Report, Essays, and Tips
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Submitted by: Smokey
How to Hunt a Leg
This exercise is good for improving your patience as well as strengthing your
paws. My meowmie's leg is my favorite prey. I spend a lot of time in the barn,
which has lots of good hiding places. I will hide as soon as I hear my meowmie
approaching. She will be calling out for me but I just wait patiently. You must
resist talking, it makes the surprise better. When you see the leg move past
you, leap out and attack the leg with your front paws. (Note: Humans are too
fragile for your claws.) This usually causes my meowmie to laugh (from fear, I'm
sure) and that is your cue to run. Find another hiding place and repeat.
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Submitted by: BeBeast
Meowpurrs,
Meows have a furry fun thing for all of us kitties. Its called hunt the waterbed. As some of you out there know this is a wonderpurr thing to do. meow
just loved the reaction that my Meowmie-plaything used to have when she woke up
wet, Meow has earned my name and am furry purroud of it,in the middle of the
night. The waterbed is gone now...sob...but I have recreated it online and anyone who wants to can join. It looks small but I made meowmie save more than one and I'll purrsuade her to make it bigger if kneeded. http://www.i-love-cats.com/meow/mrraow13/home/Pages/unstuffedrec.html
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Submitted by: Fonzi
Hunting Leaves
Leaves may seem like a dumb thing to hunt but they are really a lot of fun! A
couple of bonuses that come with leaves are that you don't get in trouble for
killing an animal, and if you pick poison ivy or something to hunt you can later
rub your fur on a disliked human to make 'em all itchy! When you are hunting
leaves you need to be really careful, because something big and strange called
the "wind" blows them away sometimes before you can catch them. Sneak
up really quietly and then POUNCE all of a sudden on an unsuspecting leaf. You
can tear it to shreds then and knock it around as long as you like. Humans also
get a kick out of it when you bring them home a "dead" leaf.
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Submitted by: Charlie
How to Catch a Bird
Birds are one of the most difficult of prey to catch. Those confounded wings of theirs can take them far up into the sky and out of harms way in an instant. I am here to mew about how to catch them, whether it be when they are still on the ground, or flying! First, use the hunting method of: stalk and pounce. This is the best way, because you cannot chase a bird if they are flying! Get close to the ground and flatten your belly on the grass. Keep movement to a minimum. The only exception is to walk
slowly forward, quietly, still keeping your back and head down. If the bird looks ready to
take flight, or is about to notice you, freeze, and don't move until it has calmed down
and is still on the ground. This hunting method can work even better if you can find a place near the bird to hide. When you feel you are close enough to the bird, pounce! Try to be as accurate as possible when landing on the bird. First, before even the killing bite, injure its wings so all means of escape are useless. I had a bird get away from me once or twice when I forgot to bite its wings! After that, bite its neck quickly. If you pounce and the bird takes flight right before you can grab it, leap into the air after it. This is not guaranteed to work, but if you are quick enough you may be able to snag the wing or body of the bird, and drag it down to meet its fate -- a hungry cat!
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Submitted by: KitKat Purr
Hunting Plan
First, I will use the mouse-a-hunt technique. That is when
you hunt it the hard way: By just tracking it down only with the senses and the claws. This way, you get more exercise and fun and excitement. Then I go up in the attic, claws sharpened by the scratching post. I go up in the attic, and first sense the mouse with the sense of smell. Once I get it's track, I go on to the next step. Now in this step I use the sense of sight. I look around a turn my head as fats as I could. Soon, I will sight the mouse. Fourth, I chase the mouse, paws as fast as they could. I leap, jump, and run as fast as I could. Then I use the sense of touch to paw the mouse. I get it by the
tail, then go to the best step of all. Finally, I use the sense of taste and eat the yummy mouse. First, I hafta show the mouse to the humans to tell them I got it! Bye! I'll tell you the results when we move in!
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Submitted by: Morgan
Lizards
Lizards are my favorite prey to hunt, and I am very good at it. There are a lot of lizards in my yard, as they are very common in Central Texas where I live. They are especially common in the hot, humid summer months like right now.
