Malcolm X

My sweet little guy, Malcolm, shown left within days of my obtaining him, is gone.  I suspect he became owl fodder.  Our woods are becoming more and more filled with these soundless, winged predators.  He would have been 2 years old this July.

I came to get Malcolm after my father called me to tell me that there were four little kittens around his house.  They were skittish, so much so that he had to trap them.  He got three of them and shuttled them to the Humane Society. The lone hold out, Malcolm (notice the X on his nose), was trapped the next day after I spent about 45 minutes trying to capture him.  He was very wary and scared.  He wanted me to get him, he was just too scared.  He kept crying and darting underneath things. 

Kittens have a natural tendency to get underneath things, and flee bird shadows--at least that is my observation of their behavior.  Malcolm was so frightened in his cage (it didn't help that my father was dragging the metal cage over concreted).  I put the cage in my car, and drove home. 

He was one of the sweetest cats we have ever had.  He was wary for quite a long time.  He would go outside and hide under the decking of a tool shed.  I would have to get on my hands and knees and peer under there to see his silhouette. 

Within the last 6 months, he settled into the habit that all of our cats have--venturing out into the night to hunt.  Once Malcolm made his first mouse kill (which happened to be an interior hunting junket), it was something that he couldn't get enough of.  Is it possible that 'True Blood' was created by a cat owner?

About one month ago, I noticed some strange marks under his belly.  He also has been presenting some scratches on his face prior to that.  As I looked at the marks, I couldn't quite make out what they were.  They didn't appear to be from a cat to cat fight.  However, since he has disappeared, I am now surmising that these odd marks (somewhat deep, very sharp, though oddly, they did not bother him), were from a failed nabbing by an owl.

The baby owls are now making noises, so I suspect that Malcolm made a tasty meal for them courtesy of one of their parents.  It breaks my heart that the is gone.  He now makes number 3 of lost cats.  The 'live by the fang, die by the fang (or worse)' is alive and well for any nocturnal animal.  Yes, I could have kept him inside--but they stalk the door, and dart out faster than a frog getting a fly.  Having said that, though, I had cats in this home for 27 years.  It has only been within the last 6 years that I've had any loss of felines.

Sniff.

He was a sweet and happy boy.  I hope that his end was quick.  I hope the same for my self whenever it should come.