The Ratters of Lightning Ridge

Kate wasn't concerned about snakes. She had delt with snakes on many occasions and felt very secure with her pistol under her pillow. Around midnight, Kate heard the grunting of a mob of kangaroos passing through. At 2:00 in the morning, she heard a loud thump on the hood of her ute. Kate didnot move, but turned her head slightly and caught the shape of a large cat jumping down from her truck. She was not in a position, nor did she have time, to get off a shot. Kate was not one to shoot wildly, and she did not want to frighten the cat. Now she knew if was in the territory. At dawn Kate got up from her cot, grabbed her loaded shotgun and very quietly moved in the direction of the tree with the broken limb. She knew the cat was on the prowl all night and liked to sleep in the daytime. There was little breeze that early in the morning. She stepped as quickly and quietly as she could toward the tree. Unfortunately as softly as she walked, her boots still made a crunching sound with the gravel and litter on the Australian floor. Kate got within eight feet of the broken tree limb. In the next moment, out shot the cat. Kate got off two shots. The first missed, the second caught the cat in the left hindquarter. The cat was moving very fast, but the buckshot sent it spinning over. The cat let out a tremendous growl, folled by hissing sounds, then disappeared into the brush. Kate knew she would soon have her animal. So badly injured the cat would only seek protection, and not attempt to take off across the open plain. Kate quickly reloaded her three-shot shotgun and rounded the lower side of the brushy gully. She could hear the cat growling in the underbrush. Kate kept her head low and followed the sound up the gully. However, she failed to notice a gigantic spider web running from two small trees. The web was off the ground three feet from tree to tree. This was the web of the Golden Orb Spider that builds large webs to catch flying insects in the wind. Kate became entangled in the web. The cat, feeling cornered, lunged at Kate. Kate stepped quickly to the side as the cat came at her. In the confusion, Kate got off one shot but missed. The cfat scrambled to the brush on the opposite side of the gully. Kate untangled herself from the spider web. Before reaching the top of the gully, she replaced the discharged shell in her shotgun. Growls came from the underbrush. Kate knew she had an angry animal on her hands. Sensing where the cat was hiding, Kate let off two shots. One of the shots hit its mark, with resounding growls. In a last ditch effort, the cat came out of the brush towards Kate. Kate had one shot left in the chamber of her gun. She raised her gun, shot, and the cat lay dead on the ground less than six feet from where she was standing. Kate stook over the cat looking at it's huge size and shaken by the experience. The cat, an old female nearly four fee in length, weighed close to forty pounds. It was a deadly predator by any standard. This animal definitely would have torn up her dogs, had they been with her on this hunt. The sun was now full up on this beautiful day. A slight breeze came from the west. Kate returned to her camp, fixed breakfast for herself, ate, packed up, and returned to her cabin.