Cali the Huntress

Cali, the calico cat woke me up at 2:35am because she wanted to be fed. I said NO! and went back to sleep. At 5:40 she woke me again, and even though I usually don't let her out until it gets light outside, and it was still dark, this time I thought it was close enough. So I opened a can of Fancy Feast for her and set out some fresh water as well, and removed the cover from her cat-door, and went back to bed.

Not to many minutes later, as I was drifing off, I heard her coming back in. The door clunked a bit, and she made more noise than she usually does. There was a commotion in the hallway, and a MEOW! and a SCREECH! The SCREECH really didn't sound like noise Cali would make, so I dragged myself back to conciousness and out of the bedroom.

Cali was in the hallway, agitated and looking around. Finally she went into the guest bathroom. I followed. The toilet lid was up, and the seat was down, and there was a large brown mass in there and it was moving. As I got closer, I could see it was looking up at me, with two yellow eyes. There, in the water was a small brown owl. I gathered the bird up and carried it out to the porch. Once it was in the porch it got away, and flew around but couldn't find its way out. Cali had followed us out, and was after the owl again, though the owl stayed up on the screen, and out of Cali's reach. Finally I caught the owl again, and the bird latched onto my finger with it's yellow bill, while it kept its claws in locked on the screen. After I worked it's claws loose, I walked the bird out into the yard, and released it. It flew in the darkness to a rosewood tree beyond our fence, free at last.

My theory is that this bird - an Eastern Screech Owl - a small breed, but a predator, decided Cali would make a nice meal, and swooped down on her. But the owl had made a serious misjudgment, and Cali ended up with the owl.

At any rate - I'm just blown away with what a good huntress Cali is, and puzzled with how she was able to get it, and herself through that tiny cat-door into our house.

And of course we wish she wouldn't bring her work home with her. We are wondering just how this is going to work when we leave Cali alone as planned for a week while we go on vacation in June, with the cat-door left open for her convenience.

And just what will we find when we get home again? A horse?