The Cat Earns His Keep

We're in the tropics, so we have those really, really big roaches that scare the hell out of you when you walk in on them.

It doesn't matter how clean you keep your house: With no winter freeze, those suckers are everywhere.

Okay, they're not really *everywhere* -- that's me taking poetic license. The house was sprayed just six weeks ago, so there aren't that many of them. But they *are* here, and they do make themselves known from time to time.

Which is one reason it's a good thing to have a cat. Especially a cat who is just beginning his career as a roach-catcher.

Twice this week, Mister Tanaka has caught a roach and played with it for the better part of an hour.

He has quite a sadistic streak, which I fully endorse when it comes to pest control. He bats the roach around until it ends up on its back, then carefully flips the roach back onto its belly. As the roach dashes for safety, Tanaka pounces and flips it over again, repeatedly, until the roach gives up and dies.

Unfortunately, Shelly threw away Tanaka's freshly-slaughtered roach yesterday before I thought to take a picture of the hunter and his prey. Next time the cat goes hunting, I'll go along on the expedition, this time with the camera.