As
previously mentioned, Jasper was quite the ratter. No. 36 backed onto the North Shore Line of
the Sydney rail network and needless to say there was a healthy population of
the common black rat. The sort that
comes in on ships and carries not a lot of good with it.
Thankfully,
he mostly kept these darker dealings to himself. Occasionally though, as per many a cat's
inclinations to prove their worth in fish and liver, he liked to bring home a
token. Usually intestinal. Sorry to gross you out, but facts is
facts. This was the one and only thing
that ever got me mad at him. "If
you're going to bring home the bacon, at least keep it on the bone!" There was one deeply horrifying time when Ell
came to stay. She was sufficiently
frequent a visitor and attentive to him, that Jasper clearly felt the need to
impress her with his prowess also.
Not
good. Should have warned Ell to keep the
bedroom window at no more than an inch open.
The
morning was broken. With quite the yelp
let me tell you. In this instance, if
memory serves (?!), the offering was one stomach with pancreas attached. It is a testament to the quality of my
friends that Ell, having overcome the initial shock, thanked Jassie for his
offering, but would he please refrain from further gifts. She's an animal person and, like almost all
who met him, totally under Jasper's spell.
What was
always amazing though, is that Jasper knew the black rats from the smaller,
prettier and by far cuter, native species.
Further, given that Jet was black and a rodent, he was to be guarded. That too from those very same black rats.
Jade had
no idea. Rats? Okay chasing them is fun, but what then? Once they were out through the fence, she
lost interest completely.
Not
Jasper though. He'd be up and over and
after it like ball from cannon. Rarely
did he miss his target.
Neither
was he interested in birds. This was a
relief. It has to be said that the
majority of Aussie birds are large and well-armed with beaks and bills designed
to do damage. So I guess there was no
great incentive. Jasper liked to hunt,
but he was not going to put himself in danger over it.
When the
J-dog was bout 16 months, early November and the onset of pre-summer storms, an
event took place that was both entertaining, yet disturbing.
Jasper
did not come home for his tea. Very
occasionally this happened and he was always back at brekky time, so at that
point there was no worry. In the dark
mid-evening though, there was an enormous ruckus of rowfing. Jade only barked liked that when there was an
intruder (that tail tale is
for another day), so I was cautious in my approach. The back door was open as always and the
balmy night was redolent with the first blossoms of jasmine. None of that was Jade's concern though.
Sitting
outside Jet's cage, back on its haunches, front paws punching the air like a
prize-fighter and hissing and spitting back at Jade was the most enormous,
yellow-fanged black rat. Not even in my
worse nightmares could I have imagined anything like it. Squatting as such it stood a full
12 inches. Jet had by this time joined in
the chorus, squeaking his little heart out.
He had reason to be shouting, for recently the vet had called and asked
me to give a home to another guinea pig.
Flint was your standard, single-brain-celled agouti with a mohawk
hairstyle and coming in at half Jet's size. Dear old Jet fussed and nudged him
and kept him sorted. Now he was
apparently in defence mode too - that was a first for me to see!
What
became clear very quickly (once I'd got over capturing the scene on my mental
camera) was that neither Jet nor Jade was going to do anything other than make
noise. Also, the rat had no intention of running.
I like to think he was after the g/p's pellets - but the monster could
well have been thinking about fresh meat from Flint.
I was
galvanized by that thought and dashed into the laundry, grabbing the garden
rake and out I went in full Amazonian Warrior mode.
It all
happened so quickly. The rat had no time
to think, Jade fell back in shock, Jet's eyes were nearly bulged out their
sockets and madam brought that rake down in a use it had never envisaged on
it's 'to do' list when leaving the factory.
You'll be
glad to know there are no photographs on film or digital of this particular
occasion.
I am a
peace-loving, live and let live kinda gal.
It was a revelation to find that I too could defend. However, now it struck me - where was the
official court executioner? That the
invader had got so close was itself an unusual occurrence. That there had been so much signalling from
Jade and he had not appeared was a worrisome thing indeed.
...same time,
same place, next week folks!
Post Scriptum: don't forget to visit Bozo and check out the story on MT-TOO.
Also RIP Sam Schnauzer
Post Scriptum: don't forget to visit Bozo and check out the story on MT-TOO.
Also RIP Sam Schnauzer
WHAT? You say Jasper was missing and then you leave your readers in suspense?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's a good thing I'm following your blog, but still...
Anyway, I'm impressed that your guinea pigs were hissing and spitting at the rat. Wow!
And as for you suddenly turning into Defender With Garden Rake, that's natural. I always call it my Mother Bear Instinct.
Even though I didn't have children of my own, I have a very strong protective instinct that runs contrary to my political beliefs. I'm a ban-the-guns kind of person and have never hunted with anything fiercer than a fishing rod, but show me a child in danger and I'm a warrior.
Not only would I rush in to defend a child, I'm afraid of heights but I'd jump off a bridge to save one from drowning.
I would do the same for my dog or my cat, too, even though common sense dictates otherwise. That's the downside of the Mother Bear Instinct, it replaces brain cells with adrenalin.
K
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteSorry to leave you hanging Kay! It was a debate - but keeping the posts to a workable length is the balance I'm sure you're familiar with. That and the need to keep a little suspense &-@
Yes I like your term Mother Bear. It surely was an adrenalin rush and total lack of actual thinking... which is a bit scary if you extrapolate the deeper inference. But I'll leave that for another time!
YAM xx