Talking to bugs...

I woke up at midnight to get a drink, walked out into my kitchen and there are two cats staring at the floor and making their little throaty meow noises. I had to go retrieve my glasses to see what they were doing. There on the floor was a June Bug spinning around, it had obviously been batted around by the cats for a bit.

It is funny how the cats will eat some bugs but others seem to be way off limits. I did not expect they would eat a June bug anyway.

Earlier in the evening I had found a little spider dangling from a web and called Tink out to the kitchen. "Tink get the bug!" and she came running. She had no interest in the spider. If it had been a fly though, she would have pursued it relentlessly.

Wonder what a cat's criteria is in choosing to eat or not eat a bug?

I have never had a cat that showed any interest in bugs. We have an over abundance of lizards and chipmunks so if they are out with us in the yard that is usually what they go after. The lizards are like play things. When they are dead after much play, Rascal, in particular, will toss it up trying to get a response. Most of the time he will walk away after much tossing without a response.

My son's 2 cats are pretty choosy - they only eat crickets. The legs must not be very tasty tho, since when it's cricket season, I'm always finding cricket legs on the kitchen floor! :eek:

My dogs are another story. Sparky will eat any bug he can catch, and is an excellent fly catcher. Much to my dismay, he snaps at bees and wasps when he's outside, but fortunately he's never had the misfortune of actually catching one.

Myndi on the other hand is afraid of flies - either afraid of them or they just annoy her so much that she hides under my bed to get away from them.

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Originally Posted by kokopup

I have never had a cat that showed any interest in bugs. We have an over abundance of lizards and chipmunks so if they are out with us in the yard that is usually what they go after. The lizards are like play things. When they are dead after much play, Rascal, in particular, will toss it up trying to get a response. Most of the time he will walk away after much tossing without a response.

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Darn...we don't have lizards. I bet if we did it would be great entertainment!

:) I would say its the buggss smell & its outer coat of which the cat will or wont eat.. Yes its funny to watch them play with buggss..

Bugs didn't stand a chance w/my RB Peeka, especially spiders. That cat was quick!

Pinot is a bug hunter. She eats all that move, and she is very quick as well. Her personal favorites, ready ..., are BEES AND WASPS! The other day we were out on the deck. We live at the edge of the forest, so there are certain things that are a given; Bee and Wasp nests are rampant under our deck furniture and Pinot polices those areas. She was pawing under our table (it's an extremely well made HEAVY Amish table with nooks underneath), which means there are nests there. She managed to shake one of the Wasps out of the nest, and ate it. It stung her in the mouth, she stopped, some fluid came from her nose, she FINISHED EATING IT:p, even though I tried to get her to give it up, and after a very quick recovery was off to hunt more bugs; she was fine. I don't get it and it's not the first time she's been stung. I've stopped worrying about the effects because obviously there aren't any. We did, however, get her inside and got rid of the current batch of nests. We'll see how long it lasts.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Pinot's Mom

Pinot is a bug hunter. She eats all that move, and she is very quick as well. Her personal favorites, ready ..., are BEES AND WASPS! The other day we were out on the deck. We live at the edge of the forest, so there are certain things that are a given; Bee and Wasp nests are rampant under our deck furniture and Pinot polices those areas. She was pawing under our table (it's an extremely well made HEAVY Amish table with nooks underneath), which means there are nests there. She managed to shake one of the Wasps out of the nest, and ate it. It stung her in the mouth, she stopped, some fluid came from her nose, she FINISHED EATING IT:p, even though I tried to get her to give it up, and after a very quick recovery was off to hunt more bugs; she was fine. I don't get it and it's not the first time she's been stung. I've stopped worrying about the effects because obviously there aren't any. We did, however, get her inside and got rid of the current batch of nests. We'll see how long it lasts.:rolleyes:

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Silly Pinot. :p She must have a strong tongue! I always panic when I see a bee in the house.

You and me both, I keep my distance from bees and wasps as they could put me the hospital, so when it comes to the kids I make sure that the thing is dead and disposed of. Spiders and crickets are fair game. I just hate stepping on the cricket legs at night.

How do they all know how to separate the cricket's legs? All my cats have done that!! :confused:

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Originally Posted by Pinot's Mom

How do they all know how to separate the cricket's legs? All my cats have done that!! :confused:

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Beats me!!! They must chew up the meaty part and spit the legs out. :D I just hate cricket legs on my kitchen floor, but I guess it's better than live crickets in the house.

I wish I knew. The big cave crickets are the worst.

That's a very interesting question.

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Originally Posted by happylabs

Darn...we don't have lizards. I bet if we did it would be great entertainment!

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We don't either, but I'm sure Fister would have fun with them! ;) He will sit for ages and look at a wall if there's a fly, though. Just hope he won't knock my tea over!

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Originally Posted by happylabs

Darn...we don't have lizards. I bet if we did it would be great entertainment!

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That depends! Sometimes Eddie will catch...a lizard tail! He brings it in the house to show me and the darn tail keeps flopping and flapping on the floor.

Of course, Eddie considers it MY responsibility to deal with it...:rolleyes::rolleyes:

He has also brought me whole live lizards...somehow he does not enjoy playing with them once he has brought them in the house.....sigh...

When I was a kid, our hamster loved to eat crickets, but she'd leave the legs too. She also enjoyed earthworms!

Smudge likes to chase moths and flies, but he thinks centipedes are boring and ignores them completely. I just have the harmless good-guy house centipedes, Scutigera coleoptrata, so I'm just as glad he leaves them to go on their way and eat ant eggs (I live in the basement and DO NOT appreciate ant invasions).

Love, Columbine

my boys will eat just about any random bug that gets in. Right now the main dish are crane flies (they look like giant mosquitoes). Its kinda funny watching the cats focusing intensely on the ceiling and climbing on anything they can find to try to reach one.

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Originally Posted by GILL

I wish I knew. The big cave crickets are the worst.

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Agreed. Around here most people refer to them as sprickets. Whatever anyone wants to call them, they are disgusting and give me the creeps. Fortunately we don't have them in the house too often, but when we do, I call upon my son to eliminate it. I get the chilly-willys just thinking about them! :eek:

Last night was so funny...Mamma cat had a moth cornered on the floor in the kitchen. I walked out and it was spinning around really fast just like a toy spin top. :D She was having a blast and then Tink came into the room. I ran to get my camera and by the time I got back Mack had somehow gotten control of the moth. I no sooner got the camera turned onto video mode when Mack scooped it up and swallowed it! Moths must be really tasty to cats because my guys always eat them after they play with them a bit. I guess in the cat world it is okay to play with your food. :p :D :)

If I can figure out how to upload the movie I'll post it later when I get home.