Nero and the Chipmunk

Heather: Nero has a long history with chipmunks. He terrorized all the little cute woodland creatures in Macon and he is back at it here in Iowa. Yesterday I let him and Xerxes out by themselves for the first time and within a couple of hours, Nero carried proudly his first Iowan chipmunk victory right into the living room. It was cute and feisty and not very damaged so I had to try to save it. 30 minutes later, after chasing the cat around the house with a chipmunk in his mouth, interspersed with cat-chasing-lost-chipmunk periods (the Chipmunk who I've named Herbert would wriggle out of Nero's grasp, dash around my feet, find something to get behind and chirp really loudly in protest), I finally got Herbert to run into the mop bucket. I carried him outside imagining that I would find a lush bush or leafy terrain to gracefully release this wild animal whose life I had just extended. There was no time for that, because almost before I was out of the house Herbert jumped onto the rim of the bucket and made a daring leap onto the concrete driveway. He ran across the driveway and onto the fence and turned around chirping angrily. I swear I saw him shake his fist at me. Then he darted away.

By the way, I had to save him again today although it was much easier. He needs to move! I hope I won't have to save him again tomorrow. I hope that in the middle of the night when Nero is locked inside, he will gather the wife and kids and find a new house to live under.

Jamie: Having had some violence in their lives the cats seem to sleep better.
Heather: Torture and maiming: a cat's ultimate vitamin supplement.