When cats become serial killers

Earlier this week there was a news segment on a study conducted by a university.  They attached little cameras onto domestic cats and tracked their activities.  The study said, basically, that cats are serial killers who kill just for the fun of it.  

I live in the country and depend on my cats to do just that.  If a mouse gets into my house, I expect them to dispatch the rodent posthaste.  That is why I gave them their own eBay account, as payment for services rendered.  

I would have thought Schooner would be the mouser, because he loves to play with toys, but both times (that I know about) there has been a rodent incident, it has been Hobiecat, not Schooner, who has committed the justifiable homicide.

I wondered why.  Hobie would rather sleep, while Schooner would rather play fetch with me, bat cat balls around in the middle of the night, drag toys all over the house, and hide them behind the piano.  So why doesn't he want to participate in the hunt and kill game most cats enjoy?

I watched him for a while and I think he may not be stealthy enough to hunt.  He thinks he is hidden when he isn't.  

Schooner thinks he is completely hidden

Schooner, wondering if I'll ever find him

The last couple of days I've been working with Schooner, trying to teach him how to hunt, so he can share in the fun of murdering helpless rodents.  After all, Hobie might want to take a vacation some day.  After a full day of training, with charts and grafts and flip charts and a pop quiz or two, Schooner was exhausted.

Schooner taking a rest on the sofa

 But now I'm beginning to think I made a mistake when I taught him how to hunt.

Schooner  (and why do I feel like prey?)