Butterscotch got tired of just watching the birds from below, and made a dash for them.
She did not succeed.
outside cats
Multipurpose
This morning, my husband told me to look out the bathroom window – and to make sure I had the camera on my phone ready!
Too funny!
So once the water is gone, our set up does double duty as a butt warmer!
Big Jim was prowling around Doom Guy, trying to stick his face into the bowl.
That was my cue to head out!
Yeah. They were pretty thirsty.
I’m going to have to make sure to top that up again earlier than usual, considering how much was gone by the time I was heading back into the house. The water outside isn’t going to stay liquid for long.
As usual, I had escorts while doing my rounds this morning. By about half way through, I had Butterscotch in my arms, licking my fingers. Beep Beep climbed up my back again, and was perched on my shoulder. Both were purring up a storm. Rolando Moon was following along, Doom Guy was trying to climb the back of my leg, and even Big Jim came by to see what was going on!
They make my morning chores outside both fun and difficult. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Looks like it’s working
Once again, when going out to give the cats their food and warm water, the water bowl in the sun room was NOT knocked off the warmer.
It was also bone dry!
This morning, the cats were far more interested in the water than the food! When I go into the sun room through the Old Kitchen, I have to put down the bowl of food and the pitcher of water so I can open up the outer door. Usually, the kittens are all over the bowl of food. Except Doom Guy, who goes for the pitcher of water.
Today, not only did he go for the pitcher right away, but when I refilled the water bowl, the other cats left the food for the warm water!
Nice to see that the kneeler and the terracotta pot are both being used to reach the water.
By the time I finished putting the food outside and adding more water to the bowls out there, I had to refill the water bowl in the sun room!
Thirsty kitties!
After I finished putting the food out for the birds and deer, I decided to try and knock more apples off the trees that still have some left. I’d managed to shake some down the other day, and a few hours later, there was a deer eating them. Shaking isn’t working very well, so I went digging through the junk pile by the garden shed and found an old mop or broom handle. I used that to knock some apples off the first tree (it worked much better than shaking the tree, though I still got konked in the face by an apply in the process. Not the first time that’s happened!).
Then I tried to get some off the second tree with apples still left. This one, the apples are really small; almost as small as the ornamental apples. So I didn’t try too hard with that one. The grosbeaks, at least, seem to be eating them.
Then I went back to the first tree to leave the broom handle there, and found that someone else was interested in the grosbeak that was hanging around while I knocked the apples off.
He didn’t have much luck with the birds, so he escorted me as I continued my rounds. :-D
So did his mother.
She insisted on a ride. :-D
These guys are almost enough to make me a morning person. :-)
Almost.
The Re-Farmer
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No escort this morning!
This morning, as I headed out to give the outside cats their food and warm water, I was very pleased to see that the water bowl was still on the warming set up!
It was completely empty, but it was there, at least! Which meant no new ice on the concrete floor.
I think we’re still going to have to increase how often we bring water out for them, though.
This is one of the water dishes we still use, outside. You can see the holes made by little tongues, trying to get through the surface ice, to the water below, before it froze solid.
When I go out with their food, they are normally all over each other, trying to get at the bowls of food.
Not this morning!
Oh, look. Fancy tree fruits.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, hanging out in the ornamental apple tree.
Towards the end of my rounds, Butterscotch did try to join me, but soon, she was hanging out in a tree, too!
So what changed, this morning?
This guy.
My brother’s dog came over for a visit!
He looks so sad that Butterscotch won’t come down for snuffles.
He actually let me pet him, without much stand-offish-ness, this morning, which made me happy. :-)
As you can see by the ribbon attached to his collar, it’s hunting season right now. In fact, I heard two gun shots this morning, while doing my rounds. Someone out there is getting meat for their freezer!
While doing my rounds, I went back to see the electric fence the deer broke. I didn’t like all that wire tangled and looped up in one spot, so I found the broken end and started pulling it back. The end was near the gate, so there were quite a few holders for me to loop it through, before I reached the full length. I found an insulator on a post to loop the end through, so it wouldn’t spring back again, then found the other end and pulled that back as far as I could.
The break turned out to be right next to our septic outflow.
Which is looking pretty dramatic right now!
The ground is too frozen to absorb the grey water, so the ice is extending quite far, already.
