Cat’s Habit of Bringing Owner Live Animals Escalates into Wild Behavior

A Florida pet owner has been treated to the most unexpected of surprise gifts from his cat. Christian Lambert from Clearwater bought Jude the family cat as a Christmas present for his son. For a time, Jude was like any other feline. „You can usually find her loafing around or playing with the other cat,“ Lambert told Newsweek.

However, around about a year ago, Jude started doing something a little different: she would bring Lambert live animals she had picked up during her outings around the garden. Over time, she has brought Lambert a sparrow, a frog, and a gecko, all very much alive. Lambert, for his part, struggles to understand why.

„I couldn’t tell you honestly why she does it, maybe she thinks she’s leaving me a gift?“ he theorized. That’s not entirely wide of the mark, though veterinarian Wailani Sung believes it serves a more specific purpose.

Sung told PetMD: „Mothers will bring back dead or live prey to their kittens to teach them how to hunt. Some cats may have similar inclinations to share their prey with their owners.“ Lambert tends to take the caught animals and release them soon after. However, in doing so, he may be encouraging repeat behavior, according to Sung.

„Usually, the owner tries to get the dead animal away from the cat and may inadvertently reinforce their cat’s behavior,“ she explained to PetMD. „If the cat is holding the dead bird, and the owner tosses her a toy or treat in order to get the cat to drop it, then the cat may learn to bring more prey to the owner in order to get more attention or rewards.“

If that is true, Lambert might want to brace himself for more surprises, given the last animal Jude brought his way: a snake. „I was a bit startled at first until I saw it had an orange ring around its neck,“ Lambert said. Once he saw it was a ring-necked snake, he relaxed a little. „Those snakes are the most gentle ones you can ever find in our area, I’ve honestly held a larger one as a kid,“ he said.

Even, given the escalating nature of Jude’s „gifts“ he has been left wondering what might come next. „I don’t know, around here it’s not too bad when it comes to dangerous wildlife, I mean we got alligators, but I’m sure poor Jude won’t be bringing that home if she encounters one,“ he said.

Sufficiently amused nonetheless, Lambert decided to share a picture of the snake Jude found on Reddit. It got a surprising response though. „I wanted to show off the snake to someone, it’s pretty cool and the only place I knew of was Reddit,“ he said. „But I was definitely surprised by how many there despised outdoor cats. They didn’t like that I had a so-called ‚predator‘ outside.“

Lambert was surprised by this response, especially as Jude hasn’t actually harmed any of the animals he has brought home. „It’s easy to say snakes are also predators and will swallow up Jude no problem,“ he said. „My thoughts on it is I can’t control nature, however I’m glad Jude isn’t out attacking small animals like they said she would, but instead collecting them. I should have a tiny zoo in my house by now.“

Lambert and the internet at large await news of what Jude brings him next with baited breath. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com.