Do you know about Blue Jays? They are nasty, aggressive birds. Now, I have bird feeders in the back and from my office I can see a host of different types of birds feeding. Two Blue Jays, a mated pair I am guessing, have been coming to the feeder for the past six weeks. When they arrive the other birds are leary because Blue Jays are always ready to fight.

A lot of seed falls to the ground because birds eat like pigs. So the Blue Jays will often go down to the ground to eat.

I have other livestock around too – millions of squirrels some of which are black, some of which are black with rust-colored tails, most of which are grey; some lizards that you can see occasionally, possums, raccoons, rabbits and cats, dozens of cats prowling the backyards of everyone in my area looking for prey

Today the two Blue Jays were on the ground feeding under the bird feeder. They were within two feet of each other. I had a taken a pause from writing my new novel (Trev ) when from under my neighbor’s fence a cat launched himself at one of the Blue Jays. This cat was lightening fast — he was a young cat, sleek and smooth — and he caught one of the Blue Jays, ripped it up with his claws and then, holding it in his mouth, trotted off to one of my neighbors’ yards.

In all my years of watching these cats prowl around I have never seen them catch a bird. Field mice, yes; squirrels and birds, no. But today I saw what a cat can do. That Blue Jay didn’t have a chance.

I look out my window now and that other Blue Jay has come back. I wonder if this bird feels the loss of the other one — does it have a nest with little birds? And where is that cat? Away somewhere munching on the dead body of a bird not fast enough to get away.

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