Our froggy guest had been staying in our kitchen window daily, leaving at night and returning by morning, for a few days. Then it didn’t come back and I thought that would be it.
A couple of days ago, it started coming back again, and I am so happy to see it!
So cute!
The Re-Farmer
A couple of fun photos to share with you today.
This one is from yesterday, after picking my daughter up from work. She rescued a snowberry clearwing moth, aka hummingbird moth, while at the pharmacy.
Then it just sort of chilled on her hand and didn’t want to leave! :-D
I got this one just a few minutes ago. I noticed the water in the cat bowls outside was completely gone (it was another hot one, today, and the bowls are right in the sun), when I came out to see why Beep Beep was being so talkative.
After filling the bowls, I looked around for her and found her…
I guess she didn’t want to wait! :-D
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any birds use that thing. Maybe now I know why! :-D
The Re-Farmer
While doing one last walk around the yard at the end of the day, while there was still enough light, I got to say hello to Butterscotch by the food bowls. I was even able to give her some cat treats. Then Rolando Moon showed up – it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen her! – and even she got a few treats.
I decided to see what would happen if I went around the house and just sat in the grass, near where Butterscotch’s kittens are.
When Butterscotch noticed me there, she came running over for pets, mrrr’ing and meowing away.
At the sound of their mother, one of the orange kittens came running out of the bushes, almost right up to me, suddenly seemed to notice me, then ran back to the edge of the bushes! Three other little kitty faces also began peaking at me.
I stayed for perhaps half an hour. I had Butterscotch enthusiastically rubbing against my arms, demanding pets, while the kittens watched. After a while, they became comfortable enough to play with each other, eventually all coming down near the edge of the bushes. Rolando Moon came by, but she clearly does not like the kittens! She hissed when she saw them. One of the orange kittens really wanted to go to Rolando Moon, though, and at one point, got really close. When Rolando Moon started hissing and growling, I got up to shoo her away. Rolando Moon has attacked the other cats, and I didn’t want to take a chance she would hurt one of the kittens, even if it meant I scared the kittens into their wood pile in the process.
Thankfully, they did come back out again, and I even got to touch a couple! Butterscotch was on the wood pile and I went over to pet her. The kittens kept popping their heads out to watch, in between playing with each other. One even went for my fingers. :-D
They were so adorable!!
The Re-Farmer
Our mama cat has been very vocal for the past while.
That, in itself, is not unusual. Her boy is a very quiet cat, but she has always been more talkative.
What was unusual is that as I moved around the house, she would run ahead to whatever window she could reach in the area. I go to the entry, she’s at the outer door, meowing out the window. I go to the kitchen, she’s up by the aquarium, yowling out the screen (where we still have that frog; it’s been leaving every night, then comes back by morning!). I go to the living room, she follows me there…
Which was when I noticed Butterscotch’s kittens were out and running around. They were brave enough to come up to the steps of the house. I even got a few pictures, though I only saw three of the four kittens.
Then I moved to the front door to see them better.
When we open the inner door, we put our little step ladder in front of it, so the cats can sit at it and look out the window. Because we’re sucks that way.
As soon as I got to the door, our mama cat was on her ladder, front paws on the screen, yeowling away.
Which is when I realized, she wanted the kittens! In the past, when I’ve been looking at YouTube videos of kittens that were meowing, she would come running into the room, looking for the kittens. She seemed so upset not to find any that I stopped watching these videos unless they were muted!
Our mama wants to be a mama to the kittens outside!
The kittens have a very good mama already taking care of them, though.
This is from yesterday.
As for today, when the kittens heard us at the door, they stopped to watch us for a while, then ran off to their nest in the wood pile.
Our mama is still calling for them every now and then!
Oh, how I wish we could get close to the kittens to socialize them! :-)
The Re-Farmer
… have come out to play.
Three of Butterscotch’s 4 kittens came out to play this evening.
I haven’t seen Beep Beep’s kittens in a couple of days. I hope she didn’t move them. They’re a bit big for that, and she’s a tiny cat!
The Re-Farmer
This morning, we finally saw Butterscotch’s kittens!
All four of them.
Looks like she found a nest for them in the pallet pile. Which means we can see the area from our living room window.
Mama was being very watchful!
Click on the pictures to see bigger versions.
Two orange tabbies and two are…
Is that called calico or tortoise shell?
It does make me wonder about Beep Beep’s kittens. She has a tuxedo. We have not seen any tuxedo cats outside. Not even at my brother’s.
Anyhow…
My apologies for the poor quality pictures. I was taking them through reflections on the glass. I tried to take out the glare as much as I could when I cropped and resized the photos.