The lizards in my yard are very large and bright green. They are fast, but not as fast as I am! The lizards in my yard live in the shrubs and plants around our front porch. They try to hide in the shade, but I can sniff them out with my sharp nose. I grab them in my mouth and pull them out into the grass where they can't hide as easily. They try to run,and I bat them with my paw. Sometimes they act fierce and try to bite my paws, but their
tiny mouths are no match for my fluffy fur! I don't actually like to eat the
lizards, as they don't really taste very good. I just like to dismember them slowly. The first thing that usually goes is their tails. Those tails are flimsy and come off really easily. I try to leave the tail in a prominent place where my meowmie can find it. Then I continue to bat and bite the lizard until it gets all still, and isn't any fun any more. When it's still, I carry it in the house as an offering to my meowmie. I feel that I should make sure she has plenty of good things to eat, just like I do. I also like to chase bugs and snakes, but lizards are by far the best prey!
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Submitted by: Jazz
Top 5 Mistakes of Novice Hunters
Mistake 1 - The first mistake deals with the choice of prey. Often, a novice hunter will choose prey that is unattainable and sometimes a painful lesson will be learned. For example, the darting movement of a bee from flower to flower can be an irresistible target for some cats. But woe to the kitty who actually catches the bee and experiences the horror of a stinger in the mouth. Other poor choices of prey include skunks, raccoons and small dogs who may be mistaken for groundhogs.
Mistake 2 - Patience is more then a virtue in hunting, it is a necessity. Novice hunters, especially younger kittens, will often charge their prey long before they are close enough to actually succeed with the attack. This error is especially obvious when dealing with birds. It is important for a hunter to remember that CATS CANNOT FLY. Many a would-be hunter has charged to soon and found themselves making a desperate leap into the air in a pathetic attempt to fly after the escaping snack. This is not only disappointing to the cat, but embarrassing too, if the ungraceful maneuver is witnessed by humans who will laugh at them. BR>Mistake 3 - Excessive playing with prey once it has been captured can cause what appears to be a successful hunt to go bad. By all means, once prey is obtained, the proud hunter should take the time to play the age old game of cat and mouse. Part of the joy of the hunt is to wear the prey out by allowing it to think it may escape and then pounce on it again. However, the attention span of a young hunter is questionable at best. A butterfly can distract the hunter just long enough that the captured prey escapes. It is best to play only a quick game with the prey and then finish it off before the mind wanders.
Mistake 4 - Delivering live prey to a human can also ruin what should be a successful hunt. Humans are peculiar about hunting. If they can, they will take away a cats hard won prize before the kill is made. They don't even want it for themselves, which might be understandable. Instead, they will take the prey and release it, ensuring that the cat cannot capture it again. Nothing is more frustrating to a hunter then to watch the creature that it has spent the last 2 hours capturing just get set free on a humans whim. The best course of action is never to allow humans to view live prey.
Mistake 5 - Humans viewing deceased prey can also present problems. Good hunters will many times reward their human companions with the prizes of their hunts. Repeated "gifts" of this nature can have terrible recriminations. As previously stated, humans are peculiar about hunting, and discovering a cats prizes too often can cause them to take drastic measures. The most common of these measures include leashing cats when they are outdoors, revoking outdoor privileges altogether, and putting a bell around the cats neck that alerts prey that they are near. The last of these is the most damaging to a hunters spirit. To a cat possessing the hunters spirit, the frustration of slinking up to a chosen target only to jingle and scare it off is unmatched by anything else.
