Of Cats & Dogs, Spiders, Wasps and Half a Mouse



Warning: contains pics of all of the above.

A little morning visitor

There's a pair of swallows living in the storeroom. We have this mutual voyeurism going on: they like to sit near the bougainvillea and watch me in the bath. I like to lie in the bath and watch them sit. They also like to fly into the house. One of the swallows has already ended up in the dog's mouth, to be expelled thanks to the quick action of a friend who was staying over. [Ruff has turned out to be quite the birder. She eats them whole, feathers, feet, beak and all.] I don't know if the swallow trapped here on the wrong side of the bedroom window is Jonah or his wife... but I got to scoop it up gently against the glass, hold its fragile little body in my cupped hands, and let it go outside.

My two city cats adapted quickly to the new house. It helped that they'd been coming here for several weekends and holidays during the last year. This time they got to try out various removal boxes and other containers for comfort, size and position.
Now who would throw away a perfectly good kitty?

Arachnophobes - you know who you are - go and make yourselves a cup of tea.

Now.













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This sequence played itself out one Wednesday morning. I caught the action in medias res. By this time the baboon spider was pretty much paralysed.


The wasp wanted to make sure it stayed that way. 

Then it got a good grip on one leg of the spider... 

 
...and reversed towards the window...
 

...dragging its prey all the way up the glass... 

 
...only to reach the concrete lip at the top and fall down to the ground again. This happened so often I had to leave eventually. When I got back they were gone. I suspect the wasp made it in the end and feasted for a good few days.



Once again the Boerboel ate/sniffed/got stung by/rolled in something poisonous. Of course it happened late on a Saturday night. A midnight phone call to the vet, several Allergex and one sleepless night later, the swelling started to abate. It would take another two days for her to return to wellness. I hope these allergic reactions are not progressive. 


Her whole body was covered in itchy bumps and welts. Drowsiness from the antihistamines had kicked in here and she was no longer agitated and convulsing from what must have been horrendous itching and burning.

This is my Sharpei impersonation.


So...

What's worse than finding a mouse in your living room?





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Yep. Even the cats have gone bush. They had maimed their previous victim, then sat and watched as it shivered in a corner. My heart cringes at the memory. I took the poor creature outside where, if it were lucky, a snake would kill it quickly. I couldn't bring myself to end its suffering. Bloody cats; at least this time they did it properly. 

All this killing isn't pretty and it's not happening out there. Still, it's part of what I came here for - to live inside the natural order of things, no longer separate from my surroundings as in the city. 

Every day is an adventure :-)










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