Max

Chris found Max on the side of the road near the Duck River one day as he was driving home. He was most likely an unwanted kitten some jerk-wad tossed out the window as he was driving over the bridge, along with Max's litter mates, hoping they would all drown or something. Max was understandably terrified and doing his best to act vicious, so Chris had to don a pair of leather gloves just to pick him up.

The first few days with Max were rough, but slowly, he calmed down and came to trust us, though it was obvious to me that Max would never be quite right in the head. Removed from his mama too soon, he still kneads the floor with his front paws as he eats. Unless he is curled up on your lap, you can never be entirely sure when you pet him if he will accept the affection or try to claw your arm to pieces. For the first year, he was famous for ambushing your legs as you walked through the yard. Now, thankfully, he reserves this game for after dark.

So when Zivah spotted Max perched in a holly bush this morning, I thought this was just another of Max's quirks.

 But when we got closer, we noticed a mouse!

 Silly mouse, I thought. Max has you out on a literal limb.

 But the mouse had another trick up its sleeve:

It jumped over to a branch of the neighboring weeping mulberry and climbed away.

I thought for sure the mouse had outwitted Max, until Max dropped out of the holly and climbed the mulberry with ease.

At that point, we had to leave for school. I thought by the time I got back, either the mouse would have made an escape, or Max's belly would be a little fuller, but no. Twenty minutes later, Max had the mouse cornered.

Once again, I thought the mouse was done for, and I left to go inside and document the excitement of the morning. Instead of making his move, apparently Max let the mouse climb the stack of wood. An hour later, I found Max, still on the deck, napping. The mouse, not realizing Max had given up the chase, was still hiding in a crack between boards. I flushed him out, and Max gave a half-hearted chase. But this time, the mouse found an escape route Max just couldn't follow.