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Submitted by: Tyie
Bug Hunting For Indoor Cats
For those of you who are stuck inside, here is the answer to boredom: bug hunting. Bug hunting is a fine art that can only be mastered with practice. The advantage to bug hunting is that your humans will usually be very pleased with your skills unless you leave the dead bugs where they will step on them. If you avoid dangerous bugs, it will be a very enjoyable sport. If you are living in an apartment, you will probably not be able to hunt some of the bugs listed because of the height of your territory. Bugs that Fly: Moths are always fun and are a challenge. To hunt moths, it must be after dark. Moths love to hang around bright lights, so this is where you will find them. Make sure you are at head level to the moth. Track it with your eyes, then crouch. Then, when the moth gets very close to your face, just open your mouth and snap it closed quickly, trapping the moth inside. Moths also make great snacks. Make sure your
human is around when you catch the moth. They find this action adorable and funny...I don't know why, but they do. This is a great way to practice your eye--mouth coordination. IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE A MOTH DURING THE DAY, DON’T EAT IT! These are called butterflies and humans enjoy them and will scold you severely if you catch them, although you can act very cute by looking up at the butterfly and putting an interested/confused expression on your face. Ladybugs are not bugs that you should hunt.... Your owner would not be happy, because most humans like ladybugs because they are good for gardens and roses. Sometimes, cockroaches fly... humans dislike any roach very much, and they tend to think that the flying ones are particularly creepy, so you will get lots of praise for these if you can catch them. Flying cockroaches are very difficult to trap because they can get into places where you can't. First, make sure you block all small spaces where the roach could squeeze through. Stalk the roach very quickly, and make sure to follow it. If you can get close enough, try to smell the roach to make sure that it does not have pesticide or any other chemicals on it. IF IT SMELLS STRANGE, DON'T EAT IT!!!!!!!!! It could be very harmful to you. If it smells all right, try to corner the roach. After this, try to flip it onto its back. If it's on its back, it can't move as quickly. If you’re into that sort of thing, go ahead and eat it. If you don't want to eat the "creepy crawly", I would suggest that you move the roach out of the middle of the floor once it's dead so your human doesn't step on it. Make sure your human sees that it was you who killed it. Bugs that Crawl:
Regular roaches...the same thing applies to these roaches as does flying ones. Silverfish are disgusting to humans, and they don't taste very good, but you should still kill them. Stalk it as you would a roach, then, instead of flipping it, squish it. I know this sounds gross, but it's the easiest way to kill these dudes. If there is an empty box or other object nearby, you can push it up against the silverfish if you don't want to dirty your paws. I prefer the paws, but I like to get dirty, so I never have tried the box method,
but I have seen my sister use it. If you have any unique methods of bug hunting, please send them to me at Tortiecat9@aol.com I would be interested in hearing them. Good luck with your bug hunting!
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Manicures 101
Your nails may not seem important, but they really are one of the main resources used when hunting. If you don't keep your nails sharpened, you won't be able to keep your footing while you are running over wet ground because you won't be able to dig in. If your nails are too sharp, they could hurt you or someone else accidentally. You use your nails for almost efurything you do, so they are very important. Although this is true, I will only discuss them in relation to hunting. The nails of cats are unique because they are retractable.....this is a wonderful advantage, right? Well, sort of. This is a great thing because it is very comfortable and you don't have to scratch everybody while trying to get onto their laps, but their are a couple small
disadvantages as well. Sometimes, outdoor cats get dirt and debris on their claws when they are out, and then when they retract them, they can pull the yucky stuff into the "nail sheath", where it will sit for a while, get infected and start swelling. By this time, it will be painful to walk on the foot and you won't be able to move that particular claw in and out. This is why you always need to groom your paws very carefully, making sure you clean between your toes, after hunting. Well, now that you know a little about claws, I will get into the details of using your claws when hunting. Furrst, I will discuss wheather claws are of any use while hunting bugs. The answer is.....
sometimes. For instance, trying to kill a moth with your claws is completely ineffective. Don't even try it, because I can guarantee that it won't work. If you are hunting a cockroach though, if you find that you are having trouble, just skewer it on a claw. This is a very quick and easy way to get rid of them, although you must have extremely good eye-paw coordination. You can also slice your bugs, although this is a very messy way of killing them. If it's beetles you're after, then the claws can be used to pry of that awful crunchy shell once it's dead. These are some good examples, although I've seen cats get very creative while taking this course. One of my purrsonal favorites applies to hunting ants. Lick your paw, track the ant, then slap your paw down hard on the ant....well, they aren't chocolate covered, but hey, they're still good! Next, I would like to purrrsue the issue of hunting rodents using your claws. This is not a good way to kill your prey, because that would be rather cruel. Once your prey is dead though, nails can be furry useful! You can rip your prey to shreds and generally have fun using your claws. Also, you can hunt inanimate objects using your claws, but that's different course. I hope you found this essay useful.