They are SO adorable! I can’t wait until the two sets of kittens connect.
Our outdoor cat population has gone up by at least 6. Maybe 7.
What are we going to do with them?
The Re-Farmer
I had a chance to sit outside on the steps the kittens are hidden inside. I was able to give Beep Beep some cat treats, and her little ones came out to see what was going on.
The tuxedo came out first. It seems to be the more adventurous one!
It even went for my fingers! :-D
You can see a ball of ice at the bottom of the picture. This is from my water balloon experiment. I still don’t know if it’s working! I’m not around to see if Beep Beep does anything with is (if nothing else, it’s watering the bush a bit), and I haven’t been around to see if the cats are checking out the larger one I left in one of their water bowls.
The tuxedo even went farther afield while I was there.
The grey tabby did eventually come out and stay out, but by then it was too dark for photos.
The Re-Farmer
I did a walk around the yard, picking up the larger twigs and branches that have come down in the wind. I was about to head into the house when Beep Beep came over. Normally, she comes right over for pets, but this time, she wouldn’t let me touch her, and went along the front of the house, which has the door we don’t use. Thinking she might be more comfortable and come over if I didn’t move too much, I sat on the concrete steps while she lounged behind a bush next to them.
Then she disappeared.
I couldn’t figure out where she went, until I heard a little mmmrrr? behind me. Getting up I looked around, then saw her peeking at me from between the concrete steps and the basement wall under the door.
I had no idea there was space back there! Certainly not enough for her to come through on the side I was looking in. I walked around and sure enough, there’s a larger gap on the other side.
She came out again, but wouldn’t come near me. Instead, she lay down on the ground behind the bush again, so I sat down.
Then, suddenly, there were kittens with her!
I dangled my fingers over the edge of the concrete for a bit, and the tabby went for them, then disappeared behind the stairs. The tuxedo wouldn’t come close, but was curious.
I think there is a fairly large opening under the stairs. Not hollow, but not completely solid, either.
I saw two kittens, but when Beep Beep was rolling around, giving herself a dust bath, later on, I could see that she had three lactating teats. So there is probably a third kitten under there!
Now we just need to figure out where Butterscotch took her babies. I am still thinking they might be in the threshing machine.
We will then have the “onerous” task of socializing them. :-D
The Re-Farmer
We saw our first snake of the year!!
Can you spot it in the greenery?
Thankfully, it moved and stayed in a spot I could get better pictures of it. :-D (There IS a red stripe along its sides; honest!)
Garter snakes are awesome to have around, because they eat insects, mice – even leeches. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Manitoba‘s famous Narcisse Snake Dens, either in May, when they first come out of hibernation, or September, when they return to the dens, I would highly recommend it. There are dens in Saskatchewan and Alberta, too, but none as extensive as in Narcisse. Sadly, people sometimes destroy the dens, thinking the snakes are some sort of pest, which they most certainly are not!
Judging from the size of this one, it might be a female. They are quite a bit bigger than the males.
I am so happy to see it, and I hope to see more!
The Re-Farmer
First up, here are a couple of bird photos for you to enjoy. :-)
My husband got this purple finch at the feeder not long ago.
And I finally got a blue jay picture!
The blue jays have a habit of taking off before I can get to the camera, so these days, it’s a challenge to get any pictures of them at all.
This was another indoor day, for the most part. There were plenty of storm warnings for the southern province which, for us, translated to rain early in the morning, and now high winds. I had to go into town to pick up some prescription refills, and made a point of checking the yard out before I left. There were a few downs branches that were of little concern. In the areas of the maple grove I haven’t cleaned yet, I found myself looking at some branches and wondering, is that new? Or what that already there?
About the only good thing right now is the wind direction. If one of the trees by the house does come down, it’ll be fall away from the roof, instead of on it. Though, looking out my window at the trees behind the storage house, it’s the opposite. At least that building is empty and has no power.
Speaking of which…
The second tree care company came by on Monday, and I got the estimate emailed to me last night. It’s basically the same as the first company; $1500. Looking over our budget (barring any unexpected expenses), we should be able to get it done in November. Choosing the company is going to be a bit more difficult; they’re pretty equal in every tangible sense. One also does yard work and landscaping, which I would want to keep in mind for the future. The other does trees and nothing else.
So we have some talking to do and a decision to make. I’m just glad it’s something we can get done before winter, instead of waiting until spring. Though if we get some sort of cash infusion (like the shares the housing co-op we moved away from still owes us!), it would be good to get it done earlier.
The Re-Farmer
