Girl Cats and Bells
18 September 2006
My neighbor’s cat caught a bird this morning. I didn’t know whether to yell at her for being bad, or marvel at her hunting skill. I didn’t do either.
I took the still live bird from the cat’s mouth and cradled it in my hand while I called the local small animal and bird shelter. The volunteer who answered the phone told me to put the bird in a dark box. “Don’t hold it,” she said. “You’re a predator, you’ll alarm it.”
I’ve never thought of myself as a predator. The neighbor’s cat is. Domestic cats no matter how sweet, cute and cuddly are hunters.
In Australia we have a very sensible rule for domestic cats. If they’re outside, they must wear a bell around their neck - jingling bells alert birds that a predator is in the vicinity.
I should have told the volunteer at the shelter that though to the feathered friends I’m a predator, the bird seemed vastly less stressed in my hand than in the neighbor’s cat’s mouth.
Of course the birdie would have been even less stressed if the neighbor’s cat had been tinkling melodiously while slinking about, because none of this would have happened!
Someone tell Isaac Mizrahi’s people that a range of pretty ribboned bells for kitty cats would be a very worthy product to add to his line of labeled pet accessories. Never mind all those doggy accoutrements - think cats, think neck, think jingling bells!
The idea of staying alert to predators is an interesting one.
We’re all vulnerable in certain situations. And often we intentionally take risks that make us vulnerable. Most of us don’t choose the kind of danger Steve Irwin chose, though in Australia both the sea and the land pose enormous natural risks, I mean between the sharks, the crocs, the snakes, the spiders et al.
We girls, whether we choose it knowingly, or accidentally wander into it, will find ourselves at some point in a vulnerable situation with fellas of the shark and snake variety.
Sharks and snakes sometimes appear camouflaged as charming everyday blokes – unfortunately, reptilian types don’t wear bells around their necks!
Most creatures in the animal kingdom have a sixth sense for danger. This is because there’s always an animal higher on the food chain that is hungry.
Developing a sixth sense for predatory blokes is a girl’s antidote to being vulnerable - it’s our way of ensuring that the bell within will sound melodiously whenever we’re in danger.
Oh, and while you’re busily working on the resonance of your inner alarm, if you have a domestic cat that goes outdoors, think neck, think jingling, think pretty ribboned bell!