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Submitted by: Tia
Hunting Inanimate Objects
On rainy days when you can't go outside to hunt, if you are an indoor cat, or you just can't seem to find anything to hunt, I present to you: Hunting Inanimate Objects. The definition of an inanimate object, in case you don't
already know, is as follows: any object that is not living. The word animate suggests movement, but that would make a computer an Animate object, and we all know that computers are not alive. Inanimate objects include: paper, dustbunnies, string, cat cereal, rubber bands, boxes, paper bags, etc. We will refer to inanimate objects as IO. Understand what an IO is? Great! Let's move on then. To play with IOs, you must use your imagination. If the IO moves, like a dustbunny caught in the flow of air-conditioning, for example, you can have great fun trying to capture it, and it won't ever stop moving until you do. These such IOs do not require much imagination, although they don't tend to taste very good. With IOs that do not move, you can have just as much fun! Things such as carpets (not wall to wall) for example, can be SO exciting. If you have another cat in the house, one of you can hide under the carpet, while the other one practices attacking it. You can also do this even if there is only you around. Find something like a bottle top, or a twist tie, and place it under the carpet. Then, calculate efurything very carefully, and pounce! When you pounce on the carpet, it will move the object underneath, thus creating a moving IO out of a non-moving IO. Have fun with my boredom tips, and rememfur, practice never hurts! Be imaginitive, and make up your own strategies.
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Submitted by: KitKat Purr
Be the Big "Cheese" in Mouse Hunting
Mouse hunting, well to admit, is the easiest hunting to me! Well, maybe not for you and maybe yes for you! But either one, wanna be the "big cheese" in catching mouse at your block? Actually, I'm tied with my outdoor-cat-friend Two-Tone in the "big cheese" title of the block. Anyway, let's get started! To be an excellent mouse hunter, you have to be good in your reflexes. As instinct, we can feel a mouse coming. Every cat has that, some have it stronger, some don't. To make yours stronger, work on those reflexes! How? Easy, practice clawing a certain thing. Or let your eyes wander everywhere. Try leaping and pouncing. Even try smelling or eating a snack! Yes, it's easy! Now to go to step number 2..... You think your reflexes are good enough now? Next, start practicing on just pouncing. Try pouncing some weeds in the yard. Or a grasshopper! They're real challenges, which will make your pouncing magnificent. DON'T POUNCE ON YOUR HUMAN UNLESS WITH PERMISSION! Humans can get frightened with this, or sometimes hurt by 2 ways: your claws
or even a heart-attack! The heart attack rarely comes when you do that, but please don't for your human's safety. Done with your pouncing? Get those legs working, do some running! You can do any leg-exercise, but running is more effective. Run like the wind through the breeze and the grass. Are you a city cat? No prob! Run around in your apartment/house/condo/whatever! Leap over things like an obstacle course (that will also help you with your leaping). Now the final: Practice the GRAB. What's the grab? Sometimes it's hard for us butter-paw kitties! So please practice it! It's one very important thing to catching meesies! Practice grabbing stuff, ANYTHING! Unless it's your
human, or your human's figurines, or your human's TV, or.....you get the idea. Just practice those paws! Now the time has come. Combine all those things and be the big cheese in catching your mousy! OOPS, almost forgot! You sometimes need to be clever and cunning! Use some bait, like CHEEESE! Please try not to get tempted to eating the cheese, some cats do! Just be clever and do the things up there, and you'll, like the humans say, snatch the big one's!
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Submitted by: Tabby
Camouflaging
Rawr rawr MERAW, fellow hunters! Hunting animals is harder than you think. You have to devise a strategy, have good paw-eye coordination, and plan each step furry carefully. Howeffur, you also need to make sure your prey doesn't SEE you as well as HEAR you, because it will fly/run/hop/swim away. Camouflaging means to blend into the background so delicious mouses and other creatures won't see you :) The best thing to do is to examine your surroundings. Where are you? In the forest? In the wide-open plains? Next, think about what color you are. Let's say you are brown, like a tortie. The best place to hide would be behind a tree because that is also brown. Also, if you are in a pile of woodchips or dirt, crouch down and stay still. This is a furry good camouflage,
too. If you are light brown, like an Abyssinian cat, it is best to stay in long, dry pieces of grass. This is the technique our ancestors, the lions, used. If you are white, it is a furry good idea to hide in the snow. But if you are like me and you don't live in a place where it snows, hide against the plain, white side of the house, or anything else that is white. Lastly, if you are black, or black and gray like me: you can either use the same
technique as dark brown cats, or you can hunt at night. Fur all kitties, not just black ones, hunting at night is purrrobably the best. Not only will your prey not be able to see you, but you will be able to see it furry furry well. Also, a lot of nighttime creatures are furry tasty! Good luck with camouflaging, fellow hunters. Meows and good hunting!
