Make it Cat 1, Humans 2.

A beautiful morning in the Valley of the Sun. Goin’ up to 92, but at that time it was in the low ’70s. I had just given Cosmo and Marlie their breakfast, and had opened up the French doors to the patio to bring in some of the fresh morning air. In the midst of pouring my usual morning cup of Dunkin’ Donuts java (half regular, half decaf, thank you) I heard the sound of the Contech CRO101 Scarecrow anti-varmint destroyer sputtering into life, it’s jerky water spray splattering the Tiki bar and our south-facing living room window.

I put down my cup and dashed towards the screen door in time to see a flash of gray racing past the door. I think the cat stopped briefly over the normal spot where it normally did its duty when I heard the Scarecrow send a second stream of water in the general direction of the cat. I raced to the sink, grabbed a large glass of water, and ran outside, forgetting that, at least in the Scarecrow’s eyes (actually, sensor) I was as much of a predator as that cat was – perhaps even more so. Briefly blinded by a shot of streaming water, I was able to see the cat make a huge leap onto the wall and look back briefly at me before it hopped down to my neighbor’s side of the wall.

What else could I do? I flung the water over the wall and yelled “Bastard beast!”. That’s all I could think of.

Cat 1, Humans 2.