Cats. 

What is their problem? Seconds ago, a cat tried to get me to step on it. it's a good thing I'm agile and cat-like myself, I was able to dodge the suicidal nincompoop. I realize that I'm being trained for something with that now-familiar maneuver, but I haven't figured out what that could be-- the cat's ways of teaching are peculiar.    

They are horrible fiends though, aren't they? Cats, I mean. When cats capture a mouse, sometimes they 'play' with the thing for a while, letting the terrified little animal think it's getting away, then recapturing it, over and over. Without some kind of intervention, the little jerks would do that all day if their victim could survive it for that long. Like a full time job, doing what they love-- torture.

 

young professional off to work

  
The way they apprehend a mouse and then proceed to taunt the thing to death-- it's a sad thing to witness, but I noticed something one time when I opened the door and a quick cat brought a field rat inside the house, and then proceeded to let it go. I knew I'd never catch the plump little thing when I saw how quickly it disappeared under the stove, and the cat-- the fiend-- couldn't figure out how to get behind or under that stove. So now there's a fat field rat thing in the house. 

Survival Trainers?

Is the cat training the rodents? By letting them go, there is the chance that one will get away (see above!) and perhaps even go on to reproduce, making new batches of field rats with an upgrade-- born with more acute survival skills and instincts, they will raise a more successful rat in the next generation. 

The cat-- the little bully-- could benefit from this as it would help to sustain a food supply over long periods. If every successful capture were made a meal, then eventually they might eat themselves out of a job. Cats have long been friends with humans, since the cultivation and storage of grain became a thing, and long voyages on ships full of food would keep a cat or two on board-- not because cats are awesome-- but because they would help to control the rodents.

  
I'm constantly shaking a cat in the gardens so that it will let go of something, whether a rodent or a snake or any little victim, I can't stand to watch the feline version of "training", but at least I can see some reason and sense in what looks like a senseless act.  

Cats are sort of awesome I suppose. Cats are awesome little jerks. I'll try not to step on one for the rest of the day at least.
 

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hey thanks for reading, this only scratches the surface of my in-depth cat problems and related adventures. This is lighthearted stuff here-- it gets real sometimes.

  
image of cat by me, from the 80's

 therealpaul @ @therealpaul