Digi, Mummy and Daddy are lying on the big bed, preparing for Digi's bedtime (pyjamas, brushing teeth etc). All of a sudden, Monoby the cat appears in the bedroom, emitting fierce muffled growls. Bam the cat is also there, quite interested in what Monoby is doing. I look up, expecting to see some poor hapless bird or mouse stuffed in her mouth*. Not today - dangling from her mouth is a very confused looking baby rabbit, who has realised that dangling from a cat's mouth is clearly not a viable position for him, with respect to continuing to be a rabbit in the long term.
Monoby sees me get up. She sees Bam hovering, wanting a piece of the action. She darts quickly under the bed, where she remains, growling. I grab a long pole (the one we use for opening the skylights), and “gently” coax her out. She takes a lot of coaxing. Eventually, she leaps out from under the bed, rabbit flailing around wildly in her jaws, darts out of the bedroom, along the hallway, and into the spare room. She is cornered.
By the time I manage to separate her from her quarry, the rabbit is dead. Though, I notice, it is still quite cute, and very rabbitty. So gathering it up in a plastic bag, I take it to Tosha and Digi. Part of me wonders whether this is something best kept from a 2 year old (especially just before bedtime), so I ask Tosha for a second opinion.
“Do you think Digi would like to see the rabbit”, I murmur.
“Yes, I expect so”, answers Tosha, “Digi, would you like to see the bunny rabbit”.
Digi comes to see, and peers at the bunny corpse. His face looks slightly concerned, yet interested.
“That's what naught Monoby did to the poor rabbit! Naughty Monoby”, I say. Tosha immediately flashes me a glance, indicating that I've said something terribly wrong.
“Look at the baby bunny Digi!”, she quickly interjects, “He's sleeping!”.
Digi looks again at the dead rabbit. His eyes are full of understanding. He isn't buying the “sleeping” explanation one bit.
“I don't like that one, Daddy” he said. “That one's not nice”
*This has become something of a hobby for her, and she dutifully brings them upstairs, and leaves bits on the carpet. Not many bits, mind you - most get eaten. For the last couple of days, i've had to clear up a tiny ball of mouse intestines, next to a tiny mouse face. Not a mouse head you understand, but a mouse face.
Posted by niknGo with “dead”. Jo knows a baby who died - a long, very sad story - and we've had two pets die, one of which she remembers. We even examined a dead bee today, to her interest. Death is part of life, and toddlers kind of get it in a “doesn't really impact me” kind of a way, as long as you don't make it too emotional. In my experience, anyway.
Posted by: MikeCamel at June 1, 2007 10:35 PM