Cat Vs. Chipmunk

There was a drama being played out and I had the perfect view of it all from my kitchen window.

The big tom cat, Me, was sitting on the rough, wooden bench that stretches out at the base of the groomed, big leaf maple tree in the side yard of the house. He was on full alert. His thick Siamese fur was fluffed out, his eyes were trained on the branches of the maple, and his tail would flick a miniscule tick when he detected movement in the still bare spring limbs.

We trim the tree way back early each fall so the 6 to 10 foot growths do not drop their leaves into the gutters of the house. The tree looks very misshapen with its stark, malformed profile during the winter months, but we do so enjoy the extra shade it throws for the patio during the late spring and summer. When the seedling first showed up in the flower bed some fifteen years ago, we knew the tree would only be temporary because it really is too close to the house, but until every year we hesitate because we enjoy it so.

The bench seat at the base of the tree was created from a tree that had been split in half and used for flooring support in the old barn we tore down thirty years ago. The bench is a good spot for the cats to hang out. They lounge around on the flat surface and sunbathe. The mothers bring the kittens out each spring to cavort and play up and around, under and over the structure.

On this day, Me had a small squirrel that he had treed. The squirrel had managed to avoid the Siamese cat by ensconcing himself in the matted tangle of big and small limbs. Me was nearly beside himself, he was so close he could smell his prey, he could hear the chatter, he could even see the squirrel through the mesh of bare limbs, but every time he  would advance up the tree, the thick tangle would thwart his efforts and he would have to twist and scramble to extricate himself with very un-cat-like contortions to keep from getting stuck while the squirrel would make his move to easily head down the tree.

Me had to get to the base before the squirrel or he would lose at this game of cat vs. squirrel. I saw him deliberately fall from the higher branches in an effort to get down first. Then the game would start up again as the squirrel advanced back up into the safety of the tangle.

Before long, Shadow, Me’s follower, joined the game and cats vs. squirrel took on a dangerous tone for the varmint. But the squirrel was able to outlast his opponents with the safety of the tree branches and the game was eventually called when Nature called to the cats and they went off in search of their version of a litter box.

This squirrel was very lucky on this day, no telling about his future now that the cats are onto his scheme.