04 May 2021

Carrouges, et code rouge

Strange morning. Well, not really. The cat brought in a live mouse at about 5 a.m. He did the same thing a couple of days ago, and he's been bringing us his prey, dead or alive, on a regular basis for a few months now. I try to stop him before he gets up the stairs to the main level (kitchen, living room, etc.) to drop the creatures and let them go scurrying around. This morning I succeeded, but then he let the mouse go down on the ground level (entryway, garage, utility room, including our cellier — food and wine storage room). He let the mouse go and then came upstairs.

I went back down there and tried to find the mouse but didn't see it. The cat went back downstairs and a few minutes later came back with the mouse — dead, this time. That's better than having the live rodent running around downstairs. I put both cat and mouse out on the front deck and closed the door. What do you do about a cat that keeps bringing live rodents and live lizards into the house and letting them go before you can stop him? I guess I should put him out after he eats his breakfast and then close the house up so he can't get back in until later in the day. You'd think that, at the age of 15, he would stop hunting. We feed him constantly, after all.

Here are some more photos of the Château de Carrouges, in lower Normandy, about 100 miles north of Saint-Aignan. I took them 15 years ago on a May afternoon, when Walt and I were driving back home after spending a few days on the Normandy coast.







Walt got up a few minutes ago, said the house felt cold, and went down to check the boiler. It was displaying an error code and we can't get it re-started. We might be out of fuel. You'd think that by this time in May we wouldn't need to have the heat coming on. But it's windy outside, though not very cold (between 45 and 50ºF), and it's supposed to rain starting later this morning. So it won't get very warm outside. Walt can build a fire in the wood stove, but it's too dark right now to go outside and get wood. Another day in this Loire Valley life...

15 comments:

  1. It's in cat's DNA and nature to go hunting whatever their age and even though he is well fed. How often did he ate his prey?
    I was told it was 90* F outside yesterday here in NoVA. Hope you can get help very soon.

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    1. Bertie brought in a second mouse this morning at about 7:30. He had already eaten the first mouse two hours earlier. When I took him to the vet's last month, the veterinarian said he was surprised that a 15-year-old cat that gets frequent regular meals from his servants (that's us) would still be out hunting.

      I just got off the phone with the people who supply us with fuel oil. Despite some irritability and a large dose of attitude on the employee's part, we can expect a fuel delivery tomorrow "dans la journée" — not morning or evening, but just when they can. You'd think they didn't enjoy selling the stuff.

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    2. To my recollection, that has been the attitude of employees in any kind of shop or business in France for the longest time. Recently It seems said attitude had improved...

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  2. Your cat is bringing you gifts. Our cats specialized in birds and hazelnuts. The birds would fly around trying to find a way out, never in the direction of the open window or door. They also brought in an occasional mouse to play with.
    The hazelnuts ended up under furniture too close to the floor for the cat to get it. It. Was such fun watching them play with the nuts. And, of course, the nuts didn't bother us.

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    1. Do you think the cat thinks we want to eat live or raw mice? I guess not, because when I scoop up the dead mouse to put it outdoors on the terrasse, he scoots along to see what I'm doing with it, and then eats it outdoors. I think he just wants praise for showing us his prey(s).

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  3. Geeeee, you'd think they'd be glad to get a sale (the fuel guys). I hope everything is all sorted out soon.

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  4. I have 2 fifteen year old cats. The female has never really hunted but the male ginger (Dijon) hunts mostly for sport. He brought a chipmunk from quite a distance and when I wrestled it away it wasn't even wounded. He does chow down on voles though, which is ok by me. He is well fed of course but the voles are just an hors d'oeuvre.
    Is there some way you can check on Bertie before letting him back in?

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  5. It's in cat's DNA and nature to go hunting whatever their age and even though he is well fed. How often did he ate his prey?
    I was told it was 90* F outside yesterday here in NoVA. Hope you can get help very soon.

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  6. Strange things with electronics. When I opened the blog a few minutes ago, it showed zero comment. I was sure I commented earlier, but I might have forgotten to push the publish button; that would't be the first time. So I went back to Notes, copied said comment, went back to the post, posted my comment and pushed the button to find out my comment had already been published and several other readers had already commented. I have no idea what happened.

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  7. Ken, do you remember all the ducks on the moat?

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    1. I have photos of ducks and other animals at Carrouges.

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  8. Magnificent wisteria. No suggestions on Bertie’s hunting habits or fuel employees attitude habits.

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  9. My cat is an inside cat! I guess I am extremely lucky that first vet encouraged me to contain my cat if I wanted him to have a safe and healthy life - no comments on the critters I wouldn't have to deal with inside my home from what "the cat drug in"! In my french class yesterday, Jacques mentioned he had planted glycine - and I was so proud that I knew that name from your blogpost, Ken! Merci!

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    1. Bert has always been an outdoor cat. The English people who had him for the first four years of his life let him live outdoors but sleep inside at night. They also had a little dog that was the same age as Bert. For the past 15 years, Bert has been an outdoor cat. We live in a place where there is very little car traffic, so he's safe out there, even though he has had many fights with other outdoor cats over the years.

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  10. Oui, absolument Bert n'est pas en danger chez vous! Most cats would be envious to have the life he leads!!!


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