We've been gripped by some sense of normality for weeks now. No catches, no unpleasant early morning surprises. What passes for cold weather in these globally warmed times has started and that's meant more lap residence.

A Week in the Country

We had a week in the wind and the rain. The cat-flap is now in the back door of the country retreat (at some pain to the builder who I'm sure views it as a good door ruined). Obviously we had every expectation that the house would be filled with mice. In fact he was reasonably abstemious; two on the first evening and two on the last. Each comprising of a one dead (gnawed) and an one alive (released). In fact the second brace were clearly voles - long pointy, hairless noses otherwise covered in grey/black velvet fur. They were quite beautiful and he's been suitably admonished.

And he has another trick too. Despite being restricted to the kitchen overnight, he has worked out that via the garage roof (well, timbers anyway, it's still not built), he can get onto our first floor bedroom window sill. There to miaow in the early morning. First time we were impressed and let him in and he settled immediately and slept late with us. Subsequently it's been a device to get us up for an early breakfast. So now we heartlessly leave him out there - with the double glazing and the covers over your ears you can hardly hear him...

Catching up

There have been quite a few developments and I've slipped behind.

Party People

We had a big do. Well big for us, where we fed about twenty people buffet style with everyone milling around in the kitchen (as they always tend to do). We expected Binks to beat a quick retreat, either upstairs or over the gardens but no. We had his platform put slightly out of the way (as much as anything else) but over to our side, away from the main throng. The result was that he maintained position on that - with a careful eye on the proceedings, happy to countenance even close approaches as longs as they didn't try to pick him up. I do think he's getting better with people.

Guests in the Country

And he had ample chance to prove this a few days later. We had a country weekend with guests. One of them is extremely fond of cats and wouldn't take shyness on Binks' part as an excuse. She employed the tried and trusted method of delivering cat biscuits on demand and gained a decent measure of friendship in return. Not quite completely; we stayed a day longer and as soon as they were gone he went out and caught us a mouse having been noticeably reticent ealier. And then another. We had to keep him in before we were inundated. Both escaped alive. I'll add them all up one day.

The Cat Hotel

Then there was our holiday. Binks got to stay in the cat hotel we got to go to Catalunya. We took him his platform to which he always turns for comfort and left him for ten days. The set-up was very efficient; each cat having a well sized run with a solid barrier at ground level and a closed area with transparent door. Favourite food supplied of course.

I must admit to be a little worried when we collected him; scared that he'd hold it against us but I'm glad to say he was pleased as punch to see us. More so than any of our previous cats who were perhaps more manipulative and noticeable grumped for a not inconsiderable time thereafter.

Rats Again

Then rats. Not immediately but first there was the neat pile of remains one morning. A head, a tail, two (back) feet and a unknown internal organ - well unidentifiable by me anyway. This is a bit worrying. There's the concern he'll get a poisoned one and also he'll get worms. Actually, that's almost certain.

Two days later there was a squeak as we sat listening to music late one evening. I looked up only to see Binks retreating from the living room. Downstairs in the kitchen he was toying with the still live rat. Smallish, but a rat nevertheless. I was concerned about getting bitten (and infected) so I got him and prey out the cat-flap. The rat escaped the jaws for a moment and was holding out behind cover in the garden. We tempted Binks in with biscuits and the rat cowered. We kept him in overnight and early next day I went out to check; the rat was dead, having moved only a few feet from where I saw it last. That casts doubt on some of the survivor statistics for the mice I guess. A day later he was nursing a wound in the cheek. I'm not sure if it was cat fight or rat bite; I think the latter is more likely. Maybe he'll leave them alone. I'm glad to say that it appears to be healing OK.

The Case of the Disappearing Cat

In order not to frighten the guests by live mice (or a naked Chris) running round the bedrooms in the middle of the night, Mr Binks was locked in the kitchen for the night with no access to outside. Awake by 7:30 I decided to go down and give him his freedom, only to find two guests already in kitchen indicating that although they hadn't seen the cat they thought they had heard a faint mewing and thought he was up with us. Logically he must still be in the kitchen, all doors were shut and there was no furniture he could hide under.

So where was he?

The only cupboard he had shown an interest in was the one under the sink with access to the back of the kitchen units, certainly a mouse hunting ground, but the door was shut. However, when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. So I opened the door. There sat Binks in the washing-up bowl. With a plaintiff mew and a single bound he was free, to wait by his biscuit bowl for breakfast. Looking back he must have pulled at the door till it opened enough for him to wedge it with his head and then body. Once in, the door has one of these hinges which snap it shut once it is nearly closed. Unfortunately it doesn't say much for his intelligence that he did not realise he only needed to push against it to get out again.

It's been while so I thought I'd try a bring you up to date. First off the catch details; two weekends in the country and each yielded the same; three mice. One deceased and one brought to the bedroom in, to all intents and purposes, the middle of the night. The remaining one seems to have escaped whilst being carried across the kitchen. On weekend one it got behind the fitted kitchen. This meant Binks was obliged to sit behind the units for long periods to no avail. We didn't see the critter. That is until Sunday morning when studying the papers, out it popped and made a bee-line for the wood-pile. We fooled it into a paper bag and arranged its release. Binks? He was asleep upstairs the whole time.

We had guests last weekend and they were most amused. The escapee was under the sofa this time or more accurately, clinging to the upholstery at the back. It was a simple matter to pull the furniture away from the wall and prod the cowering creature into the paper carrier bag. We're getting quite good at this. And there were birds too - in London. Both midweek; first time a wren which seemed to escape and Tuesday, a young blackbird. The latter was pursued by its parent, screeching. All this at about 10:00pm. Binks is quite willing to release his prey - it seems a sure thing that they're for us - and I managed to get the bird into yet another paper carrier after it wouldn't or couldn't fly away. I released it around the front where the blackbirds congregate. Binks didn't seem interested in going out again once we had our present.