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Submitted by: Tabby
What NOT to hunt
Rawr rawr MERAW, fellow hunters, In my last report, I mentioned some things you
shouldn't hunt due to their size. Now I am going to tell you EFFURYTHING you shouldn't hunt and why. Because of my last report, you purrrobably think that efurrything I think you shouldn't hunt is bigger than you, but that isn't always true. Let's take the owl. Owls might look like big, yummy, defenseless birds, but they aren't. They ARE big and yummy but they are definitely not defenseless. Owls have furry sharp talons, just like our claws. You could get furry badly hurt if you try to catch one of these birds! Another thing you shouldn't hunt is bees. Bees have furry sharp things on their butts that poke
you and sting you. If you try to hunt a bee and you catch it in your mouth, it will most likely sting you in your mouth and this is not pleasant. Also, bees are furry beneficial, they pollenate the flowers, and hoomins love flowers. Spiders. Most spiders are OK to hunt, but some of them, like tarantulas and trap-door spiders have furry sharp fangs with poison in them. You can get furry badly hurt and have to go to the v*t if you get bitten by one of these. You shouldn't hunt snakes fur the same reason, and also because they are even more dangerous. Lastly, unless you are a skilled, experienced hunter, you shouldn't hunt crabs. If your hoomins take you to the beach, you might notice some of these things scurrying around -- they look like the things your hoomins eat at seafood restaurants, except the ones on their plates don't move. I would suggest that you don't try to eat this unless you are a furry good hunter or you are at a seafood restaurant because they have furry painful pinchers. Even the hoomins at restaurants have to band the crabs' pinchers so it won't pinch them. I hope you have learned a lot and will be careful what you eat! Meows and good hunting!
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Submitted by: Tabby
Weather
Rawr rawr MERAW, fellow hunters, It is grrreat to go hunting on a slightly warm, sunny day. Howeffur, some days aren't so good; when it's raining or snowing, or extremely hot, it can be hard to hunt. I will give you some pointers on hunting in extreme weather. Here in California, it gets furry hot in the summer, past 100 degrees. If you must hunt, make sure it is cooler than 100 degrees (farenheit) or you could get heat exhaustion. Also, make sure your hoomin has put out plenty of water fur you. When hunting in 100+ degrees, try to be in the shade as much as pawsible, especially if you have black fur. Some good things to hunt in the summer are: some types of birds, frogs, lizards, and fish. In the winter, it usually rains in California. Most kitties don't like rain, like me, but there are ways to avoid it: take shelter under a tree or in a bush. This will also help you to catch your prey! There aren't many things outdoors when it's raining, though, except some worms and maybe a few mice, but that's about all. If it is snowing where you live, this can be a grrreat camoflauge fur all you white kitties! Snow can be furry cold, so try to stay where the snow isn't too deep. Some things that are good to hunt in snow are rabbits, mice, moles, and some kinds of birds. Howeffur, you can get easily lost, cold, and hungry (if you don't catch anything) while hunting in the rain or snow. Unless you are an expert hunter, I would suggest you hunt indoors. Indoors, you can hunt mice, bugs, dust bunnies, or your sisfur or brofur's tail! I hope this has helped you. Meows and good hunting!
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Submitted by: Tia
Keeping Your Prey Live
Many cats immediately kill their prey. This is not always the best idea fur the
following reasons:
#1. Your prey is a lot more fun when you can play with it....it's a little more lively if you haven't already killed it.
#2. Your humans probably do not enjoy your hunting all that much (I know, it's hard to believe, but you'll just have to trust us on this one)...they won't get as mad at you if it's still alive, because they usually like to return the prey to the wild (unless they are the type that would much rather not get the hard-to-catch prey around the house).
#3. If the prey turns out to be someone's pet, especially your humans' or the neighbors, it's a lot safer on your part to leave the prey live.
