Tails and Whiskers

The first time the cat presented a mouse to me she dropped it outside the back door, ran inside the kitchen then rubbed my leg before bounding outside and sitting by the small, brown, body. I went over to it. There was no apparent injury, no blood showing, so I checked to see if the creature was alive or dead. It was dead. It was then that I noticed that its tail was on the short side. The tail was between half to two-thirds the length of a normal tail of a mouse. I wondered whether she had nibbled it off but couldn't see any evidence to suggest that she had sheared through it with her young and very razor sharp teeth. Many other kills followed and on each occasion I checked the tails - every one had a short tail. Perhaps it is some genetic mutation in my area, I'm not sure. I was lucky enough to spot one that escaped her deft paws and noticed as it scampered away that it also had a short tail. I was then able to conclude that she definitely wasn't biting the tips of the tails off. Last year, whilst I was in the garden a mouse ran onto the lawn then stopped so still, if it hadn't been covered in fur it could have been mistaken for a statue. The cat ran over to it then also stopped still. This mouse had a normal size tail - the cat left it alone - I was able to dart inside grab a camera and there it stood motionless, not a whisker twitched. The cat was still looking at it, her eyes glued to the spot where the creature stood. I called the cat but she didn't move, not a single muscle. In the end the mouse stood up, lifted its front legs off the ground and began to look at the cat. Both seemed to be staring each other out. The mouse eventually strolled off - the cat didn't follow. post extra: day 3 after St Swithin's - it rained this morning changing into a beatutiful, warm, sunny afternoon - 9.00 pm there are heavy, grey, clouds lurking overhead ...