Sunday afternoon I had some food to cook on the grill. That is always difficult because I have to go in and out the door several times and each time Chris is always at the door trying to escape. It is usually easier to just let him out and then deal with bringing him in when I’m done. I always feel bad letting Chris out because Puck and Frankie see that and then they want to go out too.

On this occasion I decided to let Puck out too but Frankie had to stay in because he’s a runner. Chris went straight to eating grass as usual and Puck walked about twenty feet and then came back. He started talking to Frankie and pawing at the screen, as if he was pleading with Frankie to let him in. Apparently he forgot where the door was. I noticed there were many people near the pool and I’m sure that made him nervous. I guided him to the door and tried to get him inside before Frankie came out. I then went back to grilling.

After a little while I needed to go in for something and decided Chris had spent enough time outside. Instinctively Chris knows when I am coming to bring him in so he bolted away from me. At that very moment he noticed a lizard and grabbed it. Now he was ready to go inside.

I tried to pry his mouth open to get him to drop the lizard but his jaws were locked shut. He also growled at me to show his disapproval in my behavior. I then thought if I just gave him time, he would eventually want to put the lizard down to play with it but he just stood by the door, with legs and a tail hanging from his mouth, waiting for someone to let him in.

For some strange reason all small animals and insects must be played with inside the house. I don’t know why Chris has this rule but while he was standing by the door I thought maybe he has a bit of OCD. He hung on to that lizard for a good five minutes, pacing pack and forth. Eventually it stopped moving and he put it down to check on it. That is when I grabbed him and brought him in.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t done cooking. I had to bring in the kabobs and bring out the Zucchini. It wasn’t worth fighting with Chris so I let him out again. He just laid down next to the door while I tended to the grill. After a short time the food was almost done and I thought I would put Chris in first. Of course he ran, this time behind the grill where he saw a lizard on the propane tank. There is also a spare tank next to it under the grill and Chris jumped on top of the two tanks while the grill was on, and ended up with another lizard. Bad Cat! Suddenly he was ready to go inside again.

I had to wait him out again. Eventually he walked around behind the screen where the air conditioner is and dropped the lizard and stepped on it to keep him close. That was my chance to grab him but I was too slow. I’ve noticed this before but it never really registered until now that cats catch their prey with their front paws and then grab it with their teeth.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time, I was finally able to get Chris away from the lizard. This one was still alive so I picked it up and put it in the grass before bringing Chris inside. I used to worry about the lizard population until Chris started focusing on eating grass when outside. It looks like the hunter is back.