Teamwork

In the fall of the year the rodent population, like other wilderness creatures, start to gather and store the victuals they need to see them through the winter. Mice are great for storing rosehips, pine needles, seeds, pieces of dog food and other greens in all the places that remain accessible during the winter. They often feel that our covered woodshed is the place to store stuff, not realizing of course, that during the winter the firewood gets used, and much of their cache will be destroyed or at least relocated.

Each year there are a number of mice that feel my truck is a safe place for their winter stash. It is also a great source of nesting material in the form of discarded paper towel or tissues that I tend to discard behind the seat. The soft paper can be fluffed up to make a very comfortable nest.

Towards the end of September I start trapping the little buggers. Each evening I set two traps, with a bit of strong smelling cheese or bacon rind for bait, inside the truck. Most mornings I find two of the critters stretched, belly up, wearing the spring-loaded metal bar around their neck.  During the first few days of the short trapping season the undercarriage of my truck is probably marked with an identifiable trail that leads all and sundry to the most convenient penetration point and consequently the execution continues until I’ve eliminated the most gullible of the local rodent population or until the clan gets the idea that perhaps the truck is an unhealthy place to visit.

Enter “Punkin” our Siamese cat and hunter extraordinaire.  In the early stages of the game, she too sniffed out the trail that the varmints were using and put herself in charge of decimating the would be scroungers, one at a time. The little critters jump up into the truck frame to get away from her and hide within the framework or on top of the muffler until her vigilance and interest wanes sufficiently to allow a quick jump down and a race for the shelter of the long grass.

Enter “Meg” our mid-sized black Shepherd dog.  She’s also a hunter and a scrounger, is always hungry and looking for a free meal. She positions herself at the other end of the truck to the cat and the game begins. Rather than climb into the safety of the framework or engine compartment, the little critter drops to the ground and runs back and forth, side to front, back to side, until it’s exhausted. Both the cat and the dog are now under the truck, crouched on all fours and moving in. The cat stands up and gropes the undercarriage where the mouse has finally taken refuge and forces the mouse to drop down onto the ground smack onto the paws of the waiting dog.  There’s a gulp, a crunch and a swallow and the critter is history.

I was sitting on the deck railing watching this performance, intrigued by the teamwork. The dog and cat are tolerant of one another but aren’t the best of friends. In this case the excitement of the chase made them interesting hunting partners.