When I arrived at the home of Cutilio and Juliana, one of the first things I noticed were the animals. Along with their dog and brooding hen was a cat with two kittens.
The cat had no name and was just referred to as minchi, Ngäbere for cat. A neighbor, Margarita, once had a big orange cat named Ilario. Apparently however, he took to living in the hills. Nevertheless, he would occasionally come by the home of Juliana to pay a visit to his feline friend. I only ever laid eyes on him once.
According to Cutilio, they once had a major mouse problem which prompted them to get a cat. The mice have since disappeared. However, this cat hunts more than just rodents. Lizards are the most abundant prey, but she also hunts bats and Juliana claims to have seen this cat fight and kill a snake. She also ate half a loaf of bread I left unattended.
In Ngäbere there is a word for someone who hunts all manner of animals with excellency, brai. I wished to refer to the cat by this name, but it never really caught on. She just remained minchi.
Brai's kittens, one male and one female, would play with each other while she went out to hunt. They were good friends and often I found them curled up and sleeping on top of each other. However, Cutilio's sister once came to visit and took the female kitten leaving only the male. In the neighborhood, there weren't any other cats as cats are unpopular.
I was promised the remaining kitten so that my new house would be protected from rodents, which are attracted to penca (thatch).
So I worked to gain the trust of this kitten which had gotten big enough to follow its mom into the house (to Brai's dismay). I would feed both cats and in that way, the young kitten came to be comfortable with my presence and even allowed me to pet him. What I would notice though is that he would finish the food I gave him quickly and then steal the food I gave his mom from right out of her mouth. She would respond with cat slaps to no avail. For this reason, I named him Kobäre (Selfish).
After settling into my new rented home, I took Kobäre and relieved Brai of the ingrate. Prior to my evacuation, I would witness him kill 1 mouse, 1 bat, and a few lizards.
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