The Rabbit
In Winter of 2021-2022 the outdoor cat that is no longer outdoor and hasn’t been for months killed a rabbit. It dragged the rabbit through its cat door, onto the floor in the house. The cat ate the rabbit’s face off.
Cats are incredibly invasive. The wreak ecological havok. It is a biproduct of human failure. Sometimes people see cats killing animals and confuse it with “the natural order” or “survival of the fittest.” The cats and the important native species they decimate both would not be in the position they’re in if it wasn’t for the failures of colonial and imperialist environmental decisions. I’m not here to convince you to keep your cat inside, I’m tired. Once I get started I just can’t stop. The research is there though. The wikipedia page called “Cat predation on wildlife” is a good read. This substack post is more so about the poetics of the experience for me (when the cat killed the rabbit.) In order to make up for the loss of the rabbit I decided to skin and tan the hide of the rabbit. Going forward there are graphic photos of a dead rabbit. They are for educational purposes. Please proceed with discretion.