# Boo cat brought me a mouse tonight. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978 "2005-02-26T05:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/1 "2005-02-26T05:08:20Z")
Isn’t that what love is? ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/2 "2005-02-26T05:26:58Z")
No, that’s just mild affection. It’s love when they bring you half of a baby bunny. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/3 "2005-02-26T05:44:28Z")
When I got home from work today there was a finch mostly disassembled across my wife’s white knit rug. Feathers and innards galore. What is that? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/4 "2005-02-26T06:09:32Z")
Cat owners always claim it’s a sign of love when a bird leaves a dead animal near you. Personally, based on a number of cats I’ve known, I suspect the animal police are hot on their trail and your cat’s setting you up to take the fall. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/5 "2005-02-26T07:17:24Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > when a **bird** leaves a dead animal near you 😕 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/6 "2005-02-26T12:54:49Z")
I swear i’ve seen this exact same conversation before :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/7 "2005-02-26T12:56:08Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Isn’t that what love is? It’s a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/8 "2005-02-26T14:51:46Z")
It said “a cat leaves a dead animal” when I wrote it. I suspect some cat hacked into the board to change it. They do things like that, you know. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/9 "2005-02-26T15:13:57Z")
One of our cats brought us a camelia blossom Thursday. Seriously. He’s only recently been going outside and falling inanimate things fascinate him. So he hangs out under one of camelia bushes whose blossoms are starting to fall. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/10 "2005-02-26T15:19:50Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Cat owners always claim it’s a sign of love when a bird leaves a dead animal near you. Actually, we have had a bird leave a dead animal for us. There is a sharp shinned hawk living in a tree in our backyard. Our cat and the hawk are having a battle as to who can leave the most small critter parts on ou patio. It came to blows last week as the hawk dove at the cat and, with the benefit of suprise, bowled the cat over. (Sharpshinned hawks are about as big as pigeons.) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/11 "2005-02-26T16:58:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > One of our cats brought us a camelia blossom Thursday. Seriously. He’s only recently been going outside and falling inanimate things fascinate him. So he hangs out under one of camelia bushes whose blossoms are starting to fall. Aww, that’s sweet, ftg, that must really be love. Then again your cat might be a little gay. 😛 My cats like to bring me live roaches, when I’m in bed sleeping. I don’t think that’s love. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/12 "2005-02-26T17:02:57Z")
My dog never brings _me_ anything dead or disembowelled. ☹ Then again, we don’t let her hunt the squirrels and birds she chases, so… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/13 "2005-02-26T17:05:12Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > Actually, we have had a bird leave a dead animal for us. There is a sharp shinned hawk living in a tree in our backyard. Our cat and the hawk are having a battle as to who can leave the most small critter parts on ou patio. It came to blows last week as the hawk dove at the cat and, with the benefit of suprise, bowled the cat over. (Sharpshinned hawks are about as big as pigeons.) Now THAT’s funny 😃 … a hawk jealous over a cat 😛 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/14 "2005-02-26T21:18:53Z")
My babies have left mouse heads on the back porch-such fun stepping on one in your sock feet. I know I’ve related this tale before-when I had a herd of indoor cats, we all slept in bed together (talk about warm!). One morning, as my eyes opened and brain began to focus, I saw something huge and brown on my pillow, an inch or so from my face. Throwing back the covers, I jumped backwards out of bed to get away from the brown icky thing, and as I stood naked in my bedroom, hair styled by Don King, the purring contingent looked at me as if to say, “What’s wrong?” They had decided I needed a gift, and lacking the ability to buy me a nice bottle of booze, they delivered a cricket-pre killed and generously coated with cat spit to my pillow. How thoughtful. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/15 "2005-02-26T22:43:18Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > When I got home from work today there was a finch mostly disassembled across my wife’s white knit rug. Feathers and innards galore. > > What is that? Performance Art. My old neutered Tomcat, Clapton, used to bring home rabbits, small possums, and once even an owl. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boo-cat-brought-me-a-mouse-tonight/291978/16 "2005-02-27T01:57:18Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > Actually, we have had a bird leave a dead animal for us. There is a sharp shinned hawk living in a tree in our backyard. Our cat and the hawk are having a battle as to who can leave the most small critter parts on ou patio. It came to blows last week as the hawk dove at the cat and, with the benefit of suprise, bowled the cat over. (Sharpshinned hawks are about as big as pigeons.) Our mild winters have been very very good for the mouse population. Sharp-shinned hawks are \*so \* cool. We have a clan of them in our very urban neighborhood. I actually am very thankful for them, because my 18 year old kitty is basically in mouse-hunting retirement, and the Niles virus has moved the crows out and the pigeons in. The SS hawks have left several dismembered pigeons on our patio, and I have seen them swoop (alas, unsuccessfully) for mice. When I lived on Long Island, a big black cat (we called him BC) sort of adopted us, occasionally slept on our back porch. Our backyard was adjacent to a vacant lot and BC brought home rabbits, seagulls and various rodents. I think it was not so much an act of love as it was sort of a staging area for semi-feral kitty banquets.