author Christine Santa SantaCats RagaMuffins
We all know that cats are great hunters. The largest wild cats to the smallest domesticated cats will relish in the chase of anything that moves. Usually, in our house, it’s a feather toy on a long pole being swung back and forth to leaping happy feline hunters. When the RagaMuffin cats are really lucky, they will find a bug—a stinkbug, an occasional bee, or the most yummy insect, a fly! Can you imagine the surprise and shear shock and joy–when they found a HUGE flying target in our house? I assure you, I was not joyful at this discovery. A BAT! It was soaring through the air in our living room. We have cat shelves and climbing structures all over the room. They raced to the highest spot in competition over who would get to catch this prize, swiping and chirping all along the way. Unfortunately, no one was able to catch it…fast forward to 1:00am. I’ve been sound asleep for hours (early to bed, early to rise), suddenly I heard flapping and running that sounded like elephants, then thud! I foggily started remembering that we never caught and removed the bat and leapt out of bed, all the while thinking “please don’t let me step on a bat in the middle of the night.” As I turned on the light, the bat fluttered into my bedroom close to the ground. The RagaMuffins had trapped him at the base of my dresser! My husband wrapped it in a towel and released it into the back yard.
While I certainly do not hate bats, in fact I am fond of them for many reasons, I really don’t want them in my house. So, once again, the cats saved the day…or night. My hunters, my protectors.