Mecru the slacker

Part of my cat's job of being Cat is bug patrol. He is supposed to track down any insects that make it into the house and either eat them or alert us to their presence so we Jay can take care of them. This all started when I lived in CA and a cockroach snuck into the house via one of our moving boxes. When I saw it, I screamed and ran upstairs because that's what I do when confronted with my least favorite thing ever. Mecrutio wondered what all the hubbub was about, so I told him that he was on cockroach duty. The next morning when I woke up, there was the cockroach, dead, in the middle of the kitchen floor where we wouldn't be able to miss the fact that Mecru had indeed done his job.

But lately the cat's been slacking on his duties. Bugs have made it inside that that he doesn't even notice. Or worse, he does notice and doesn't care. (Spiders are the exception to this since a lot of arachnids are poisonous for cats to eat and I don't need an emergency vet trip.) But now that the weather is getting warmer, mosquitos are seeking refuge inside. I think they are getting in via holes in the screens that a certain unnamed cat made. Personally I am immune to mosquito bites - I get bitten and within seconds the irritation, redness, and swelling are gone. But that doesn't mean they don't try. I hate them flying around me, with their high pitched hum right in my ear.

But Mecrutio pays no mind to them. However, when mosquito eaters (crane flies) come inside, Mecru is all over them. We try to explain to the cat why these bugs are our friends and he needs to eat the mosquitos instead, but he is in kill mode and ignores us. He runs all over the house, jumping like a crazy person until he finally catches the mosquito eater and eats it, or more likely, maims it until he is bored with it and leaves it flopping around on the carpet. It is actually entertaining, but pointless.

And this is the excitement that is my home life.