Naughty Cat Stalking Silvereye Chicks

As much as I like looking at pics of cute/fluffy/beautiful cats on the internet, it's sickening seeing them do *this*! Especially when, just days earlier, the silvereyes were busily feeding a nest of chicks in that very part of the tree!

Perhaps the only consolation is that the AFAIK, the silvereye nest in question has been empty since the weekend, when some strong winds came through and probably damaged it. I hope the babies were ok - that is, I hope they were old enough to have tried flying away, as their nest became uninhabitable. Either that, or today was our furball's greedy return visit for "seconds"...

This evening, I caught "Jasmine" sniffing around this tree in our garden. It's one of the favourite haunts of many birds in the neighbourhood, especially during autumn, when it is covered in large red fruit with golden yellow flesh. During this time of the year, it's also become a favourite spot for the silvereyes to try and build a nest (like this). Of course, there are dangers to this (as seen last year - the events of today though may have given me an explanation... albeit not a very nice one if it's true).

But then, all of a sudden, she crouched down and leapt up on to the trunk, before proceeding to quickly clamber up...

Am I seeing things?! Surely, not! It's amazing how cats are soooo athletic!

I quickly rushed outside with my camera to try and catch the cat in the tree, get some good shots of it, and then hopefully scare it from attempting this again anytime soon... By the time I got there, the cat was already well settled up in the canopy...

Staring intently at something - "Mmm... Yummy morsels over there... Nom Nom Nom"

It was not until I started giving it a stare down that it reluctantly turned around and began descending from the tree...

Oh... you're watching me?

Fine fine... I'll come down. One paw at a time...

Hunting the hunted

It's a pity that such a beautiful cat gets up to such naughty deeds. At least the owners of this adventurous moggy had the sense to give it a collar with a distinctive bell on it - otherwise, I might not have noticed it's arrival and movements in our garden...

"Jasmine" - The cat with the bells

Finally after being chased by me around the tree, Jasmine reluctantly came down...

Caught in the Act!  Guilty but not quite yet sorry.... Just look at those claws!

It was then a mad dash to exit the property as quickly as possible! Again, this cat demonstrated just how athletic cats can be, scaling the fence in a single bound (unlike the previous furballs whose panicked attempts ended in flying fur, flailing claws, an undignified fall onto the cacti, and a sulking tail-between-legs exit).