When our scorpion invasion began last spring, Patrice's landscaping friend (also the provider of the heavy duty industrial strength scorpion killing poison) said "get a cat." I asked if cats hunt and kill scorpions and he said they hunt them and catch them, so we can kill them. I remember watching my cat hunt and "catch" a mouse once...she tossed that little critter back and forth and up and down all over. I immediately replaced that memory with an image of Frankie doing the same thing...tossing and batting a scorpion about the house. Umm, no thanks! I would not want to be present (or let my kid be present) when the cat tosses a scorpion into the air.
Our friend also said that cats are immune to scorpion stings. That sounded good...if she will hunt the little buggers and corner them so I can kill them with no danger to herself, she'll earn her keep. I did a little research of my own. Turns out, cats are not, in fact, immune to scorpion venom, they just have a natural instinct that guides them to catch, dismember, and kill the nasty little buggers, all the while avoiding the tail (and hence the stinger and the venom.) I read several testimonials from people who live in scorpion country, all of whom confirmed the fact that cats are mighty and effective hunters of scorpions. On the few occasions when the cats were stung, it was generally due to human interference (read: screaming like a little girl, thereby distracting the cat and providing the scorpion an opportunity to strike.) I watched several videos on youtube of domestic cats killing scorpions and wild cats killing snakes. They use the same methods, clever kitties.
All the people I read about said they would not live in the desert without a cat, period. One woman said that her cat cornered a scorpion and it went into its freeze defense. She captured the scorpion and let it go in the desert. What the what? That's way too nice. I captured two scorpions when we had a heat wave in December. I sealed them both in canning jars. I sprayed our bug killer into one jar, hoping to see my prisoner writhe and convulse in its final death throes. To my great disappointment, it just seemed to fade away into non-existence over night. I kept the other one and have been observing it ever since. Without air, water, or food, that nasty little critter is still alive. So not only do I think that re-releasing the monsters in the desert is way too nice, I have kept and tortured the ones (mwah ha ha) that crossed the line.
Also, watching the kitties catch, torture, dismember, and kill scorpions is the best argument against declawing that I've come across yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment