Skittles, Mouser of Merit

January 2006

Our cat Skittles is a hunter. One morning, I came home from taking Isaac to school and found a long pink tail lying on the front step and a rat head not far away. The body was missing, and I guess she ate it, because the next day, she hacked out a giant hairball. Judging from the size of the tail and head, the rat wasn't much smaller than her. We think she caught it in or around Clarence's barns.

As I was moving stuff around in my little garden shed one day, a mouse skittered across the floor and startled me horribly. Isaac brought Skittles, and we put her in the shed. She had the mouse within a moment, and to this day, she remembers that she caught a mouse there. Whenever the door is open, she goes in and checks to see if she can find another.

Our old tom, Happy, is worthless as far as being a mouser. Actually, he's worthless in most respects, but we like him anyhow.