Tic Tac loves hunting grasshoppers in the garden. — ELLEN WHYTE
We are currently enjoying the hottest summer on record, and the cats are in their element.
As the eldest, Target bagged the sun puddle by the front door. The carpet is thick and shaggy, providing luxurious comfort.
Also, as the spot moves very little during the day, he enjoys maximum sprawl with minimum effort.
Tic Tac has her sun shelf, the top of a cupboard that stands in front of the window in the covered porch. The glass magnifies the heat of the rays, and our princess bakes there in purrfect happiness.
Inkie prefers the upstairs bedroom windows as they overlook the giant maple where the magpies and starlings nest. Our tuxie ornithologist watches with fascination, chittering excitedly as they fly right in front of him.
But then Inkie discovered that the sun shelf looks out over the bay laurel where the doves live. So when the attraction of the bedroom window fades, he joins Tic Tac.
If our princess moans about being cramped, Inkie licks her on the nose; a passive-aggressive way of telling her she could try and push him off but that success would be unlikely as he’s three times her weight.
Mostly she welcomes him, happy to watch the doves together and squeaking excitedly as the birds crash in and out of the tree.
Joy to the birds
To add to the joy, we set up a bird bath. It stands by the rosemary, just outside the window, and it’s a huge favourite with the blackbirds.
On the day a family of ten turned up, dipping and diving out of the water, Tic Tac was beside herself with joy. She meowed, bounced on tiptoe and insisted on going out.
We gave the birds their bath time and when they left, we picked up her harness. At this point, Tic Tac was so impatient and wriggly that we had to lift her up and wrangle her into it.
Once we had her safely clipped in, we opened the door and she was off like a little racing pony.
Sniffing over the bushes was a delight. The blackbirds had been all over them, spreading exciting avian scents.
Tic Tac snuffed it all up. Then, stumpy tail straight up in the air, she headed for her favourite patch of grass. Like most kitties, she enjoys nibbling it.
Her salad was interrupted by a bee flying by. We planted lots of flowers and we encourage purple toadflax that pops up, so we have lots of our favourite insects.
Our fanciest is the buff-tailed bumblebee, a fluffy bee with a pale cream bottom. We also have plain honey bees that are very like the ones who lived with us in Malaysia.
Tic Tac recognises both types as creatures that sting, so she looks and is terribly tempted but is sensible not to touch.
And every now and again, we see a carpenter bumblebee. These black-bellied giants lumber along like Boeing Globemasters, crashing through the flowers and making even our intrepid Tic Tac duck.
While she looked and didn’t touch, she was straight after the bees and into the flowers. Although she acted cool, we knew she was secretly hoping for butterflies.
We have little cabbage whites and the occasional holly blue and red admiral. Tic Tac loves the way they flutter and although she dives at them, we make sure we safeguard them by accidentallyon-purpose getting in her way.
New discovery
One morning, she was short of butterflies but a new discovery was in store.
Tic Tac was in among the marigolds, sniffing away happily when she froze. As the silence stretched, we heard a tiny chirrup. She looked, we looked and then there was another chirrup. Tic Tac pounced back into the grass, paws out and captured a small grey and brown insect.
It was a field grasshopper. We weren’t worried for it because unlike our girl, we’ve seen these before.
Grasshoppers look like mini alien predators with huge bulging eyes, a green-brown camouflage patterned exoskeleton and powerful spikey legs that propel it several body lengths in a single explosive bound.
They’re tough and brave, the special forces of the insect world.
This one sat under her paws, bristling impatiently and waiting for the cat to make a tactical error.
She did, lifting her paw to examine her exciting find.
The second she did, the grasshopper leapt away – with Tic Tac in hot pursuit.
It was a scene straight out of mythology with our furry Diana, powerful goddess of the hunt, testing her tiny intrepid prey.
Each time she patted it, the grasshopper jumped, landing just out of reach and making her squeak with frustration and exhilaration.
They were at it for ages, rushing around the flowers, causing havoc, and upsetting the bees.
Eventually the grasshopper got fed up. With a final cheeky chirrup, it powered up, spread its wings, and flew off.
Tic Tac spat with fury before remembering she’s a cat. Collecting herself, she lay down among the flowers. She had not been defeated; she was merely enjoying a little outing in her floral domain.
But secretly, the adventure fuelled an obsession. Every time we go out now, Tic Tac is on the prowl. She’s discovered the grasshoppers like the new grass verge Tom put down, so our princess heads straight over, patting down the blades with the dedicated air of a senior investigator on a tactical mission.
Sometimes she finds them, and then the battle is on. But even when she doesn’t, she has so much fun hunting that it’s almost as good.
Even better, although it’s officially autumn now, we’ve been promised an Indian summer.
As long as the sun keeps shining, Tic Tac is guaranteed more adventures.
The game’s afoot!
