This morning, I heard Tiddo the cat having a conversation in the bedroom. It isn’t uncommon that he meows to himself or sits and meows to me (for three hours straight), but just now it seemed he was talking to someone even though he was alone. I walked into the room to investigate, as it was ongoing. And this is why you need to keep your camera close…

Tiddo and a White-Throated Sparrow having a little chat at the window. The moment was endearing, though let’s be clear, Tiddo would have eaten the bird if there wasn’t a screen. He was just pretending to be nice to lure the unsuspecting birdie closer. They were talking about the nice weather.

I’ve seen my cat in action, like the field mouse he cornered into my boyfriend’s shoe last month. And here below is the mouse that Tiddo brought to me in bed at two in the morning last winter. He dropped it into the bed next to me and meowed like crazy until I scolded him to go away. It was dark, and now awake, I got up to go to the bathroom. As I did, something fell from the bed next to me onto the floor and my toes touched it as I put my feet down. Tiddo wanted me to be proud of his catch, so I turned on the lights and made a big deal of praising him. I don’t condone killing any creature in my heart, but once Tiddo’s deed was done (something that is his nature and for which it was clear he wanted to share with me), what can I do?

After I praised him, I promptly threw the dead mouse in the waste bin. In the wee hours of the morning, I heard that trash can tip over…Tiddo found his mouse and got it out of the trash. I guess he couldn’t understand why I’d waste a perfectly good and delicious mousie.