#4. Some animals carry rabies and other nasty diseases. If you don't kill the animal, you are much less likely to catch the horrible disease that goes with it. These are the main reasons why you might want to keep your prey alive. Now, here's how you do it: When you catch your prey, DO NOT use the death bite. Try not to injure the animal at all. With birds, DO NOT injure their wings or any major feathers. Try not to create any bloodshed. If the animal looks sick, don't try to catch it at all. After you have caught the animal, take it gently in your mouth, like you would carry a kitten. Make sure your human is inside or around, but does not witness the actual chase and capture of the prey. Take your hunt to your human and drop GENTLY at your human's feet. HEHEHEHEHE! Isn't the expression they make hilarious? Uh oh.......if the human looks angry, SCRAM NOW! Don't just sit there at the computer reading this essay.....RUN! If the human isn't mad, keep reading =) Purr softly, look up at your human, down to your now escaping prey, and use The Puppy Eyes (ewww! puppies!)...... The Kitty Eyes? So anyway, after proper attention and love, prance away and go take a nap while your human tries clumsily to catch the animal you have so kindly bestowed upon them.
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Older Hunters
By: Goldie
My name is Goldie and I am 12 years old, so I know how hard it can be to hunt when you are older. But hunting is so fun, you are purrobably asking, isn't there a way you can still hunt? Yes, there is! You might not be able to hunt something fast, like a bird when you are older, but there are still plenty of things you can hunt.
1) Lizards-- these aren't fast, so you can still chase them, but they are still delicious! Also, they are a bit of a challenge, so you aren't giving that up.
2) Mice-- the baby mice are the easiest to catch. You might be giving up the chase (or not) but you don't lose that delicious mouse flavor!
3) Fish-- these are the easiest to catch, especially the fish in your hoomin's fish tank or pond. With one quick swipe of your paw, you have a meal! If
some of you MUST hunt birds, don't over-exert yourself. Go fur something
easy, like a baby bird. Don't show it to your hoomin, though, as they love baby animals. Or, better yet, stalk that bird your hoomin is basting fur dinner. Yum! Rememfur, older cats-- you CAN hunt!!!
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Essays
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Submitted by: Sassy
Hunting catnip mice: Catnip mice are great fun to hunt, but they can be furry
sneaky! When mew see one laying on the floor, try to sneak in as close as
possible, without the mousie seeing mew. Once mew are close and the mousie least
expects it, POUNCE! This is where the mice get tricky. They will lay still until
mew sink in mewr powerful claws. Then they try to run away! They especially like
hiding under rugs and furniture. This can lead to some wonderful playing with
the prey! Once mew are tired of playing, apply the "bite of death" with mewr razor sharp teeth!
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Submitted by: Brother Oswin
Hunting The Mighty Papurr Towel Roll
The mighty papurr towel roll is one of my purry favopurrate things to hunt. It's
one of the few things my bropurr and I can hunt being that we are inside
purrbabies. Ok mew I will tell mew how to hunt this prey. Furst mew have to
sneek purry quietly cross the kitchen flur. Then jump onto the countpurr and
hide behide something. If there isn’t anything stay still so the paper towl
roll thinks your a cookie jar or something. Then at the right mewment pounce on
it and knock it on to the flur. Jump purry quickly on it and grab it with your
front claws so it can’t get away. Mew start kicking it with mewer back legs.(
kick kick kick kick )Bite it ,and growl (vrrrrrrrrr hissssssssssss grrrrrrr
raaaaa rrrowl hissssssssss etc)at it. It’s fur will start coming off in purry
little pieces an fly all ovpurr the room. Continue attack until you defeated,
and all it’s fur is off. Finally bat it around the flur to make sure it is
defeated. Then go take a nap. Oh don’t worry about the mess the mighty papurr
towel roll’s fur made. Purr humans will clean that up. That is what they are
fur.
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Submitted by: KitKat Purr
How To Catch a House-Mouse
House Meesies are the easiest type to catch. I usually catch them. To catch them, the main thing to do is use bait. Cheese preferred. These house-meesies love to live inside the walls, so you need to bring them out. Second, once
your meesie is out, POUNCE! Grab it by the tail, don't worry, the tail won't come off!
Then you can do anything with the meesie. If in a good mood, I torture it. Then I EAT IT! You can make many recipes of it, which my next report will be. If the humans are scared of the house meesies, help them! Humans tend to be scared of meesies, so it's your job to eat them!
