Cat-herder

Cat-herder. An unexpected helper

This story happened on a summer morning on the outskirts of a village, where our whole family was heading for a picnic. Here’s what happened. As we were approaching the picnic spot, we noticed a flock of domestic ducks sitting in the middle of the road from a distance.

I decided to honk the horn. At first, I did it quietly so as not to scare the local inhabitants. Then I increased the sound. But the ducks paid no attention to my signals. We had to stop the car about five meters away from them.

We turned off the engine and sat in the car trying to figure out what to do next. The road was blocked. We didn’t dare to chase the ducks off the road, knowing the stubborn nature of these domestic birds. Time passed, and we were still sitting in the car. The thought of turning back and finding another picnic spot had already crossed our minds.

And just as I started the engine to back up, a lazy cat sauntered out from the nearest house. We watched with interest to see what would happen next. The cat jumped onto a log near the duck flock and suddenly meowed loudly. The ducks immediately sprang up and began clearing the road while loudly protesting such treatment.

After about five minutes, the road was cleared. The cat jumped off the log and leisurely disappeared behind the fence of the nearest house. «There’s your owner. He skillfully put things in order,» my husband said, and we continued on our way.