I was sitting inside one afternoon when I glanced outside to see Puddy lying on the grass, staring intently at something. From my angle it looked like she was waiting for some mail, which I thought was funny (yes, I know I have a lame sense of humour!), so I decided to take a photo. By the time I’d got my camera and returned, Puddy had sat up but was still staring at something on the ground. The fact that she didn’t even turn around when I approached her meant she was studying something very hard.

After snapping the photo, I went over for a closer look… and saw this:

Oh-oh! My first (rather irrational) thought was SNAKE!

I grabbed Puddy and took her back inside, locking her in so she couldn’t get out. Of course, she wasn’t happy with this and started meowing loudly, then scratching at the door while I went back outside to inspect the hole closer. After a few minutes, a big yellow wasp came out and started pushing soil around, buzzing loudly. After some research, I determined it was most likely a “yellow jacket” wasp, nesting underground. Since the nest was in the direct path Phill and I take to check our mail, I needed to deal with the wasp straight away. I also was conscious that Puddy knew the wasp was there, and I didn’t want her to rush over next time she was outside to try to “play” with it.

I’m glad I’m such a silly cat-lover because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gone outside to take that photo… and I wouldn’t have discovered what Puddy was staring at. I’m glad she didn’t get the opportunity to get stung – that would have been very, very bad! Do your cats play with dangerous insects or other things? Mine seems to be drawn to wasps!