Yesterday's Chipmunk Ordeal

Emerald...

...was out across the road where the cats normally go; a forest full interesting things to is too much for a curious cat to pass up. Yep, she found something interesting...

a chipmunk.

She must have chased it onto the road before she came in for treats; I had to call Winston in

because he was too preoccupied with the activities of a crow. 

Seems the little chipmunk had dashed across our road and got itself noticed by the ever watchful glaze of a crow, sitting high in a tree top.

Well, the crow was thinking 'easy dinner' and the chipmunk was praying 'ESCAPE' and I was concerned because Winston was meandering on the road so I wasn't paying attention to the crow he kept stopping to watch, I was too busy watching for vehicles that might hit Winston.

Finally he came to me, then I took notice of what the crow was up to. In the driveway of my neighbor the crow was attaching the chipmunk. I yelled and it paid no heed until I came running at it, it then decided that it might be prudent to watch from on high. 

While it perched in a tree, I checked the little chipmunk. It ran from me three times before I was able to turn it over in the grass and carefully pick it up. They bite - I wasn't interested in getting a needle for the bite I would recieve if I wasn't cautious so I pulled my sweater sleeve over my hand and picked it up with the other. The frightened chipmunk sank its teeth deep into my sweater and hung on making tiny squeaky noises as I held it. The crow took a keen interest in 'just what I thought I was doing with its prey...'

 After all, he had a mate to feed!

Holding the tiny chipmunk

who had cupped itself into my hand and was still munching on my sweater, I took it across the road and into the forest. Finding a place with low growing, very young trees, I carefully peeled the chipmunk's mouth from my sleeve and separated the two. It curled into a ball in my palm. I placed the little guy under a low growing tree and covered its hiding place over with dead leaves to shelter it from the rain which had started to fall. 

The rest I left to the Lord, its His chipmunk after all. 

When I finally emerged from the woods the crow scanned me carefully to see whether I still had its dinner with me. When he realized I did not... 

  well, he wasn't too happy about it. 

He flew to a nearby tree across the road but he wouldn't know where to begin looking for his lost prey.

I hope the chipmunk recovered enough to find its way back to its family and I hope the crow found some other prey for its mate. 

It remains in the Lord's hands because its His business to take care of both.

Catspaw







 

Owls ~ The Other Birds Of Prey

What's your favorite bird? I mean, if you had to think about it and choose, which one would you consider your fav.


One of my favorites is the Owl. Just because they are so unique and different from other birds of prey. Check these out and you'll see why.

Aside from looking distinctly different from all the other birds in the world, you have to love that 'head rotation' thing they do to 'hear' you better. I wonder if that occurred to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood?

With a mighty wing span and near perfectly silent flight, cats and dogs are far safer inside at night, for although they hunt smaller prey, to them your kitten, cat or small dog IS smaller prey. 

From a cat or dog's point of view, this would be terrifying! 

Keep in mind however that, like most animals, they are only fighting to survive and it is a daily fight with the odds not necessarily in their favor. A missed meal is a matter, quite literally, of life and death for him, his mate and their owlets. That could also mean another species on the endangered list as well. 

Its also the reason why I put cat collar with bell on all my cats as a warning to the birds, mice, voles and other smaller animals they hunt ~~ another animal or bird needs them more than my cats need to kill them for sport or to pass the time when they are bored outside and looking for something to do. 

Something to consider when watching your cats and dogs playing at stalking outdoors. We need to take more responsibility and not allow our pets to damage our environment. I realize most people don't even give this a second thought, let alone a first and none of us take into account that maybe we should be more aware of what transpires in our own backyards; instead of taking it for granted that our pets only catch a 'few' small critters ~~ really how much of a dent can it make. Over time, it can mean the decrease in population of these small animals that the birds of prey depend on for their only food source. In the end, what you do does make the difference; are you contributing to something good or something that will help another animal to extinction? 

It always starts small...


Catspaw