Summer of Slaughter: The final tally.

That we know of, anyway.

It should be noted that Miss Lemon is crunching something (I think it's a cicada?) as I type this.

It should also be noted that yesterday morning, I got a slow start—it was a Sunday and a holiday weekend, after all—so there I was, innocently reading in bed. When my beloved cat jumped up, I thought that she was just coming over to say hello.

I should know better by now, right?

SHE NEVER JUST COMES OVER TO SAY HELLO.

But, COME ON.

Until that moment, she'd never BROUGHT A LIVE CHIPMUNK ONTO MY BED.

A HUGE LIVE CHIPMUNK.

I'm still waiting for her to start bringing down squirrels.

Anyway.

The tally—and keep in mind that this list only includes the critters that they brought inside:

Chipmunks: 9
Mice: 18
Moles: 4
Grasshoppers: 20+ (When they started eating 3+ a day, we got really lazy about marking these off.)
Butterflies: 2
Dragonflies: 1
Moths: 2
Houseflies: 3
Spiders: 1 (Josh witnessed this one and said it was horrible—she was happily sauntering around with legs hanging out of her mouth.)
Cicadas (?): 1
Bees: 2 (Yes, she got stung. Both times. No, that hasn't appeared to faze her.)

____________________________________

UPDATE: Just as I pressed 'publish', Lemon jumped in the window with a butterfly. (She'd finished with the cicada some time ago.)

In the time it took me to type this, she'd eaten the whole thing.

Comments

[Electric Landlady]

Miss Lemon: Mighty Huntress!

My dog never kills anything, but he threatens to a lot. I think I'd almost prefer chipmunks. Almost.

[Leila]

I thought I was fine about the chipmunks -- mostly -- until she brought the one to me in bed. That was a bit much.

But I still did the, "oh, GOOD GIRL" thing, because I didn't want to make her FEEL BAD.

I am such a sucker.

[Robin]

Poor Miss Lemon, she's just doing her job. Unlike my lazy kitties.

8-]

[MyLibraryCardWoreOut]

WOW you have a really good hunting cat. My cat will get the flies, but all of the other animals you have to show them to him. I believe that he is getting a little lazy.

[Jenn]

Man, I can't even get my O'Reilly to do more than bat at a nasty spider for me, though I'm quite thankful that he's not bringing chipmunks into my bed.

[tanita]

So, what's after the Summer of Slaughter? The Autumn of Annihilation? Or, I guess at some point the bugs could wise up, and the chipmunks will stop coming down from the trees...

[Leila]

Doubtful. After all, chipmunks have brains that are even tinier than cats!

(And frighteningly, I'm starting to suspect that Miss Lemon is more clever than she lets on...)

[RBoyce]

Here's a grisly but possibly helpful piece of advice, since your household is rather perilous for small critters...

A horribly-wounded-but-not-yet-completely-dead critter can be put in the freezer for a more merciful end than letting Miss Lemon play for another 15 minutes. I further recommend a loosely wrapped plastic bag to ensure your frozen foods don't get contaminated. Obviously this doesn't work for the wounded-yet-still-kicking ones.

I know this is all fairly awful to discuss, but it worked quite well for the paralyzed and broken squirrel that the puppy brought in this Spring. (The puppy was keenly disappointed that her hard-won toy was taken away. But I think it was better for the dying squirrel to have some peace.)