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regon
-award Yevinley Corning
71 CAT TVAT CO7LDF'T 137'
I've killed lots of wild game in my day. Cougars, bears, timber
wolves, and wildcats --I've trapped or shot 'em all. But the toughest job
I over had was trying to do away with a blame, ornery house eat.
We had raised him from a kitten, see; and for years he was agree-
able enough. But when he began to get old he began to get moan. He batted
around a lot in tie woods, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't mix with
a -Ald eat now and then. Independent? Se., you had to get out of his way,
or he'd sl:it at you like a bull ot the woods in a lou,ing carp. i5o was
f-ettinr too dieresT:ectful for a Tan's mortal ego. Tesides that, he was kill-
inr thins around the place; chickens, and finally one of the geese. The
coose like as not made the mistake of trying to out -hiss the darn rascal, and
the cat just naturally throttled him.
Well, that wasn't all. -!!very time he made a killing foray in t),e
forest he'd drag his kill back to the homeplace, and just drop the dead weasel,
or paokrat, or rabbit right out in the open yard. Didn't seem to want to eat
them. If I didn't drag the carcasses off somewhere they'd lay there until you
couldn't go outdoors without holding your nose. Alen he came draggirg a skunk
in one morning, that was the last. "I'll drown that skunk -toting feline," I
swore. "You'll get scent on yuh," the kid hollered from the woodpile, heaving
a stick ot firewood at the scowlini creature. Its yellow -gray markings, as I
looked at it ten, iTlide it resemble a civit cat more'n ever.
I waited almost a week-, 1:eanwnile the riace btlar to smell like
an unburied cemetery, -what with tie skunk and all -Crie other dead thinrs lying
around. Men I rot ny e'ance.
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It had been raining a lot and the cat sort of hung around t7:',e place.
I cornered it one day in the orib, where it was minding its own businese for
once, hunting for rats. I called the kid and somehtns we got it into a gunny
seek. *We'll drawn him. I said, putting a rook in the seek. "ell drag
him down to the *reek and drop him in."
And that's what we done, with the damn oat spitting and clawing like
a hail storm in a featherbed. We had to sort of keep out of the Ivey of the
sack, while me dragged it down through the brush to the stream, not to got all
hacked up by the claws jabbing through. (Ince we got there we gave a big heave
and shot the tied -up critter out into the deepest part of the creek.
"So much for you, you son of the wilderness," we howled after him,
and turned and started back just as soon as we saw him sink.
Well, we was hallooing before we was out of the woods, as the fellow
mays, because we hadn't got fifty feet up the trail when, dang we, if that oat
didn't oome tearing by through the brush a...spitting and a -throwing water like
a March rainstorm. When we got back up to the house there he was, strutting
around in highAleeled boots, proud and haughty.
Isms so mad then I swore I'd shoot him short off, and stamped into
the house for my gun. I kept it loaded, as we always did in them days.
Well, it looked like a setup again, for when I came out that oat
was up sitting on the ridge of the crib, orey-eyed and staring, sort of daring
me to pop at him. I chuckled I knew how fast 1 MIA with the gun. And
bingot I just pulled up and let 'or go. I saw two or three shingles fly
and thought I'd got the eat sure. But the next instant I saw the creature
high -tailing it down the barn lot for the woods. I was howling mad then.
It had begun to look like I was rowing up Salt Creek, trying to kill the
animal.
"The next time we get a chance at that beast we'll take it out in
the forest and ehop its head off, I told the kid. "we'll hog-tie it and just
naturally out its wits apart from its legs. It won't do much walking and
killing without its wits."
Ma eould do anything with that oat, except make it drink milk it
was too tough for that. So we asked her to cook up a mess of the sort of
grub that feline just naturally purred over. "Just feed hi n in the kitchen,"
I said"; and while he's choking it down we'll drop a noose over his fool head.
It won't take us long after that. It's a law -down trick, catc-ring him that
way, but. the bloody son of titan ain't cot no sentiment about him azlyway. He's
a menace even to wild life."
.411, ma done as we asked her to, and in no tie a -tall we "Tied the
oat tied up like a poke an. danling on a pole betw?en us. baye that creature
wasn't howling and spitting and glarin8 I guess he knew he had been tricked
and was just as good as done for.
"We're going to have to lift your hair, kitty", I said, r";.nly I
guess we'll do it at the neck." He knew What I was saying all rigi-t.
We got him down to the woods and onto a law stump. 'Ne stretched him
out so there'd be a lot of neok for the axe to strike and not miss. 7tc tried
him that way spread-eagle, on one side. He just lay there and glared at
us, with a mean kind of twinkle in his amber -green eyes. He wasn't spitting
any more. Somehow we never got a scratch. "here goes your nine lives," I
says, liitinF the axe.
One clean stroke wus all I needed. I brought that d3nw with all
force i had, an I meant it. Somehow I never thought I ml. .1t miss and
cut the rope instead, and free the orey-eyed bat. 2ut there the creature
lay in two pieces, head and body. "That finis you," I exclaimed. The
kid howled with delight. *You got him this ti: :e, pop," he hollered.
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•MM.
We took the ropes off and kicked the head and carcass into the
leaves, and strolled back home through the woods. The kid was still elated
but I felt sort of let down; it was a nasty job, the kind I never liked, not
even if I was mad. *Wed better tame a wild eat next ime," I told the kid;
naot keep no house eats to go wild on us. The kid agreed.
We come up through the barn lot, past the sheds, saying we'd have
to rather up the dead animals that was lying round and rotting in the yard,
and was almost to the house, when we looked up, both of us at mice. You
can't i-iagine 'now surprised we was at what we saw4
There on the back doorstep sat the eat we thowiht we had killed,
holdin7 his head in his mouths