by Phil (London, UK)
I have three wonderful cats, a seven-and-a-half-year-old moggie called Triftji, and a pair of Egyptian Maus, Sinbad and Napoleon, both eighteen months old. There have been several amusing incidents with my little Maus, but one in particular really tickled me recently.
There was an amusing incident this morning with the smallest of my Maus, Napoleon; yesterday I noticed him scrambling over the wall from an adjacent garden with a green bag in his mouth, which he carried across my neighbour’s garden and leapt onto the dividing wall, bag still in his mouth. At this point he suddenly saw me and, startled, he dropped it from his mouth back into the neighbour’s garden.
I just forgot about it, as he has brought back all sorts of things in the past (apart from the usual birds, half a potato, a handful of cat collars, a spent firework, etc…). However, from bed early this morning, I noticed him scrambling over the wall again, with the same bag, which he dropped into my garden and proceeded to tear up. About half an hour later I walked out and found the bag ripped open and the contents scattered around the flag stones – looking more closely, I saw that it was a bag called ‘Supreme seeds for wild birds’, presumably used by a neighbour to refill a bird feeder.
It was only then that the thought struck me – was this a cat’s cunning or coincidence?! Maus, amongst other cats, are described as having higher levels of intelligence, but surely not this far? Surely, he didn’t notice what the bag’s contents were used for in my neighbour’s garden, and decided to lure his own birds in to his home territory for a spot of hunting?!
I would love to think that this was the case, although with mixed feelings… of my two Maus, Napoleon is the most enthusiastic (and successful) hunter of the two. The other Mau, Sinbad, is just a bit too cool to make enough effort, and Triftji’s hunting days seem to be behind him.
I’m leaning now towards this being intentional. Yesterday afternoon I saw him going to hide behind a small bush, from where he sat waiting, looking at the area where the bird seeds were scattered about!
RELATED: My cat eats bird seed
May 22, 2022-response from Michael the owner of this website. I have returned to your post many years later and I am pleased that I did. I believe that I have the answer to your query. You think that your cat was trying to trap birds by ensuring that birdseed was thrown about the garden and he would then watch. I think the better theory is that your cat liked to eat birdseed on occasions and therefore was attracted to the bag because it contained a food that he could eat. It sounds strange that a domestic cat wants to eat birdseed and even enjoys it but it has happened and it has happened to me recently. I feed the birds and they leave some birdseed on the lawn at which point my cat comes along and eats it. And foxes also eat birdseed. It’s ironic that a domestic cat will eat raw birdseed but pet food manufacturers are criticised for using grain in dry cat food as a filler.
Phil
A Cat’s Cunning or Coincidence? to Egyptian Mau
Below are some comments. This page was first written about 12 years ago. I have reviewed it and republished it today may 22nd 2022.
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