Things were changing. Strange are the ways of the feline world. Meowth started disappearing for long hours. It seemed as if she had sacrificed her territory for Brownie, who was on her own now. Choti could barely hunt, was too wild to be kept indoors and with mom gone, she was at the mercy of the Lord. All she could prey upon was flies, lizards and butterflies and that too with great inaccuracy!!
It was the usual lazy Sunday morning for everyone except me, as the doorbell rang at 6:30 am, I picked up the milk packets, yawning, expecting Brownie to appear out of nowhere and sneak in. No, she was nowhere in sight. Just as I thought I could go back to sleep again, I heard some meows and wriggles…and lo… Brownie had found a fat, black mouse and was pouncing on it and letting it run, then pouncing again and letting it go !! The minute the mouse jumped and growled at her, she would back off! She seemed as scared of the mouse as he was of her. The mouse ran helter-skelter, trying to hide behind pots but Choti was no less, she slapped him, got him out, pounced, grabbed, and let go! “It is beyond her capacity to hunt and kill,” mumbled my son. “You never know, she is learning, “ I said.
This game continued for an hour. Finally, she gathered courage…the mouse was half dead with exhaustion… She pounced with all her might and grabbed him by the neck. Our delight knew no bounds at the sight of the mouse safely tucked in her mouth. She flaunted him like a trophy and sat down, hidden between some pots to enjoy her first ever hard-earned “ mouse takatak “!!
She didn’t even look up as we applauded and cheered for her. Angry meows were warning enough for ‘leave me alone’. She devoured the mouse…chak chak chak, within half an hour leaving behind a dead head, that sang the tale of a battle well won. Good girl Brownie. Well Done!
