Stakeout

What we have here is a rat hidden in this bush. Because it was dark, and Max strikes like lightning, I wasn't able to snap a picture quick enough to get the rat in the frame. You can see Max pouncing in all three pictures. I could heal the rat squeaking in terror. I couldn't bring myself to stop Max because I don't want rats in my house and I didn't realize what a rat problem we really had in the neighborhood until he started murdering them all over my lawn. 

Abduction

We had pizza for dinner. My kid asked for seconds.

I cut a slice of Little Caesar's pepperoni deep dish pizza in half and gave one half to my kid.

While the other half was unattended, MAXWELL jumped up onto the table and helped himself to it.

My kid was not happy and started chasing Max around, reprimanding him and trying to get it back from him. All the commotion got Copper's attention. What I ended up with was a whirling dervish of human, dog, cat and pizza.

Copper won and swallowed it in what appeared to be one gulp.

This is the only picture I managed to take before the evidence was consumed.  

Zen and the Art of Murder

Found this poor little guy cornered against my neighbor's porch (where else??) in the middle of the day. I tried to get it away from Max for no reason that I can logically explain but Max wasn't giving him up anyway. The rescue attempt led us to Max trapping the rat under my back porch. Greaatttttt. Later that night when I got home from my dad's I saw a fairly large rat run across the street a few houses down from mine. Lesson learned I guess.

Pitbull Sessions

Another cat-dog picture. Never ceases to amaze me that the only real threat burglars would face in my home is the cat. Maybe no one has broken into my house cuz Max is usually guarding from outside?? 

Thrill of the Kill: Part 2

Found this the next afternoon, on my way to a sushi date. GROSS. What on earth did he do with the other half??

Upon further inspection, I found this bird's almost skeleton. It blended in so well I almost stepped on it before seeing it. 

And then I found this. I can't say for sure what it is, but my money's on "other half of the first picture". He must've just taken the skin off of this half and run around with rat-skin booties or something. Not sure if eating the skin/fur or wearing it Silence of the Rats style disturbs me more. 

Thrill of the Kill

Got home from my dad's about 9:30pm and my cat came running across the street to our house while I parked the car. I thought he was excited to see us but after getting my kid out of the car and walking towards him/the house I noticed him drop a small rat or a giant mouse. Of course my kid was upset because Max hurt the mouse. Max wasn't giving up the goods so I chased him halfway down the block trying to get a picture of him. He paused every few steps to drop the mouse/rat and bat it around in the special way cats do.

Also, my kid seems to think Max climbed a tree to hurt that mouse.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Came home from picking my kid up after spending 2 nights of glut and debauchery at my dad's house. How I missed the squirrel when I left is beyond me. Dead as a doornail, as they say. Straight ahead was a dead bird. The bird was right next to my porch, almost on my neighbor's property and the squirrel was completely on my neighbor's lawn. Not sure if Max thinks I'm fat enough as it is and don't need anymore food or if he thinks the neighbors are too skinny and need all the help they can get.

                                      The bird had obviously been dead for quite some time.

                          Rigor mortis had not yet set in. This guy trespassed on the wrong lawn.

Shades of Gray

This is what happens when I don't get out of the car fast enough. Or pull away from the curb fast enough. My neighbors complain because he lays down on top of everyones' cars so they can't drive away.

The Damage Done

Got home from work today and what do I see in my flower bed? Max. Butchering a butterfly. As if the racing pigeon on Saturday wasn't enough! The body of the butterfly was about the width of my thumb. It was no tiny winged thing he was attacking. Tommy was of course freaking out, but it was because he was afraid of the butterfly, not sad that Max was destroying it. By the time I was able to intervene the wings were tattered almost off completely and it was barely fighting anymore.

                             Its wing span was probably 2-3 inches before Max got a hold of it.

Mercy

I stupidly did not take a picture of this bird.

After a looooong morning spent in Westminster (long because we were gone all morning AND because my kid carried on like a jerk the entire drive home) I came home to find my cat stalking a pigeon on my neighbor's porch. The bird was hurt and couldn't fly. And there were feathers everywhere. My neighbors' solution was to throw bread on the lawn to get the bird to go away. SMH. My kid thought this was the greatest thing ever until he realized Max was attacking it. Upon further inspection I noticed that the bird had a band on it's leg. GREEEEAAATTTTTT. He has to kill a bird that someone owns?? I corralled my kid and Max into the house and got to work catching the bird. Should've been no problem, however I am afraid of horses and birds so I was more than a little freaked out. Some years ago I worked with a guy who owned racing pigeons and one wound up at work. He picked it up and showed all of us there how tame they are and explained that it was probably tired which explained why it was meek as could be while being handled. I had imagined that's how it would go when I picked that bird up. False. Tommy snuck out of the house and Max snuck out right behind him. Just as I bent down to pick the bird up Max pounced on the bird and it started flapping around. I nearly had a heart attack. After much more ado I was able to capture the bird and put it in an empty diaper box. I drove it out to Phoenix Wildlife Center and it turned out Max didn't hurt the bird, he was only torturing it (lovely). The bird wound up with a broken wing and couldn't fly. Max just knows how to kick a bird when it's down. Kathleen assured me the bird would make a full recovery.

In Search of Crimes Past

This cause of death is unconfirmed, however, I have my suspicions.

All Through the House

                                                     My kid and his fierce protectors.

Identity Crisis

                                         Meet CatDog.

The Documentary

I got my cat Max because I was having a little bit of a mouse problem in my house over the winter. I knew he was indoor/outdoor when I got him. I knew he was a mouse killer. I had no idea what a killing machine he really is. Within a month I no longer had a mouse problem.

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of all of his victims, although I'm making an effort now so I can document everything. Countless birds have fallen prey to him. One of my neighbors came up to me and told me that Max was running around with a baby bunny. She chased Max down and got the bunny from him. It was dead. Pretty sure Max did that on purpose.