Today is my work from home day. So it allows me to catch things around home I normally would not since I would already be in the office. I noticed the neighbor’s cat, Sam, staring into the foliage. I assumed he was seeing something to pounce on. I had read sometime ago about a study saying that outdoor cats changing the local ecosystem from all the prey they catch. They must have been studying Sam.

I can’t remember the number of nights over the past few years where you can hear him fighting with another feline, laying claim to his territory. From what I can tell, he must have won his fights, but walked with the wounds for several days for it.

So as I was walking up to see what Sam was going to probably get into this time, I noticed something large on the ground to the left.

As far as I can remember, I don’t recall ever seeing a rat in person. I’ve seen mice and moles. Judging by the tail that looked like a rigid electrical cord, yeah it’s a rat. Sam made a good kill. At least I assume he did it. He got very protective over it. I don’t think cats would be so protective over something they didn’t deprive of life.

It was funny. When he put his catch down I advised Sam I hope he would soon move his catch from my yard. Not really looking forward to having to remove a rat carcass from the yard. I know I don’t want to run the mower over it later. After I told him this, he looks up, meows and then starts head butting my leg and purring. Guess he was asking did he do a good job. Well, since I don’t care to have rats in the yard I had to reward him with a good rub between the ears.

I had to thank Sam this morning. For a moment life seemed normal. There’s no pandemic, social unrest and lockdowns. For a brief moment, I was able to think about something entirely different. While the world seems to be heading for chaos and uncertainty I was able to see that the world still goes on. The laws of nature still apply. Cats will still seek and capture prey.

I just hope later when I check, Sam has decided to be a good lord of his kingdom and have his prey moved to another location. I doubt he is actually going to have rat for lunch.