If you have a cat and a garden you will probably be used to the occasional loving gift from your kitteh: a bird with its insides artfully displayed, a headless frog, a generous supply of small rodents.
Yesterday the little dead mouse above was waiting for me when I went downstairs. (The picture is some fun I had with Cottage Arts’ free downloads for digital scrapbooking. I enjoyed the macabre contrast of the little corpse with the rather over-pretty scrapbooking elements.)
Usually I just dispose of my “gifts”, but for some reason I got to wondering about this little mouse.
My book on animal totems tells me mouse is about attention to detail. So I thought I’d take a detailed look at this creature. Using my magnifying hand lens*, I gazed carefully at the tiny body. How incredibly delicate were its tiny pink feet, the intricate folds of its ear. The fur shading from brown to dark grey to almost white, with slight gradation on each individual hair. The tail: I always thought mice had bald tails but now I could see it was covered with fine hairs which stood at a slight angle from the skin.
It was unexpected, this microscopic gift of richness.
I wonder how often we ignore the opportunity to really see what’s around us, and what we miss by passing by.
What do you need to look at more closely?
Image: my photograph in digital montage
Elsewhere:
*I really recommend these little magnifying lenses. Small enough to slip in a pocket when you’re out walking, they can reveal an entire world of wonder in a pinpoint of drab flower head (reminds me of Dame Julian’s hazelnut). They are inexpensive – this is the one I bought. I have a feeling I first read about them in Marian’s book Lilypad List.
And just because you’re looking at interesting things on the ground, don’t forget to look up at the sky.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
at first i was stunned by the artistry of your kitteh. now i know it is your own creative ability. great photo! i always feel blessed when i have the opportunity to sit and watch the minutiae around me. i could get lost in it for hours. we have some tiny birds who have decided my back porch fountain is their favorite haunt. when they are flittering around, i can hardly tear myself away. thanks for the reminder to detail!! xoxo
The collage did surprise me! I find I’m getting to be, or just recognizing it more, than I’m a “sentimental mush” when it comes to living things who seem to have met their demise too early. Of course, a mouse must always look as though it’s left life too early simply because it is so small:) Anyway, kitties do their thing and doggies theirs too. Riley yearns to catch one of our nice finches or sparrows and I think, I hope, he’s only managed to snag one this year! But, back to the collage – honoring a little thing that used to be alive with an inventive way for the creature to go………….was its next stop the outdoor wastebin – or maybe a little less inventive and dramatic resting place!:) I posted yesterday about things about us that we take for granted – our beloved animals, and little outdoor creatures would fit in that category, I think.
oh my, that is an unusual image
but your message of looking at something more closely is spot on
i have a cat and often get little offerings from her, but i’ve never created art from it
clever you
I mourn your little mouse, and love all creatures.
But this is a thought on the reality of cats as mousers.
In medieval biblical illustrations, Ruth is sometimes depicted as a cat. That’s because of the scene in RUTH Chapter 3 where there are those huge piles of grain and Boaz falls asleep at night at the base of one of them. Seeking his protection, Ruth lays herself down at his feet (the way a cat might do). Cats were kept and cared for by ancient farmers because field mice ate their grain and the cats were such good mousers. I wonder if the instinct to bring in the dead mouse trophies to show to the pet owner, which all domestic cats seem to have, is also connected to the ultimate survival of the cat, so as to demonstrate to the farmer or housekeeper how valuable a cat is to protect and care for. Now, hug me please, for this little offering I’ve dragged in ((-:
How I wish my kittehs had the opportunity to exercise their mousing prowess, but I must keep them indoors for their protection. The most they find to hunt are moths and spiders that find shelter inside when the seasons change.
It is a bit of an odd connection, but your collage reminded me of an exhibit I heard about years ago here in Montreal and a photo series I saw on the internet. In both cases, there were representations of people who had just died, death masks, as it were. They were universally peaceful and fascinating, despite the morbidity.
I guess we all share, with the cats, a need to have our achievements validated.
dearest barbara – a very bright light bulb popped on for me when i read these words, so simple & true: “I guess we all share, with the cats, a need to have our achievements validated.” yep, that’s what i want with my workshop. i want someone to say, “good kitty, kayce. job well done.”
Amusingly, just before I finished typing the comments below, I checked my email and found one trying to get me to buy tickets to see a band called Super Furry Animals in concert.
@lucy (twice): well the cat in question is my own Lucy, so I would never be surprised if she developed artistic talents… And I so resonate with what you say about your workshop. When we give Enneagram workshops people usually thank us very warmly as they leave and give great feedback, but a few lovely souls actually take the trouble to send letters afterwards and it is SO wonderfully validating. It always interests me how much I need it.
@SS: To be truthful, I don’t feel that sentimental about my cat’s “gifts”. I do hate driving past road kill though, and I haven’t been able to eat rabbit since reading Watership Down!! I did feel especially sorry for the little mouse though when I read in my animal totem book that mice are one of the few creatures that are preyed on by pretty much everything! I hadn’t thought of it before. You ask what its next stop was after being photographed: I laid it in a raised herb bed on my deck, thinking it would be interesting to continue taking pictures as it decayed. But the next morning it had disappeared – probably a bird had it for breakfast.
@kel: I don’t know what prompted me to look more closely at this little mouse, but I’m glad I did. The artwork was an afterthought really. Perhaps we could start a “kill kitteh kill” visual collection…
@kigen: this is SO interesting, I had no idea about this representation of Ruth. I do so value your knowledge and insights. I’m sure you’re right about this element of the hunting instinct. And I’m actually very conscious of filtering my own reactions to Lucy cat’s offerings – when she brings birds, I get cross with her, however mice are par for the course and don’t worry me, and I positively lavish her with praise when occasionally she snags a rat. She must find my reactions to her natural instincts confusing at best!
@Barbara: perhaps you could buy them some living dinner from the pet shop as a treat…
I think I heard about the exhibit you mention and also saw some photographs. I find death less and less morbid as I get older and therefore closer to it. (Although I’m hoping for a good long while yet!)
I so agree with this post and the message it speaks of.
Hi,. new from BlissChick’s link- love your collage, it’s something Beatrix Potter would have done, had she collaged (is that a word?)
Yolanda, thank you.
Maggie May, welcome, glad you’re here. Potter with a slightly off-key spin perhaps? And yes I’m sure collaged is a word!