I’m guessing the piece of metal roofing was put where it is, deliberately, to prevent excess erosion from the water being pumped out the top of that pipe.
There are quite a few willows here, including this one that used to be quite massive. Which says something about how quickly willows can get huge. My father planted these by just sticking branches into the marshy ground. Which means these were planted in the early to mid 70’s.
I am remembering something the younger of my brothers had said, shortly after we moved here. Something about how he had been trying to kill off the Chinese Elm growing by the septic field, because they were planted too close to the outflow and the roots were causing problems.
I’ve gone through were a few times over the past year, and there are no Chinese elms growing here. Just the willows my late father planted. He planted willows because they are good for taking up water, and would prevent the area from becoming too marshy. Some of it is lower and forms a sort of pond, when there’s enough rain (which meant there was almost no water at all, this past year), but the outflow is closer to the barn and several outbuildings.
So… I don’t know what my brother was talking about, in regards to any elms in this area. Odd.
The Re-Farmer
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My escort
While doing the morning routine today, I had quite the escort, following me along!
During the night, we noticed (by the glowing light in the bathroom window!) that the cats had knocked the water bowl off the concrete block again. This set up might work for chickens, but not so much for cats. I was thinking it was time to take it out and figure something else out.
Until I looked through the window and saw The Outsider, sitting on the edge of the block, leaning over the warmth of the light!
Well, at least there’s that!
After putting food and water out for the cats, then topping up the deer feed and bird seed (I can see that the deer have been coming in during the night), I did my usual rounds.
I had quite the following, in the process!
We have two trees with crab apples still on them. One has larger apples, some of which you can see have basically exploded as they froze. I was able to shake a few down for the deer, but they’re very stubborn.
Beep Beep climbed up into the other tree with apples on it, so I didn’t try to shake that one. :-D
By the time I was half way through my rounds, I had Butterscotch, Rolando Moon, Beep Beep and Doom Guy following me along!
Beep Beep insisted on up, so I carried her for a while. When I needed two hands, though, I tried to put her down.
She would NOT go down.
Eventually, after several tries, I got her to go onto the top of a fence post.
There she stayed, until I was done and could pick her up again!
Too cute!
By then, Doom Guy was climbing up my leg, for for a while I had him on one shoulder, and her on the other.
Yeah. I’m a suck. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Bird Feeder – another hunter!
Beep Beep has discovered she can climb the bird feeder, too!
At one point, a bird landed on the top of the hanging feeder.
She went for it.
She barely managed to catch herself and get back up on the platform instead of falling to the ground. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Bird Feeder – mighty hunter!
Doom Guy entertained us on the bird feeder again, not long ago.
He was trying to watch all of the birds, all at once! :-D
They all seem to try for the hanging feeder. Like they refuse to accept that it will move, every time. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Wait a minute… who are you?
After our deer visitor left this morning, I went out to feed the cats. Once again, I saw the black and white dad-cat on the dresser in the sun room – and once again, he ran off as soon as he saw me. The rest of the cats were milling about as if they were starving. The girls had put food out for them last night, but the bowls were completely empty by morning. The braver of the cats were eating the food before I even finished filling the bowls!
Then I stepped back to let the shier ones get to the bowls, and watched them for a bit. There’s Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern) at the top; Butterscotch and The Outsider on either side. Big Jim and Bob next to Beep Beep and Doom Guy, then Rosencrantz and Guilden… wait…
What?
Three of them? Continue reading
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Morning Feeding
Heading into the sun room this morning, on the way to putting food out for the cats, I discovered not one, but two of the dad cats, running out of the room with the kittens! The black and white one was back on the dresser. I just caught a flash of the grey and white one, as he ran out the door.
They quickly took off out of sight, but that still left 8 cats to crowd around the food bowls!
Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) had to push her way in – which she clearly didn’t want to do. Neither of the calico-torties are very assertive, at all.
Jim is now called Big Jim! He’s gotten so burly, I’ve been mistaking him for Rolando Moon more often!
Beep Beep was my escort this morning, though I was joined by Rolando Moon, later on, too. :-)
We had some blustery weather overnight, judging from the branches I was picking up this morning.
When finishing up my rounds, I got a chuckle at the many tiny paw prints in the fresh snow on the sidewalk to the main entry.
