Nature .." red in tooth and claw"

“Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw”
         Lord Tennyson “In Memoriam”
 
Horrified to find under the coffee table  this morning the dead body of one of our red squirrels.   https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3211083647318754397 

 
The culprit, Leo, lounged on top of the sofa in the sun without a care in the world.

What can you say? No point scolding him. He was after all fulfilling his natural instincts. I could understand if he was hungry and hunted for food. But he is not. He demands to be fed at least twice sometimes three times a day.

What is surprising is that he rarely brings anything into the house, just the occasional shrew or field mouse in the summer.  He is not a young cat either, at least ten years of age, and if anything, lazy so it was a double surprise and horror to discover the dead body of one of our red squirrels on the floor today.

I can only deduce they have become too tame and lost their fear of predators.

Tomorrow, we will bury it the garden.

Photo: evening walk - sunset over the Scottish Highlands with Ben Lomond just visible to the right.
 
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