When we returned home Monday night from our weekend visiting Uncle Steve and Aunt Sue in Salem, we soon found a dead sparrow deposited onto our living room floor. It wasn’t there when we first got home, so one of the cats clearly brought it in after finding us home.
Yesterday, Meredith came back from running errands to find another dead bird in the kitchen.
This morning, I went downstairs with Nathan and heard a bird. I heard it very clearly, because it was fluttering along the floor by our stairs, with Pippin stalking it. I got Pippin and Nathan back upstairs, then managed to get the bird outside, where it flew away in spite of having a wing that looked, well, somewhat modified from its original form.
Then, while Nathan sat in my lap this morning watching Sesame Street, Jake came inside and hopped over the gate, clutching bird #4 in his mouth. To my surprise, that one also turned out to be alive, although certainly the worse for wear.
They’ve never done anything like this before. Must be hunting season for sparrows right now. Today, they will be indoor cats until Meredith can buy a new set of collars with bells for them to warn the birds off.
Edited 6/2 to change 'swallow' to 'sparrow'
Nathan seems to be teething again, judging from the inability to sleep, the reluctance to consume solid food, and the gallons and gallons of drool he produces. These would be his two-year molars, seemingly coming in shortly before he turns 18 months.
It looks like it is going to be a long night.