Counting kittens, and bonus Cabbages

When I start my morning rounds by putting kibble out for the outside cats is when we see the most cats and kittens all at once. I made a point of trying to count all the kittens this morning. Yesterday, I counted twelve. This morning, I counted eleven.

I caught a baby, over on the far right, in mid meow! 😀

They are a bit easier to see in this photo. Over on the left, beside Potato Beetle, Broccoli, with Caramel next to her. The orange tabby is Toesencrantz, and on the right of the kibble house is Tuxedo Mask and Bradicous, with his distinctive white tail tip. Outside the kibble house is the Junk Pile Jr., the grey and white that looks so much like her mom.

Sharing a bowl with Caramel is another of Junk Pile’s kittens. I believe that one has been dubbed Sadicous. LOL Of the two other greys inside the kibble house, I believe the one looking at the camera is Chadicous, and the one standing up in the back, with the white legs, is Junk Pile’s fourth baby, tentatively named Tadicous.

That leaves the grey kitten with the white chest, outside the kibble house, as the mystery kitten. Either that, or that one is Chadicous, and the one inside the kibble house, looking at the camera, is the mystery kitten.

The mystery kitten that made number 12, yesterday, did not have any distinctive colours or markings, either. It had to be one of the grey tabbies, or the more muted calico types, like Caramel. It’s really hard to tell, when they run around so much.

Nosencrantz, at least, is nice and easy to spot! 😀

This morning, not only did Nosencrantz let me pet her after taking this photo, I was able to pick her up and hold her for a few moments! This makes her officially more socialized than her mother, who will sometimes let us pet her, but that’s about it.

Nosencrantz has such very, very soft fur!!

So does this bonus baby.

Cabbages is so adorable!

It is still somewhat startling to go outside and see what I at first think is Cabbages, only to remember that I’m looking at Broccoli. 😀

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties; trapped! Also… who is that?

Sometimes, when I am awakened by cats using me as a bed, the only way I can tell which cat has trapped me is by taking a picture!

Especially when I’ve got one or two more of the on my chest. 😀

Apparently, Tissue finds my legs make a perfect hammock. 😀

While I was pouring out the kibble, the tuxedo and the grey and white kittens were brave enough to jump into the kibble house at the same time. The grey and white was so interested in the food, I was able to give her a couple of full body pets before she realized I was touching her, gave me that most shocked expression, and ran off. 😀 As you can tell, she didn’t stay away for long!

Hmmm. Looking at this photo, I’m seeing four almost identical tabbies! There’s Bradicous and Chadicous, Butterscotch’s two. Then there is one of Junk Pile’s kittens, which the girls have been calling Thadicous, but it looks like her fourth kitten, that we have been seeing as mostly flashes of grey as it runs off, looks just like the other three.

Hold on.

Butterscotch’s four kittens are all in the kibble house, along with Butterscotch and Potato Beetle.

Junk Pile has the tuxedo, the grey and white, Thadicous and another tabby looking kitten. Three are in the kibble house, one is at the tray on the ground.

I see an extra kitten!!

Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz much preferred their private dining area! With these two, plus the kittens I can see in the previous photo, that makes a total of 11 kittens, instead of 10! Could the stranger be Ghost Baby’s? We have never been able to confirm if Ghost Baby is male or female, but if we go on the assumption that she is female, she would have had a litter at about the same time as the other three. And if she did, her litter would be old enough to start coming out to the kibble house.

Could this be a Ghost Baby baby?? Awesome!!

While I was doing my rounds this morning, Rolando Moon followed me around. Even Potato Beetle joined me for a bit, but we’ve been discouraging him more, since he has been attacking Rolando. Last night, while I was picking tomatoes, he chased her up a tree and they were fighting in the branches. I was very concerned one would fall out, as at the height they were at, that would have resulted in serious injury. I got the hose and tried spraying Potato out of the tree, but he doesn’t seem to actually mind getting sprayed with water! He was very wet, when he finally came down. So when he joined me this morning, I made a point of carrying him until I could no longer see Rolando, then put him down.

As you can imagine, that leaves Rolando Moon always on the defensive, so she is hissing a lot more than her usual mean self, even when there are no cats visible. This morning, while tending the garden, I heard her hissing, but this time I found that Nosencrantz had come to see what I was doing. Rolando ended up driving her off with her hissing. Which sucks, because Nosencrantz is becoming the most socialized of the kittens, and if she starts following me around in the mornings, that improves our chances of getting her friendly and used to humans.

So many fur babies!!

The Re-Farmer

Cryptid kitten

For a few times now, when going about the yard, I would see a cat among the trees. First glance, and I would think it was Junk Pile cat, only to realize that this cat looked slightly different. More white in the fur, and more the size of her own kittens – though they are almost as big as she is, now!

Last night, all possible doubt about whether or not this cat was really Junk Pile cat were cast away. While walking around the house, I startled a cat away from the food bowls by the sun room. It dashed off towards the storage house and disappeared under the lilacs at one corner – just as Junk Pile and two of her kittens came out from under the spirea at the other corner.

This morning, I finally got photographic proof of our cryptic cat’s existence. 🙂

I stayed well back and zoomed in as much as I could, so this was the best my phone’s camera could do.

The kitten on the steps is Junk Pile cat’s tabby kitten, and they are very much the same size. Another kitten – possibly Junk Pile’s third kitten that is so very shy – had already run off.

This mystery kitten is most likely one of Rosencrantz’ kittens, but I honestly don’t know where it is from.

I’m glad that the shy ones are at least getting some food.

The Re-Farmer