Alright, that does it.  Enough “surprises”.  After several mice in various states of disrepair, a bunch of live but tail-less lizards, a not-quite-dead gopher this morning and a most definitely dead and disemboweled mouse, gopher or rodent of some sort tonight… that’s it.  I’ve had enough.  No more pet door, guys — no more free in-and-out access.  Perhaps you’ll eventually deplete whatever remains in the fenced-in area but you’ll have to do it with controlled access from me.

Oh, you want back in?  Not with that lizard you’re carrying, Pan.

Hera, what’s that under your paw?  No, the other paw.  No, your *other* other paw!

Perhaps after many months like this (not being able to bring prey inside) they’ll lose this habit – or at least drive off all the prey.

They seem to enjoy the access to the roof though – I installed a pet door in the upstairs bathroom window instead. And there’s an upstairs patio area off of the master bedroom where I’ve put in some potted plants and grasses for them.

Waking up early this morning, prepping to go ride Wilder with MBOSC, I wonder “where’s Pan?” as it’s odd for him not to be curled up with me in bed.  So I go downstairs and find him easily enough:

It appears he’s been terrorizing another tiny little field mouse all morning (or night).  From his body language, purr and greeting to me, it’s clear in his mind he’s “playing” with a toy.  “Look what I got!”  I doubt the mouse sees it that way.

Do you really have to bring them inside though, Pan?!  Some days he brings in one lizard after another and I keep tossing them out back, scolding him while I do it.  The amusing thing is that Pan gets all pissy with me and talks back – clearly upset that I don’t appreciate all his effort spent to bring them home.

Well, it turned out to be easy enough to lure this little guy into a shoebox and toss him to safety — after showing Pan what I was doing.  Get the idea, Pan?  NOT in the house!

 

Follow-up: The very next morning I awoke to the sound of kitty excitement in my bedroom. It would seem that *somebody* recaptured that little guy and brought him/her to my bedroom (argh!) and which point Hera took over to make a meal of him. Lovely. Leaving entrails when they were both done. Wonderful.

Unless the mice and lizards learn not to venture into the fenced area, I don’t think my current “open pet door policy” is going to last. Although I will say Pan seemed at least a little concerned over what my reaction was going to be when I first realized what was going on. Or, more likely, he was just expecting praise.

Came home today to find the remains of a mouse in the living room.  (Just head and entrails, how nice.) Yesterday I had to chase Pan out several times once again with the live lizards he’d brought in to play with.

I may have to rethink their free access to the pet door if I can’t break them of this.  Or maybe move it to the upstairs for the roof/balcony where they can’t catch anything.

*&%!#@!  I’ve just been freakin’ mauled!  By Hera.  She just sliced up my face, around my eye, down my nose.

Well, this causes Hera to leap up next to me in a mad panic and climb directly up and over me to escape and run away, cutting open my face in the process and leaving me shocked and bloody.  Luckily she missed my eyes. I’ve got cuts across my eyelid and under my eye, a small cut near my ear and a long gash down my nose. So now I’m propped up in bed waiting for my wounds to clot up a bit after rinsing them out.  I guess I’m going to have to bandage it up to avoid getting blood on my pillow in the night.  These wounds are going to look great for days….

Geez Louise,  Hera!!!

Here’s the offending ten seconds of video that I think freaked Hera out.  I don’t suggest projecting it up on a wall, larger than life, if your own kitties are nearby:

Pan and Hera seem to have settled in well to my new home in the hills above Santa Cruz: