Friday 12 September 2008

This summer I have been mostly.....

...playing mum....




...to our Badger and her broken paw...

...and her sicky-vomity bug.....

...and Stray and her sicky-vomity bug....

...and Master M because...well...I am his mum after all...(not to mention the sicky-vomity bug)

...but mostly to this little nest of swallows on our bedroom balcony.

Frank, Badger's pet killing machine ginger tom, thinks we have opened up a take-away. And so at 5am each morning, at the start of the morning feeding regime, I have been on the balcony shooing away the killing machine little darling to try and preserve the lives of our swallow family. And yes, I did say 5am. Every morning. For 6 weeks. 

Alas, I fear that I have failed in my task. The babies visited the balcony every day after fledging....and then there were only two. I think I found the remains of baby number three on our bathroom floor. To be fair to Frank he had eaten most of it. Waste not want not is Frank's motto.

I think the swallows have finally tired of the Yorkshire rain and left with their friends for sunnier climes. 

And presumably to tell the African cats tales of the strange tiny ginger tiger that lives on our balcony. 





16 comments:

DOT said...

Stray's Black Box thingy bought me here, though I have visited before.

Your killing machine reminded me of a time I moved my now sadly deceased mum-in-law to a new place in Suffolk with her two townie cats.

The following day the garden looked like a scene from the Somme. It was awful, and mum-in-law was extremely upset.

trousers said...

I do love that photo of Frank, he's a cat after my own heart. Only doing his felinely duty after all - but I'm glad his prey has got off (mostly) unscathed.

Does this mean you'll now get a lie-in beyond 5am?

Caroline said...

Widget brought me here :)

Frank is pretty.

x

Ms Melancholy said...

Hi there dot, we know just what that looks like - most mornings our bathroom floor is littered with animal parts. It is not a pretty sight, although to be fair to Frank he is very good at eating most of his prey. We are still not sure why he likes the bathroom so much, though. Thanks for visiting x

Hey trousers, you are so busy entertaining these days I am surprised you found time to leave the house! Yes, I am getting a lie-in. I love a lie-in. You have no idea how happy it makes me that the little buggers have gone to Africa.

Hey cas, isn't it amazing? If everyone buys and blogs the book, you'll have a bestseller on your hands honey x

Adventure girl said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh;(

My cat looks just like yours;)

Ms Melancholy said...

Hi there adventure-girlie, is yours a mean lean killing machine with a penchant for baby creatures? Vile isn't it? Thanks for calling :)

trousers said...

It seems to have calmed down a bit round my way ms m - do you think everyone's gone out on a Friday night or something bizarre?

Ms Melancholy said...

Going out on a Friday night? It's like the last days of Rome.....x

Reading the Signs said...

Nature is red in tooth and claw, Ms M. Being a cat person, can't help but find him lovely!

Ms Melancholy said...

Hey ms signs, we know that only too well, I'm afraid. Since moving to the countryside Frank has been perfecting his hunting technique, and is now quite prolific. He eats most of whatever he kills, but he has a very unfortunate habit of killing things in the bath and leaving behind either intestine, feathers, beak or other inedible bits. We have bloodstains on the carpet that we can't remove. It feels very much like an abbatoir at times.

You are right though - he is a pretty little thing and we forgive him easily. Lovely to see you here again x

pierre l said...

Frank looks lovely, and perfectly innocent, of course. Fortunately, my own cat must be the worst hunter ever.

Ms Melancholy said...

Hi again pierre, you should thank your lucky stars. I have just this minute chased him out of the house with a half eaten chaffinch in his mouth and there are feathers all over the bathroom. I despair.

uphilldowndale said...

A huge responsibility and an impossible task, for the last two years we barely broke 'even' in the number of bird safely leaving the barn at the end of the summer, and that was with two clutches of eggs.
This year we had no 'overseas guests' nesting in the barn :(

Ms Melancholy said...

Oh dear, uhdd, no swallows at all? You must have some seriously predatory cats at your place. You are absolutely right - it is an impossible task. I'm really not sure I'm up to the responsibility. I may have to have some serious therapy before next Spring.

Thanks for visiting us again x

Ken Duck Geraths said...

Thats a good story,
I'll be back again.

Glory von Hathor said...

I saw this and thought of Frank...

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/10/11/funny-pictures-nom/