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Kittycats and Butterfly Wings

Sounds like the title of a sappy song you just have to mock, doesn't it? Like moon dust and unicorns, cuddle bears and sugar muffins. Butterfly kisses, spread your wings and fly. Blech.

It's actually what came to mind yesterday when my cats were exploring the patio. I don't let them out often because they don't have claws on their front paws, and I'm afraid they'll be run over by a car. They aren't street wise cats, I'm pretty sure.

My patio is fenced in, so with my supervision, they can sniff at the dirt on the cobble stones, eat the ornamental grass to vomit up later and relax in the shade. They can also chase butterflies. We have an unusual number of butterflies this year, which is nice. I've always wanted a butterfly garden, and one of my favorite things to do is wander through butterfly sanctuaries—there is one on Kelley's Island in Lake Erie, I think.

Yesterday, Tiger, who is looking cute and innocent in this photo, was outside with Husband and I while we were having lunch. I spotted what I thought was a leaf floating in the pool and soon realized it was a butterfly that had fallen in and couldn't climb out. I scooped out the poor guy and set him down by the fence so he could escape without a cat chomping on him, but the thing hobbled out into plain sight instead of limping to freedom. And Tiger jumped on him as quick as a cat can move.

He snatched him up in his mouth and brought him over to us, set him on the ground beneath the patio table and proceeded to torture the poor bug. He'd pick him up in his mouth, and with the butterfly's tattered wings flapping in horror, he'd set him back down and watch him flutter. Then he'd push him with his paw and nose him and nip at him until the wreck of a thing finally gave out, his perfectly patterned wings now in tatters. The end.

I thought that if Tiger had eaten the butterfly, at least the food chain would have been satisfied, and nature would have been played out for a purpose, but all Tiger wanted was a toy, I guess. Once the bug stopped moving, he was no fun to play with, and my otherwise loving cat walked away.

The lesson: Life is harsh, and sometimes crappy things happen for no good reason.

On a nicer note, here is a video of a couple of small butterflies nibbling the oregano that has flowered. Mike doesn't seem to mind them and leave them alone.


Comments

dive said…
Tiger looks too cute to be a butterfly mangler, Robyn, but I must admit I cracked up at the sight of Mike grazing.
1:01 PM
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