Sitting on the back porch, I noticed Zip darting back and forth, a small creature clutched in his jaws. He was playing with it, a game of cat and mouse quite literally, and it was a sight that always leaves me conflicted. I don’t mind him catching and eating rodents, but it sometimes bothers me when he plays with them; it looks like torture.

I approached him and heard the mouse squeaking and fighting for its life. I grabbed Zip by the collar and allowed the mouse to live. He ran over to the stone wall and got away. When I returned to the house, Zip was sitting by the stone wall, waiting for him to come back out. I don’t know what happened; I was glad to give the mouse a fighting chance.

Maria and I were reviewing last month’s rat attack and decided to let Bud come into our basement on sub-zero winter nights next winter or if the rats return.  It’s not really about the weather, but the rats.

We’ve been opening the basement door outside to clean things up, and he’s been eagerly exploring down there. The best rat prevention is Zip and Bud. Zip is a ferocious hunter; he keeps the farmhouse rat-free and loves exploring the basement, an access point to the house for rats and mice in the early winter.

The basement never gets below 50 degrees, and Minnie and Flow spent the coldest nights there, including ice and snow storms. If necessary, there is a heated cat house down there. It’s a good compromise for us; he can get inside in bitter weather but not into the farmhouse, and he gets to do the work of the barn cat. We’re both quite in agreement about that.

Zip loves to hunt at night. He’ll get his chance.