Tony the Tiger is a tiger after all. I'm assuming he found out about my blog and read what I posted about him. That's the only way I can describe his peculiar behavior yesterday.
I was in the living room, about to head over to the neighbors to babysit, when all of a sudden I see Tony walk in off the deck, prancing, with something clamped between his jaws. He walked casually around the pool table and through the kitchen as I stand watching him from the living room. He then proceeded to walk right up to me and drop a baby bunny at my feet. He looked up at me like, "Here ya go dude" and then sort of pawed at the helpless bunny quivering in fear. I immediately picked up the bunny and yelled at Tony while looking at my watch, realizing I had to be at the neighbors in five minutes. But now I had a bunny in hand and an anxious cat attempting to climb my leg to reach him. What in the world was I going to do with a poor innocent little rabbit?
I had three choices, all of which weren't in favor of the little fur ball in my hand. A) I could give the bunny back to Tony and just leave. (I winced here) B) I could go put the bunny somewhere in the garden hoping his mom would find him. C) I could take him to the neighbors and let a 5 yr old boy and 3 yr old girl squeeze him to death with utter excitement.
So I scurried around in search of a shoe box and wrapped the bunny tightly in a washcloth and headed out the door. And wow, were those two kids happy. Before I could even get out the words 'be careful with him', the little 3 year old had him by the throat, running around the living room jumping and squealing "Can we keep him? Can we keep him?"
Then it had to be explained that he wouldn't live if they tried to keep him because he was too little. This was a tragic moment for the kids and I realized then, maybe giving the bunny back to Tony may have been a better idea. The 3 year old, after several tears, accepted that the bunny couldn't be a pet and I quickly tried to change the subject as we went to the bathroom to wash our hands, while their mom snuck him out of the house and went on her way.
That evening when I came home from playing with the kids I turned on the light to find another peace offering from Tony. A lizard lay right in the middle of the living room floor, dead as a doorknob, Tony nowhere in sight. I underestimated you Tony the Greeeeeeeaaaaat White Hunter. A bunny and a lizard in one day says a lot for a cat who eats whipped cream on a platter.
