a cannon. He jumped straight up into the air with both paws extended, smacked them together like he was clapping, and knocked the wasp off balance. Gracie immediately zeroed in on Bunny's prey and assumed pounce position at the other end of the front entry hall. A ping pong match was about to begin with the poor wasp unaware he was the ball.
Already off balance and still flying fairly low, the wasp did not stand a chance against Gracie's leaping ability. Timing it perfectly, she swatted the offensive insect back towards Bunny before it could regain any altitude. Bunny's front paws met the wasp in mid-air and whacked it towards the wall. Gracie joined Bunny by the front door, and they proceeded to try and smash the wasp as it wiggled desperately on its back along the floor.
The banging and growling alerted me that something icky was going on, and I should probably investigate. It took me a few minutes to separate the cats from their prey before I was able to discover exactly what their prey was. Ackkk! Extremely allergic to wasps, I became a part of their predatory tag-team immediately.
Stepping on the still writhing insect was not an option since I was barefoot. So I instructed each cat to stand back while mommy went and got a shoe. (It had just occurred to me that my babies might get stung if they continued attacking this vicious intruder.)
As with my human children, they did not listen. Bunny even began trying to bite the nasty bug. Yelling "Bugs are not for biting!" at the top of my lungs, I arrived on the scene wielding my husband's big running shoe before anyone, besides the bug, was injured.
It is my sad duty to report that the sole of my husband's shoe was the last sight that wasp ever saw. The impact was deadly. So much so, that the wasp literally became a part of the shoe's sole.
Unfortunately, Bunny and Gracie did not have a positive reaction to my swooing in and saving the day. I had ruined their fun. It didn't matter that a wasp sting could prove very painful and result in a dreaded trip to the vet, especially if Bunny had been stung on the mouth. Oh no, mommy had interfered with a perfectly good hunt and stolen their prey.
After several vain attempts to find the squashed bug, both cats put their tails up in the air and stormed off. Neither would have anything to do with me for several hours - just like my human children when I try to help them out sometimes.
Of course, all was apparently forgiven when dinner time came around.
Until next time, remember...
A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
- Indian Proverb
