20240904 221518 Tux Cricket Munchi-lest

NOTE: If you are a bug, viewer discretion is advised.

#Tux likes to go out onto the balcony at night, and it mostly seems like it because he wants to catch bugs. Some nights he only stays out for a couple of minutes, and others it can be for a half-hour or more. Apparently, it's because the bug-hunting is better some nights than others.

Every time that I seem him starting to dart around on the balcony or flinching, it's because he's doing battle with some type of bug or another. I always jump up and grab the broom and try to get outside to separate him from the bug and to sweep the latter away so that he doesn't eat it. The other problem is that a couple of nights ago he caught a cricket (or something) in his mouth and when I ran out to separate the two of them, he ran inside with his new friend in his mouth like it was going to be his new not-very-forever toy-friend. So now not only do I have to run out with the broom, but I have to prevent him from dragging-in his new friend and letting it loose inside the apartment. This has happened at least three or four times in the last week, so it's a strong behavior pattern that's well-formed at this point.

This particular bug didn't seem to survive my attempts to intervene this particular night. The video cut in the middle was me trying to get the broom out to save him while also not being dragged inside, and alas, I seem to have failed. Because I didn't see him chasing the bug around when I returned, I can only assume that his friend suffered the "fate of digestion". So, this bug molest seemed to end with munching, instead.

Even though I really don't like the idea of #Tux eating bugs, it's probably not much of a danger, especially since they're probably wild ones and not the half-dead ones that have been dosed with pesticide. So, if he HAS to eat them, it seems likely that he's at least munching the 100% Organic ones.