Sharp County record., 1888-09-06
OLD MOUSER.
lis Cunning Method II Securing
Dainty Tid-8its.
A rommotinn Among the Birds. and What
Caused 1.-THE Charmed Robin and
It's CAPTURE - How and By
Whom Eescued.

Whom lseScneh'
Among the inmates Of my house Is
IN exceptionally inc mouser. who.
with several of his brethren in kitten
hood. was drOpped ont of bag at NY
door eight Years AGO, since when he
has shared 0ur fortunes. and become
amartJed "a favorite in he family. In
auDearauca he is p handsome cat. Of %
dark mouse-c0IOr. ais coat Oug and
thick asa mat. Remarkably sagaclOUs-
he is also actively greedy, and Dt the
same time discriminating and nice IN
his tastes, n fact, quite 70 'g0urmet.
While plump, Ae IS not ordinarily
Nvar-weightv. Dut have noticed dur
ing the months Of Nav and june, no
the time the birds are engaged IN their
nest-buIding, 1rOodiug and bringing
ont their young ones, that Mouser, rs
"a rule. amasses flesh; for aat, ne
reaches DonderOus avOirdupols,
Heretofore. at this season Of The YEAR
have been too much occupied 10 pay
nuch attention to The fact, but o. 7nd-
den illness during the past spring con-
fined me to my bed Tor many weeks.
'7and it was while aonvalescing hat [
in colisc0vered Mouser's mode Of putting
on flesh.
When sufficiently recovered to sit by
the opeu window, Twas agreoablv sur
nrlsed 10 see IN unusual number Of
robbins hopping about; had not seen
them 50 numerous in twenty Years. To
nv great satisfaction. I found they had
coionized largely IN the eims that sur
rounded The house and what struck
me as curious. we're often in a state Of
anprv axcitement emitting short, ter
rffed sfaccatO notes rs they lew wildly
about or nassed themselves uDOn 70
tree. with feathers ~ulled as If m enc.
nv were in sight, all the time keeping
I'D v0ciferou7 racket 0f bird 0ratorv
both frightened and deuuuciatorv.
Nv atfectiouate regard for nv geuer-
aIIv peaceful. melodious pets led me to
seek out the cause of this distress: but
with AL my Interested observation, j
failed to discover any thing because of
nv United view About he first week
0f June. however, was strong enough
10 be moved out upOn the rear veranda.
which. from its eastern .OOkOut. gave
me- he warmth Of the early sunlight
and clear view Of the 1irts-nesting
domain. as we'll rs Of the domestic ar-
ranuenent Of .he household. Very
naturally took up my Old habits Of
observation. 1ut with more than usua,
kepuucss. having an object in view
The morning 0f my discovery 1f Old
1Iousers fatteuiuq process vas a ra-
markahlv brilliant one. and vas rem
derad softly musical by he robins who
we're out in full force. singing sweet.v
as they lifted aitheraud v0n. on pr0vi-
dent. Daterual arrands 1t was very
peaceful time during he carly hours
Of the day Mouser came out rom
the kitchen door and. stretching HIM
self Iazilv out on he steps .av here
summing himself in lat a0mpaccncv,
his plump sides Iegving with heavy
and lOnp-drawn DuJTs. As drew to-
ward ten O'Clock he reused ID, treated
himself TO several luxurious 7t'ateh-
ings and. with q OOz Of shrawd Dur-
pose in his sleepy. yellow eyes. moved
cautiously away. and soon .0st sight
of him. Presently saw l slow wave
In the unmown rrass beyond The we'll
sweep, and suddenly Mouser7 mead
popped no, then ~ quickly 1isaD-
peared. az he erept stealthil7 along
under cover Of the -all nrass 70 the
weil-curh. where sinking noiseiessiv
down, and iattening his body under
the projecting spout ne lay wari.v
motonIess, with mis- SLY eyes raised
and steadily fixed upon some object.
Just as a tiger would wait for MS prey.
While I had been observing MOuser
suspicious movements, the robins had
become peculiarly active and noisy;
nest of Aedgeiings We're Just essavlng
their first flight, and With feeble awtl-
ward attempts We're tum5ling head
over-heeis, to the dismay Of the
fiurried- anxious Dird-mother It
seemed to me that every robin on the
place was on the wing, and all were in
the greatest commotion, giving forth
little shriN cries. and whirring and
swirling in reckless flights. but al
ways returning to light on a mapIe
tree near the house, where they chat