Anyway, I played chase with them until they got close to me, and then I’d give them a real quick pet. And then I’d stop, but the next time I’d pet them a little more. And the next time I’d give them a little kitty butt scratch and before long I had Gregor and Dapper Dan running to meet me in the barn. Gertrude is still a work in process.

I honed their skills through intense grass chasing, but I knew we had to take the next step soon. So I gathered some garbage cans, some paper towel tubes, some little chunks of donut and made this mouse trap.

It worked! I caught three mice in two traps the first time. Excitedly, I carefully lowered Dapper Dan down into the trash can. Dapper Dan chilled in one corner, the mice chilled in an opposite corner. That wasn’t quite what I was expecting from my star quarter back, so I pulled her out of the game.

I transfered the mice to a feed bin halfway filled with oats. Well, I tried to transfer the mice. Mouse #1 went in, while mouse #2 jumped to freedom. Oops. Now the mouse was in a container out of which it couldn’t jump, but not so deep that the cats would freeze up, or so I hoped. I put Gregor in and watched him swat the mouse around for a while. I was really feeling kind of bad for the little mouse, as I’d hoped its death would be at least somewhat quick.

I pulled Gregor out and pondered what to do for a moment. As a last ditch effort, I put Dapper Dan back in and poked the mouse with a piece of hay to get it moving. That seemed to get Dapper Dan’s attention, and she sniffed at the mouse a little. And then she bit it. The mouse did not really appreciate this and bit her back before diving around in a circle. Dapper Dan was having none of it and went after the mouse, biting it and getting bitten.

“Yes! Get angry, Dapper Dan! Get angry!” I shouted while taking a generous step backwards in case the mouse came shooting out of the bin and towards my jugular. Dapper Dan and the mouse went around and around, Dapper Dan growling and the mouse squeaking. Oats were flying out of the bin. I was hanging around several feat away in order to avoid any adrenaline surge-powered rodents seeking revenge. And then…silence. I peered into the bin to see Dapper Dan eating the mouse’s head.

Wishing I hadn’t seen that, but glad that at least one of my little gladiators was pulling their weight, I went out to get the third mouse, which was in a 10 gallon bucket. When I returned, I set the bucket down and looked in to see Dapper Dan sharing her mouse with Gertrude. It warmed my heart, except for those gross little bone crunching noises they were making.

That’s when I heard more squeaking, and turned to find Bradley sticking his head into the bucket. He emerged, holding a mouse by the tail between his teeth, and walked out of the barn.
There went mouse #3.

I’ve caught three more mice and delivered them to the Battle Dome, as I like to call it. Dapper Dan has killed all of them, but the other two have partaken in the eating portion. All in all, I call it a success. Not only have I taught the kittens to kill things, but also how to share the joy of doing so with their loved ones. Aww.