All you can eat (just catch it yourself)

Shiver in yer boots, ye insects that venture indoors.  The overwhelming stealth, power and focus of the mighty Keetain hunter is trained on you.  He senses you.  He wants you. He'll get you.

You're toast.  With jam, by the look of things.


Simon Tofield, the brilliant animator of "Simon's Cat," has seen the sleek, calculated killer in action and offers his keen (and objective) observations below:

Clever, aren't they?  How they feign incompetence to inflict psychological harm upon the insectan nervous system as the creatures hold out a vain hope of escape.  Nature is undeniably cruel.

Sebastian and Julia, it bears mentioning, are just plain incompetent; no pretending necessary.  They get the focus part right, bordering on obsession.  They will watch one failed attempt after another slip away into some nook or cranny and prepare to wait it out.  They are diligent and endlessly patient.  It's in there, and it's only a matter of time before it will foolishly decide the coast is clear and venture out again.  They wait and watch.  Until a minute later when they hear a can open and abandon the mission.

Not so with Keaton.  Insects are peel-and-eat shrimp to him, and he's always looking for the next buffet.  He's choosy, though.  Lifeless flies and beetles are left untouched, and spiders are given a complete pass even though they are competitors for the available Scooby snacks.

I once saw him eat one of these with relish (actually just au natural):

Doesn't Keaton know it's bad luck to kill a cricket, even an ugly,
vile, repulsive one that emerged from the plumbing?

Moths, too, are another story.  Part of my job involves staffing a butterfly garden, so I have a special sympathy for our Lepidoptera friends.  When I see the Keatonator licking his chops in the middle of the day, I know another one has bitten the dust.  It doesn't make me happy.  I don't kill insects as a rule, and I prefer my protein sources shrink-wrapped in little anonymous Wegman's packages.  I think of the cool entomologists at work that I admire so much.  I am also reminded of the cruel nature show producers who don't "interfere" with the course of events so we can be entertained by the termination of innocent life forms.

I can't change the circle of life, but I secretly hope that my 'Tain's little banquets give him a slight case of the poots.

Do your keetains have interesting dining habits?  Please share!