I opened the door and he zoomed right past me.  Emmet, my cat, is an escape artist.  He was always escaping outside in the back yard.  Usually I could catch him as he approached the door, but not this time!  Whenever Max, my golden retriever went outside, Emmet felt it was his right, as well.  I decided to let him stay out this time and explore.  Maybe he would get bored and come to the back door when Max did!  It was worth a shot.  I stood in the window and watched as Max wandered in the back yard and Emmet followed him.  Max did what he needed to do and then came back and lay down on the patio.  Emmet stayed in the grass, rolling around, jumping at bugs in the air, searching for that elusive treasure.

As Max and I watched, Emmet sat up very slowly, focused on something in the grass.  He crawled along the ground, at a snail’s pace, on alert watching something.  And then BOOM……he pounced.  He batted at whatever it was, he hissed and then he went in for the kill. He looked like he was dancing! When he finished this dance, he had a mole in his mouth.  Suddenly, he saw something else, so with this mole in his mouth he pounced on something else.  He had caught something under his paw, when out of the blue; Max took off like a streak into the backyard.  My head was spinning back and forth, trying to watch them both at the same time!  Max ran into the bushes, I could only see his tail.  I figured they were both having fun, so I decided to let them play and hunt. I sat down to read for awhile.  They would get bored soon enough!

About a half hour later I heard scratching at the back door.  I went to the door, but stopped short and stood there shaking my head in disbelief.  Emmet had two moles in his mouth, while Max, not to be outdone by a cat, had a chipmunk in his.  They were so proud and I was afraid to open the door!!  Max wagged his tail and dropped the chipmunk on the stoop.  Emmet followed suit and dropped his treasures. Thank goodness none of these “treasures” were moving! I wasn’t quite sure if I should let them in or scream!!  My friends had told me similar stories about their pets bringing them such gifts; supposedly this is how they show you they love you!  This was my first experience.  I didn’t want to hurt their feelings, but I had to dispose of these “gifts” before they decided to bring them in the house!  I found my garden gloves and a bag in the garage and went out to collect my “gifts.”

Max decided to go in the house, Emmet decided to go back out in the yard.  I heard him hiss and meow quite loud and the next thing I knew he was behind me with another “gift!”  I couldn’t believe it.  He dropped it on the stoop, looking for the other treasures I had just picked up.  He weaved in and out of my legs, purring very loud!  He was a very proud kitty.  I was in shock!  He scratched on the door to go in, so I opened the door, he trotted right past me and jumped up on the window sill to look out at the back yard.  I stood on the patio with my bag of offerings thankful that my pets loved me so much, I think!

Emmet has escaped many times since then; usually returns with a gift, but has never had the great success he had that day!