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House-Mouse Attic Hunt Report
It was finally the day I moved, so I was ready to hunt. The humans boosted me up to the attic, and I looked around. The unsuspected house-meesies was here somewhere! I used my sense of smell to track it. AHA! I could smell a cheese-breath rodent around here somewhere. Like a blood hound (no offense), I sniffed my way through the attic, then finally, I SAW IT! I ran after it, and the mouse has seen me. It scampered away. With my powerful paws, I ran after it. I dodged here and there, this was dangerous work. There my be some things around here that I wouldn't suspect. So I tried to be careful. I knocked over some loose-boards. Unluckily, I lost it. I used my sense of hearing to find it. SQUEEK! AHA! The dumb rodent couldn't keep it's mouth shut! I grabbed it, and it squeeked. I then showed it to my humans. When they approved of me to eat it, I used my sense of taste. The mouse squeaked down my throat as I gulped it down.
Bye!
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Submitted by: Tabby
How To Lure Creatures Within Your Reach
There are many effective ways to hunt. Howeffur, what if you are fa-- I mean, fluffy, and it's hard fur you to run? Or what if you have lost the use of your back legs? You must get these yummy critters within your reach. Furst, how to attract a rabbit. Some kitties will say that to attract a rabbit, hide behind a tree and make a noise like a carrot. HA HA. Howeffur, that is not how you get a rabbit to come within your reach :) A good idea would be to actually put a carrot near where you are hiding and wait fur the rabbit to come out. Or, if you really want to challenge yourself, you can make the mating call of the rabbit (whatever that might be). To get mouses to come within your reach: use cheese. To get birds to come within your reach: use sunflower seeds or bread. These are all furry good tips, howeffur, there are other ways. If you aren't good at running or you can't run, have some one else chase the delicious delicacies out fur you. One kitty will run into the bush or place where the animal is hiding and flush it out. You will be a tail's distance away from the hiding place. When the animal comes out, pounce on it! Then I would suggest that you share the catch with your furriend :) Meows and good hunting!
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Submitted by: Tabby
When to Hunt Birds
There are many good animals to hunt -- howeffur, hunting birds in the winter? This does not always work because they have all gone south. To be able to hunt successfully, you must know when certain animals are easy to catch. Let's start with birds. Baby birds hatch in the spring. Egglings are furry easy to catch, but they don't make as good a meal as the big, full grown ones. Summer is a grrreat time to catch birds because all the birds that were born in spring are now a nice size. Fall is purrrobably the best time to hunt these delicacies because the weather is purrfect, but that depends on where you live. If
you do hunt birds in Fall, don't wait too long or they will be gone fur the winter. And that brings me to : Winter. This is the worst time to hunt because almost all the birds have gone south. It would only be good to hunt birds in the winter if you lived in the South Pole! (penguins!) As Garfield Cat once said, they're birds in tuxedos who can't fly :) I hope this has helped efurryone who has wondered when and where to hunt birds! Meows and good hunting!
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Grasshoppers
Rawr rawr MERAW, fellow hunters! If you live in northern California, you will know that there has been a huge spawning of these delicious delicacies: grasshoppers. But why? Some kitties will say it is the end of the world. No, it's not the end of the world, it's just that the grasshoppers have moved to "greener pastures". Now you are purrrobably wondering, "Why should we hunt these?" Well, furst of all, they don't taste half bad, and also the hoomins hate them. Grasshoppers destroy their plants and some hoomins are even scared of them. You'll be sure to get plenty of praise if your hoomin sees you
jumping around and trying to catch one :) In case you're wondering what a grasshopper looks like, it is a green insect with wings. Sometimes you might think it is dead when you see it laying on the sidewalk, but you'll know that it isn't when it jumps. Also, don't be surprised if your hoomin gets mad when you kill a bird during "grasshopper season"; birds eat grasshoppers. Just keep killing grasshoppers, and they'll realize that you're BETTER at getting rid of the grasshoppers than birds! Meows and good hunting!
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The Size of Your Prey -- What Should I Hunt?
