Monday 5 June 2023

In disgrace

 

In disgrace

Photograph taken many years ago

The magpies have been very evident recently. One young bird kept coming onto the little bridge over the pond and I remarked that it was dicing with death. Its parent sat on a tree nearby and called to it, but it was happy and confident, well able to fly wherever it wished.

My words were prophetic for yesterday afternoon Jellicoe caught the unfortunate youngster and proudly brought it into the house. No amount of scruffing would persuade him to let his prize go and his growling was prodigious. Herschel was paying close attention but to no avail.

Eventually, we shut Jellicoe outside, still firmly grasping his prey, by which time his victim was effectively dead. Jellicoe then lost all interest in his catch and left it to stiffen on the patio. There was not a drop of blood to be seen. Fortunately, Jellicoe and Herschel rarely catch birds and never attempt to eat them.

It made us sad, though, to see a little life snuffed out.

12 comments:

  1. That is sad indeed and hard to prevent during the day, whereas at night you can lock cats in.

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    1. Most wiser, older birds are aware - it's always the young, inexperienced ones that suffer.

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  2. They're only doing what comes naturally but, yes, a very sad story, poor little bird. xx

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  3. Well,, I think Jellicoe left the birds go until landing on the bridge was just one shove too many to ignore. I know I had an outdoor cat when I was a child and it loved to give me it's gift of catches when all was over.

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    Replies
    1. I guess it's good that Jellicoe is still fit enough to hunt . . . :-((

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  4. Oh what a sad thing to happen ... Our Bess is strictly an indoor cat for now, and restricts her hunting to moths and spiders. Her predecessor, Phoebe, used to catch a bird or a mouse once in a while, only young ones though ... xxx

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    Replies
    1. Sadly, the young ones cannot learn by experience . . . x x x

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  5. The thing about cats is that they kill even when not hungry. It's just in their nature. It's one of several reasons we decided to have indoor-only cats. And they are quite happy indoors, although it can be a challenge to keep them active and avoid weight gain.

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    Replies
    1. Our cats were always indoor cats with an enclosed outdoor run. Then we decided to enclose the garden . . .

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  6. Aww, that is sad and without any blood, the poor bird probably died from fright. But his mother did warn him...

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  7. She certainly did, but he wouldn't be told!

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