Tough Life Lessons For a Three Year Old

Since moving to Milk River, our two cats have become outdoor cats. Skyreach has just recently started to venture outside. He loves to be outside...as long as it is sunny, warm and dry. He wont put a foot on the snow or step in a puddle, in my opinion we is a wimpy cat. Early in the spring he once came outside and jumped off the deck, over a pile of snow and onto dry grass...but then he was stuck and he whined because he couldn't get back to the house. Ranford on the other hand has been spending much of his days and some nights(recently) out side since we moved here in January. He has no problems with the snow or rain or mud, in fact I think he loves it all. The first thing he does when he goes outside is fine a pile of dirt to roll around in (he is a white cat....well kinda brownish white these days). He once chased a deer out of our yard...I think he thought he might actually catch it. So it was no surprise to me when I started finding dead little birds in our flower beds. Either Ranford was responsible for their death or the neighbor cats were placing the dead little birds in our yard to make the new guy look good. Thus far I've been able to dispose of the dead birds with out the girls seeing them.

This morning we have been working on the garden...well I was working, Kathryn and Tansley were helping by digging in the dirt with their sand toys, they said they were helping get the tree roots out. Kathryn spotted Skyreach coming around the corner with a bird in his mouth...a not so dead bird. The bird started flapping it's wings so Skyreach put it down, the girls quickly came over to inspect, the poor bird had a large wound on its back and couldn't walk, he just flapped his wings. Skyreach toyed with the bird. Somehow this both fascinated and disturbed the girls. Tansley shooed Skyreach away and then crouched down by the bird and said she was looking over it. She started to get a sad look on her face. I could see their was nothing that could be done and the poor little bird was suffering. It was best if we just let the cat finish what he started to end the poor birdies pain. So I asked the girls if they wanted a snack and we headed inside. Tansley started to cry and was mad at Skyreach and called him a mean cat for hurting the bird. I tried to explain to them using the Lion King circle of life, But Kathryn started just talking about the movie that had nothing to do with what I was trying to say. So then I switched to Dinosaurs, how some dinosaurs eat meat (or other dinosaurs), and some ate plants. Now that our cats are outside cats, sometimes they eat mice and little birds.

After awhile I went back out side to see if Skyreach was done with the bird. He had abandoned it so, I went to retrieve a plastic bag to dispose of it, but before I got back outside the girls were at my side wondering if the bird was OK. I told them the he was dead and asked them if they wanted to bury it. They said they did, so I got a Mac and Cheese box and put the bird in it, and then dug a whole in the flower garden under a tree. I explained that the bird's spirit was now in heaven and we were just putting the body in the ground. We said a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the beautiful bird and prayed for his family. Tansley started crying during the prayer, so then I did too. As we walked away Tansley completely broke down, she was so sad. All I could do was just hold her because I knew she didn't really understand what had just happened. Once she settled down she asked if she could go inside and watch TV. A short time later she came out again and asked if the bird was awake yet. Kathryn drew a picture of the bird and put it on a stick to mark the spot. Tansley doesn't want to go near the grave.

I'm glad we had this experience...it likely will happen again. Daniel's Grandpa Court is 95 years old. We try to visit him often. Kathryn is really close to him. He isn't going to be around forever, he's getting visibly older each time we go to visit. One day in the not to distant future, we will be attending his funeral....and maybe, just maybe this experience with the bird will help them to understand it a little better.