Rawr rawr MERAW, fellow hunters, It is easy to get carried away when hunting. Howeffur, you must think about what you would like to hunt. NEFFUR hunt anything that is too big. The biggest thing I would hunt is a bunny rabbit (if I ever saw one) or the wild turkeys that occasionally come to the empty lot behind us. You need to think about your size befur you actually start the hunt. Rememfur, hunting is 70% mental and 30% physical :) I am only about 12 pounds, so I would neffur take on anything larger than that. If you do, you could
get furry badly hurt. If you are a maine coon kitty, you can take on larger things because you are a larger breed of kitty. Howeffur, some things ANY domestic cat couldn't hunt are: deers, mooses, wolves (or any other type of D*G), or horses, particularly not horses because hoomins seem to like them furry much, almost as much as cats. I hope this helps you when determining what to hunt and what not to. Meows and good hunting!
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Hunting Dust Bunnies
If you are an indoor kitty, you purrrobably think that there aren't many
things to hunt inside the house except a few flies and a spider. Wrong! With winter coming, even outdoor kitties will have to come inside. What will they hunt? Dust bunnies! Dust bunnies don't taste furry good, but they are furry fun to hunt. In my experience as a hunter, I've found that most dust bunnies reside under the teenager's bed. But they also live in many other cool, dark places. What do they look like? They are usually gray or off-white, and they
look like a toy jingle ball, but they don't jingle. You don't have to be furry
quiet because they don't have ears, but it is hard fur a cat to be noisy :) Once you start batting the dust bunny, it flies all over the place! This purrrvides grrreat entertainment on a rainy day, fur both you AND the hoomins! And who knows, they might even give you a treat fur being so cute. So rememfur, if you're stuck indoors, never hesitate to look under the bed! Meows and good hunting!
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Submitted by: Day-Late
Hi All! I learned some really important things about squirrels this month: 1.
They are QUICK. 2. They climb trees faster than I can. 3. If not near
their tree, they will run across the street. 4. It is NOT worth chasing them
across the street!
I tried to chase one, and Meowmie caught me in the street. I got yelled at, and even spanked for that one, not to mention being grounded inside for a whole week. And it really wasn't worth it because by the time I got across the street, the squirrel was no where to be found. So if the squirrel heads for the highway, let him go. He'll be back, and being locked inside with 3 siblings who can't go outside either and know it's your fault is no fun.
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Submitted by: Blackey Frankel
How to Hunt With a Bell
Don't you just hate it when you are just about to catch a nice, juicy bird
when that stupid bell that your humans put on you rings and scares the bird
away? Well after a lot of practise, I have found a way to overcome this problem.
First of all, it is of no use to try to get your collar of because although you
will easily slip it off, your humans will be extremly angry when you come home
without a collar and eventually they may even keep you inside all the time to
stop you from loosing your collar! If you are lucky, like me, and have a fairly
large ruff of fur around your neck, stifling the sound of the bell is easy,
especially in winter when you have a longer coat. I am aware that this will not
wok for short haired cats, and so I have come up with another way. If you don't
move your head at all, and moved as slowly as you can, trying to keep your tail
from moving, you should be able to get close enough to a bird to catch it even
with a bell. Having some cover helps though. I use this techneque sometimes in
summer and while it takes a VERY long time, you end up with the bird in the end.
Remember, the key to hunting is patience!
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Tips
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Submitted by: Tyie
Tip on Hunting Computer Graphics
Furst I'll give mew a little info about computer graphical prey...... 1. Where do computer gaphics live? They live in little computer chips inside the computer....mew have to use a computer mouse to get them to come out. 2. What do computer graphics do? Well, some of them pretend to be dead. They just sit there on the screen, and they think that we will not see them because they are so still. Some are what humans call "animated". They move around, and are generally furry annoying! They tease mew and then when mew try to catch them, they put up a glass wall in between mew and them! Now that mew know what computer graphics are, I'll tell mew some tips on how to catch them: Furst, mew must get up on the keyboard to position meour self properly. Then mew must stare at the graphic to make it nervous. Next, because the catching of a computer graphic is to strenuous fur the delicate human's constitution, mew must make sure they can't see the screen at all by standing directly in front of it. After that, bat at the graphic until it beeps at mew (at this point, meour human will probably shout something like: "Get off of the keyboard! You'll mess up the computer!") As soon as mew can, try to get rid of the graphic. If attacking it doesn't work, mew can always get rid of it by going to the snaky thing coming out of the computer and pulling on it. The screen should now be blank.... mew've accomplished the catching of a Computer Graphic!
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