Max's 2009 Critter Count

It's time for another of our end-of-year traditions: Max's annual "critter count." This is only his second hunting year - 2008 being the first year in which he had unsupervised time outside - but this year's tallies show that he has already made some rather stunning changes.

	2008	2009	Change
Mice	9	5	(44%)
Birds	4	1	(75%)
Gophers	2	25	1,100% !
Squirrels	0	3	na
Lizards	0	6	na

Yes, that's right: 25 gophers. Individual hunting stories are documented here, here, and here. While we would have liked him to continue catching mice at his previous rate, his incredible gopher success more than makes up for it.

What has prompted this jump in effectiveness? Did he develop some secret gopher-hunting technique? Or is it the old "practice makes perfect"? Our favorite theory is that he is using his hunting as a way to prove his worth and curry favor now that he has some competition for our affection from Anders. He has to prove that he earns his keep.

His hunting slowed down significantly towards the end of the summer and into fall. It's entirely possible that he just didn't feel at full strength as a result of the thyroid condition that was diagnosed in November. Thankfully, the radio-iodine therapy did the trick; he just received a clean bill of health, his thyroid is functioning normally, and he has gained back most of the weight that he lost. When the spring thaw comes he should be ready to begin the hunt again.

Waiting for Spring

- Mike, Corinne, Anders Rocket, and Max