Oh, food chain, you are so damned weird.

My very spoiled cats of course think the world revolves around them.  And it probably does a little more than it should.  They know they are at the top of the pecking order around here.  All they need to do is meow.  Want in that closed door?  Meow and it opens.  Want in that closet that someone rudely shut you out of?  Meow and done.  Can't live without having a treat just now?  Sit in the kitchen and Meow loudly for a few minutes and someone will cave (or sometimes, when not respecting the true position of the cat in the ranks, they will chase meowing cat from the kitchen).  Want to play footie?  Don't bother trying to Meow, just randomly attack a leg.  Playing will happen to prevent more violence.

Want to get us out of the house?  Sit outside and meow.  So when Toffs did this the other morning, naturally (knowing my position in the food chain as SHE WHO OBEYS THE CATS OR ELSE) I went outside to see what they were up to.  I hung out a bit with Toffs near the fence, and was aware of Cleo skulking around under the kitchen window.  There was a rustle from the other end of the yard, and my first thought was "oh crap, here's one of the damned tom cats, now we'll have a fight" but neither Toffs nor Cleo seemed concerned, and then this little lump started working its way down the yard.  Toffs and Cleo both sat perfectly still and watched as the hedgehog made its way past them (and about two inches past my heels), under the climbing hydrangea and under the fence into the neighbour's yard.  No attempts were made to play with it, to intercept it or chase it away.  If it had been a bird, it would've been dead.  They did both follow the hedgehog into the neighbour's yard, but I think that was more because Toffs realized she needed to get away from me before I expressed her bladder, and Cleo was seized with a sudden burst of wild that needed her to climb the tree at the speed of light.  But I can be left with only one conclusion.

Hedgehogs are higher up the food chain than cats.  Or at least my cats.

*One night a couple of years ago I caught Toffs and a young hedgehog giving each other a bit of a sniff and smooch.  It was pretty damn cute.  

**The cats have got a little hedgehog toy that I can stuff with catnip, and they do maul the shit outta that.