This morning as I was getting ready for work, I saw movement in the corner of the kitchen. Hoping it wasn’t a cockroach, I approached. It was a cricket. Normally, when I find insects inside the house, I catch them and take them outside, as I’m fond of most insects and arachnids. So I go to catch Mr. Cricket and that’s when Hobkin wakes up.
Now Hobkin’s godmother lets her skunks hunt grasshoppers and suggested it as a “camp activity” for Hobkin. We never did get a report on how that exercise went, so I was curious to see what Hobkin would do. I point out the hopping cricket to the cunning, sly hunter, and . . . nothing happens. No, correction, Hobkin totally ignores the cricket and instead wanders over to the refrigerator and sits in front of it, waiting for me to fix his breakfast. Oh, and the cricket hops under the couch, where I can’t catch it. Sigh.
Okay, Hobkin isn’t built like a hunter. He’s sort of roly-poly and bottom-heavy, and his legs are a bit on the stumpy side. He doesn’t have the grace and fluid speed of a cat, nor the dedicated attention span of hunting dogs. But I have seen him pounce on Tupperware that I’ve dropped or sent rattling across the kitchen floor for him to chase. That should have tipped me off, actually. Hobkin knows where food comes from. Tupperware! Of course calling what he does a “pounce” is somewhat misleading. If Tupperware had legs with which to scuttle away on its own, Hobkin would never be able to catch it.
As hunters go, skunks aren’t. Or at least my skunk isn’t.
And now there’s a cricket loose in my house.
Oh that’s just too funny!
I too usually spare most insects that come into the house, even if I have to catch them in a cup or something to escort them outside where they belong. I draw the line at scorpions, however. Those pointy tailed, pinchered spawns of Satan should die unmerciful agonizing deaths in the blackest pits of Hades!
*cough* umm… what I mean to say is, I am really glad I have a cat that finds them fair sport. She can run across the room, past a scorpion, it flies up in the air, very anime-esque, then as she stops and starts cleaning her paw it falls lifeless to the ground.
But, I digress.
Although, I am sorry there is a cricket running loose in your house (isn’t that suppose to be good luck?), I was very relieved to hear that the cricket survived the encounter with it’s deadly *cough* predator, Hobkin!
Poor Hobkin. Maybe he needs glasses?
Love & Hugs,
FahKingNut
Aw, Hobkin is a pussy-cat. So, so cute!!! haha!!!! You know, I used to catch crickets when I was a little girl. I love those little critters. Mostly they sound very noisy when they beg for more rain. Ah well, maybe that’s a supertition my grandma told me once but they seem noisy right after the rain. 🙂
One of mine was a hunter, Rozie would pounce on it, pull it’s legs off, and go off in search of a better meal. She didn’t want to actually EAT it, but pulling it’s legs off was fine.
Ahhh, another skunk bites the dust as hunter. Mine will not look twice at a bug, although Neo did surprise me one day by catching a moth in mid-air and eating it. I think it was more from him being annoyed that it was circling around him while he was trying to scam some grub.