The Owl and the Pussycat

My owl and my pussycat didn't head to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat, but they did keep me entertained for a half hour or so yesterday.

Every morning before heading anywhere I check my rat traps for catches. The trap on a shelf under the eave in a shed above the creek near the house is my most prolific rat catcher by far. So yesterday I checked it as per usual. I was rather surprised to see my resident ruru (who I've named Olly the Owl, who could be Oliver or Olivia, I have no idea) perched next to the trap. Olly glanced at me briefly then eyes narrowed and he/she went (mostly) back to sleep. Needless to say I went inside for my bird camera and fired off a few shots. A moment or two later I was joined by my cat Tinker. Olly paid a lot more attention to Tinker than to me. I think Olly regards me as at worst, harmless, perhaps interesting, or maybe in some way we're friends (or is that just my imagination?) but wasn't quite so sure about Tinker.

I headed inside again to get my other camera, as the 180-600mm bird lens is way too long to get Olly and Tinker in the same shot.

There's nothing quite like being stared at by a ruru.

The owl and the pussycat.

It's not clear unless you zoom right in on the photo, but Olly is peering down at Tinker. Tinker is either disinterested in Olly, or perhaps he has no idea Olly is there.

Here's a close up of Olly not letting Tinker out of his sight.

Olly seems to be asking me "Are you sure he's a good cat?" Actually, Tinker is a good cat. A very good cat. He's a savage beast, and loves to kill mammals. In New Zealand that's a very good thing. Other than pekapeka there are no native land mammals in New Zealand and most introduced mammals do far more harm to the native fauna and flora than good. So when Tinker kills mice, rats, weasels, stoats, rabbits and hares he gets my full seal of approval. His hunting method involves power and speed rather than stealth (he's large and visible), and I think he learned when he was young that it's a waste of energy stalking birds. I have witnessed a few of his kills of large animals (hares) and they are horrifyingly violent, reminding me of a puma with a guanaco, or a leopard with a gazelle.

Olly deciding it's time to chill out.

After a bit of excitement, it's time to go back to sleep.

Tinker also.

By the way, I decided I didn't want to take the chance that Olly would enter the cage trap and get caught in there (no harm would come to him/her but would sure not like it) so I have retired the trap from that location and ordered a bird-safe box with trap from the Predator Free NZ store.