This week I have been challenging myself again and trying to take things to the next level when going on our outdoor adventures. As you know I love hunting and climbing and I love exploring new things and pushing the boundaries just a little bit.
There’s been some furry critters running around my gardens and hiding in the bushes so I’ve been practicing my hunting skills. You already know how good I am at stalking the birds and I’ve got pretty close but never managed to catch my own dinner – well not yet. Normally I can only hear the critters running around under the buildings and can never quite get to them despite my best efforts; recently though they’ve been out and about and I’ve been taking full advantage of practicing my hunting skills.
I can hear them in the bushes so I sit very quietly and listen to each little noise. As they move about I track the noises of their tiny pawsteps, the sounds of the bush moving and their smell. Each time they move they send out tiny signals to me which I use to pinpoint their position. I use my exceptional hearing to pinpoint their position, I use my ears like satellite dishes, each tiny adjustment of them enables me to pinpoint the exact location of even the smallest prey. If they move further away I move round the other side of the bush, then they see me and go the other way so back round I go. As a hunter you have to be patient, quiet and have lightning fast reactions. I have all of these skills and for me at least I am doing what I was made to do, using my instincts – I know I have food at home but this is what I was built for eyes or no eyes that doesn’t matter, it’s something inside me that I just can’t help.
Mummy on the other hand is not built for hunting and doesn’t have the instinct to crouch beside a bush for ages waiting for the perfect moment to strike and catch a critter. Nevertheless she waits around the bushes with me whilst I satisfy my hunting needs come rain or shine. Sometimes she says “Come on Jenny hurry up people are going to think I’m crazy hanging around the bushes” “it’s ok mummy I won’t be long” I meow back to her “hang on” mummy says “take your time Jen everyone probably already thinks I’m crazy for taking you on walkies anyway”
So back to the bush I go, mummy waiting patiently next to me. I hear it getting closer and closer and then it’s in range and I make my strike, *bam* straight into the depths of the bush. Sadly this time I came out empty pawed but that’s ok it’s all about practicing and enhancing my hunting technique.
Well, as it turns out the critters haven’t just been hiding in the bushes they’ve been running around the gardens and climbing my trees – how dare they! You might wonder how I can tell – we’ll I can smell where their little paws have been and followed their scent from the bushes across the grass to the tree and surprisingly the scent carried on up the tree – my tree. How dare they use my trees without my permission! I had to investigate and make sure they knew that these were my trees and I was around to defend my territory so up I went to make sure they weren’t up there. I climbed all the way up as far as I could go but they weren’t there, that’s ok though as by climbing the tree I left my scent all over it so if they came back they would know that these are my trees and I’m the boss. Sometimes it’s just about leaving the right message for others to understand.
It seems as if my extra attention in these areas of the gardens has paid off as I haven’t ‘seen’ any more furry critters since I stepped up my patrols in this area. I can tell this because 1. I can’t hear them in the bushes anymore and 2. Their smell has reduced, it’s not as strong and pungent anymore. Yey me! I have vanquished well, scared off the enemy intruders and my gardens are back to being all mine so I can get back to running, playing and climbing with the odd bit of bird watching (stalking) thrown in and enjoy my time outside with meowmy.
Just a final thought to leave you all with – just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I’m any less of a cat or have fewer natural instincts. In fact as mummy says I have super blindie senses instead of regular senses and I’m much more in tune with these than ‘regular’ cats tend to be. If you are a critter then you’d better watch out as Jenny’s about!
Jenny’s Story 