Before I get into what took up most of my day, here are some kitty pictures.

While the mama burst out of the shelf and hid behind the kibble house again, I put some food in both shelves of the shelf shelter, then stuck my phone in and managed to get a decent picture of the babies.

They are SO mashed into that corner!

Today was a warmer day with no rain, so I started taking the transplants outside.

Mama did not like that.

After the transplants were out and I continued my morning rounds, I came around and found the little calico in the grass by the kibble house.

I can’t tell if it’s eyes are shut because of its age, or because it has gooby eyes like David and Keith did, when they were little.

I put it back in the shelf, then found it in the grass a few minutes later.

I put it back in the shelf, then found it in the grass again.

I put it in the shelf, then found a different one in the grass!

That is one ticked off looking kitten. 😀

Sadly, the mama kept trying to take the kittens out, even while I was around. I kept putting them back after she would eventually drop them, hoping she would stop.

She just waited until I was gone.

After I was back inside, I went into the sun room several times to check. Which is when I had a surprise.

That white tail tip. There’s only one grey tabby with a white tail tip.

The mama is Bradiccus!

We were sure Bradiccus was male!

I suppose the first hint should have been that we still saw Bradiccus around, even after Chadiccus, Agnoos and Tuxedo Mask all disappeared. The young males all tend to take off shortly after the snow is gone. Sometimes they come back for the winter. Sometimes we never see them again.

I guess that means the other ‘iccuses that are still around are female, too. They run around too much for us to really see, one way or the other.

I had another surprise later on. While puttering in the kitchen, I could see the two mamas that are co-parenting, hovering around the big branch pile, near where the entrance into the pile is. The last time I did a burn, I had heard a kitten in there, but haven’t heard any since, so I was sure they’d moved it. So it was quite unexpected to see the little tuxedo emerge with one of the moms. Then all three of them went across to my late father’s car before disappearing around it.

When I came out later on, I took a quick peak, and sure enough, the shelf shelter was empty. Bradiccus had moved her kittens out. I figured it would happen, but I still hoped they wouldn’t be dragged off again to some unknown nest.

Ah, well. Such is life with yard cats!

The Re-Farmer