This guy is now quite the regular.
The way that patch of colour is on his nose, it sometimes looks like it’s injured and swollen. Nope. Just a splotch of colour.
It’s kind of funny to see this guy in the pile of kittens. They’re pretty much adult size now, but not quite there, yet. Then there’s Nicky. :-D Interesting that they’ve accepted him like that.
I go this photo this evening, of three deer showing up at the feeding station. It was getting a bit too dark for photos (we’re fully dark by 5:30, these days), but I did manage a couple.
None of them are the ones we’ve been seeing for the past while.
Less than 10 minutes after I took this, more showed up. By the time I got back to the window, there was 4 at the feeding station, a 5th one had been chased off, and two more were under the crab apple tree!
So we’ve gone from having 1 or 2 show up at a time, to an entire herd!
Maybe time to start leaving more than just an ice cream bucket full of deer feed. :-D
The Re-Farmer
So, the outside cats have been using the cat cave put together to help conserve their body heat. Overall, they seemed to adapt to it rather quickly.
Of course, they also explored it quite a bit, and every now and then, we’d look out the bathroom window and see a cat sitting on top of it. Especially Ferdinand.
The problem is, the only thing supporting the blanket was a sheet of Styrofoam insulation, which would bounce under their weight.
Not anymore! Continue reading
This little 2 prong buck has been coming by at least once a day.
I call him Bucky. Because I’m so original when it comes to naming critters. :-D
That cats are efficient hunting machines.
It takes a lot to get a squirrel! They tend to be hyper vigilant.
I’ve just uploaded a new batch of photos from the camera in the living room, and have a few I’ll be sharing over the next few days.
Including these guys.
Deer have started to show up every day, now, sometimes several times a day. There’s just three of them that come regularly; a buck that always comes alone, and a pair that come together, if not always at the same time. One looks like a buck that’s already lost his antlers for the winter. He sometimes comes alone, or ahead of the other, larger, doe.
Their winter fur is coming in, and their colour is starting to get greyer.
From the tracks I’m able to see as I do my rounds, they are in and out quite a bit, throughout the day! :-)
The Re-Farmer
Played around with a set up for the outside cats, in the sun room. This is what I’ve come up with.
I had another crocheted blanket that we used as a car blanket hanging around. I decided to try draping it from the back of the swing bench to the back of the transfer bench. It’s incredibly heavy, so I knew it would need support.
I have some sheets of foam insulation among my craft supplies that I thought would work. Unfortunately, a sheet is just barely long enough to reach the backs of both benches – which means a stiff sneeze would have knocked it down, never mind rambunctious cats that are sure to jump on top of it.
After going through what was available in the room, I ended up putting one of the unused, home made plant stands on the transfer bench. That would support one end of the sheet of foam insulation.
After draping the blanket over, I folded up one corner for access, and it immediately drooped into where the cats like to sit. So I found another plant stand to hold that up.
As you can see by the photo, Doom Guy and The Outsider were quite ready to check out the new digs! In fact, Doom Guy surprised me by already being in there when I first picked up the corner to open it up. I never even saw him jump under while I was laying it out!
My husband was checking it out through the bathroom window just a little while ago, and he tells me Doom Guy was on top of the whole thing. The foam insulation is rather bendy, but it has enough support that it should hold. I’ll have to check it out, later, to adjust things, if needed. I can just see a cat trying to walk across a part that doesn’t have support and pulling things down. :-D
I don’t think there is going to be much hesitation for the cats to use it. Especially today. Though the temperatures have warmed up, there is a nasty, bitter wind out there. I think everyone, human and animal alike, will be staying indoors as much as possible today!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 