I Don't Know Nature's Way

Sometimes a mouse isn't a mouse!

I could have sworn that dark lump on the barn floor was indeed a mouse. And, I thought, it was probably the mother of the three babies Puff nearly killed last week. I left it where it lay believing that Puff hadn't killed it but only mortally wounded it like she did the babies, and that it was prudent to allow nature its due course. Sometime later this afternoon, I reasoned, I would scoop it up and remove it from the barn.

Returning to the barn a few hours later expecting to find a dead mouse, I discovered that it had moved a few inches from where I had seen it earlier. Moving a bit closer, but not too close, I could see its life force moving inside. Since it had moved around a bit, I could now see its very long dark legs that bent at a very sharp angle. A quick, "whoa", burst forth up from my gut. "What kind of mouse has long thin dark legs that bend sharply and tuck under its belly?" Puff chattered the entire time I looked over this weird whateveritis. If only I spoke "cat", I would have understood that Puff was telling me she had caught a bat, batted it around for the kittens benefit, and like the mouse babies, left it for dead.

Was it Carole King who sang, "I don't know nature's way?" Well, I'm with you, Carole, I not only don't know, but it seems my learning curve has taken a sudden upward turn.

I might not know nature's way, just yet, but Puff knows enough for all of us. And what she knows she's passing along to her kittens.

Oh yeah, I do know enough to know that bat's carry rabies. Batman will remain on the floor until his spirit has gone to bat heaven at which time my husband will bury his remains. I don't do funerals!

Once again, all is well.