Look What the Cat* Dragged In
We call these nests, though they're certainly not birds' nests. They're loose clumps of dried grass ranging from 3 to 6 inches across. They appear -- sometimes two or three times a week, sometimes weeks apart -- on one or another carpet, or just outside a door. They're not associated with the introduction of any animal trophies, living or dead, and the cats don't seem to have any particular interest in them after they're deposited.
Our only salient observation thus far is that the kittens do like to burrow, and are intrigued by the smell of dirt. They hang out in the meadow for hours, and their fur smells like fresh meadow grass. We've seen them up to their armpits in gopher holes. Do gophers line their burrows with grass? That might explain the roughly circular shape...
* The main, or perhaps only, culprit appears to be Stella (pictured in incriminating proximity in several shots below), who has a certain Martha Stewart air about her. Stella is not a world-class hunter; perhaps she's supplying the salad course.
More recently, she seems to have abandoned the nest motif and moved on to apparently random arrangements of accessories taken from the basket of hats and gloves we keep on the landing by the front door. Occasionally she adds a sock or two to the mix. Stella works at night; we find her artistic statements, oh, five mornings out of seven.