From the size of some of them, I could see we got visited by my brother’s dog again, too! :-D
As I came around back to the feeding area, I saw the third dad cat, slink away. I’d seen him earlier, going through the maple grove and then through the tall grass in the main garden area. It was my presence that had him moving away from the house, so I was glad to see he’d come back, while I was doing my rounds.
He let me get within about 8 feet of him, as I made my way back to the sun room doors to go inside, before finally slinking away.
Of the three dad cats, this one looks the most like a house cat. He’s in good shape and, while certainly not willing to go near us, doesn’t demonstrate actual fear or anxiety in the process. I wonder if he belongs to one of the neighbouring farms, and is just coming to visit?
Inside the sun room, I found Bob, already back on the swing bench.
Just look at that beauty! No longer the skinny, scrawny little kitten with a head too big for his body!
He even let me touch him, though he wasn’t too happy with me coming close. Even Doom Guy was more jumpy around me than usual. I think it was because of the heavier coat I was wearing today. The fabric of the outer shell makes a lot more noise. *L*
Bob, however, not only let me sidle up to him and touch him, he let me scritch his ears and cheeks! Not only that, but even as tense as he was, he started to purr and relax a bit. Until Doom Guy came over and disturbed him. :-D
Then I saw a bit of movement out the window, so I snuck over to the door to take a peek.
Look who peeked back!
He moved away after I took the photo, but I went inside the house after this, so I hope he came back for food soon after.
I like my cat-filled morning routine. :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Collecting Cats
We are now up to three, regularly visiting, adult cats that we collectively refer to as the “dad cats.”
Not sure that’s what they actually are, but it works. :-D
It has been a chilly, blustery day today – as I write this, the temperature is at a not-to-bad -3C, but the windchill puts it at -12C! – so it was a good day to stay indoors as much as possible.
No surprise, of course, that when I went through the Old Kitchen to feed the outside cats this morning, the kittens were in a big pile on the swing bench they love so much. They started to scatter as soon as I opened the second door, which is when I noticed an extra cat, sitting on the dresser I use as a tool chest! He ran off as soon as he saw me, as he usually does. It was the black and white “dad cat.”
I’m glad we found a way to prop the doors into the sun room, just enough for the cats to get in and use it. There’s no insulation or heat in there, but it’s still better than outside!
After putting out the food and fresh water, I started heading towards the garage and noticed another cat, sitting in an area where I’d cleared a path to some Saskatoon bushes over the summer, watching me. It was the grey tabby with a bit of white we’ve started to see more often these days.
As I went by the feeding area later, I saw him again at a food bowl. He ran off, but just around the corner of the house.
I couldn’t get close enough for a decent picture. The kittens and their moms don’t seem to mind him at all – even Rolando Moon went by without hissing at him at all!
Then later this evening, after it was full dark, I glanced out my office window to see the grey and white cat peeking in at me!
He took off before I could try for a picture of him. When I looked out, I saw the food bowls were empty. I was thinking the grey and white cat might not have had any food at all, yet. I had some leftovers set aside for the outside cats and, since it’s so chilly out there, I decided to warm it up and bring it out for them.
I didn’t see him around when I got outside, but Doom Guy and The Outsider immediately came over, then both went at the warm food as soon as I put some into the first container. The Outsider even let me pet him! Though it may be he was just too interested in food to notice that I’d touched him. :-D
There was snow in their food bowls, so after I put some food into the second one, I moved it under the little shelter over the basement window (which is what the dad cat climbs on, to be able to look into my office). Then I took the bowl the kittens were eating from and moved it under, too – after prying it loose from the ground it had frozen to. Doom Guy moved over to sniff at the bowl I’d used to carry the food out, but The Outsider just stayed there, staring at the circle of snow-free grass that was under the food bowl. Like he was trying to figure out where the bowl went! :-D
So I reached over, picked him up, and moved him to where I’d put the bowl of food.
And he let me!!! Didn’t flinch or try to get away or anything. He just started eating, right away. Yay!!
Then I picked up Doom Guy and moved him over, because he was still snuffling around.
With Corvo still gone who-knows-where, we currently have 5 kittens, plus The Outsider, the two moms and Rolando Moon, here pretty much all the time. Add in the three dad cats that now visit regularly, we are up to a dozen outside cats.
It should get very interesting, if more of the cats we were feeding all last winter start showing up again!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 