Continued From: "Remembering Professor Kelp"Our cat Kelp was a fierce hunter. We'd be treated to his roars of triumph at all hours of the day or night and then he would proceed to the ceremonial presentation of the *kill* at our feet.
He was truly into the resulting congratulatory praise, head scratches, chin rubs, and neck massages -- a copyrighted feature.
Since Kelp was a housecat, his targets of prey usually came from the species known as "drinking straws."
He loved to play fetch with straws, as I documented in "The Best Dog Ever," and those items would be rediscovered in his later travels around the carpets. He pounced upon the straws, apparently mistaking them as new intruders.
The boy had a short memory, yes.Kelp was also an authority on unidentified flying objects. I suspect his interest may have had something to do with our residence near Roswell, GA, during the first decade of his life. We considered moving to Roswell, NM, the infamous UFO haven, but Kelp didn't like the gargantuan tumbleweeds. The dust balls under our bed were the perfect size. Why pack?
Whenever Kelp was outdoors he would watch the skies until the UFOs attacked. We humans were able to identify the mysterious objects as pine cones falling from the trees. Kelp had little knowledge of botany, other than the connoisseur catnips.
Pine cones were Kelp's favorite prey and he never failed to seek, capture, and deliver many of the prickly prizes inside our doorway.Donna and I were puzzled by this behavior at first, but soon realized he was fulfilling his duties of providing for the family.
We were appreciative of his efforts, especially considering the alternative -- piles and piles of mice.
Next: "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang"
