outside cats

Cats, kits and the things we find

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It was a hot one today, so no progress on pruning and clearing the spruce grove today.  My daughter was able to get some of what I cut away yesterday, hauled out, before it got too hot.   It’s 7:30pm as I write this, and we’re still at 30C, and we’re supposed to hit the 30s again, tomorrow.  So it was a good day to be inside!

It’s probably for the best.  After driving my younger daughter to work, I was thinking of getting more work done on the grove while it was still cooler.  In the end, I found I had to painkiller up and lie down for a while.  My body was reminding me not to overdo things again.

Getting old sucks, sometimes! :-D

This evening, Beep Beep and her kittens were out while I did a walk around the yard.  I did a bit of watering, including the grape vine, though I harvested most of the grapes, yesterday evening.  Some bunches weren’t ripe yet, but I could also see that something – likely a bird – has been eating them, so I want to leave some behind.  I don’t want to take away some creature’s food source.

The kittens wouldn’t let me come near them, even when the tuxedo deigned to play with the end of a stick I was wiggling for him.  When I headed towards the storage house, they ran ahead of me and hid in the lilacs.  When I got near the stairs, I could see a sparkly cat toy I’d brought out for them some time ago, and went to get it.

Which is when I noticed something in the dead leaves and grass.

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I wonder how many years it had been there? :-D

I sat on the stairs for a while, eating some of the grapes that had ripened since yesterday.  The tuxedo was watching me from the lilacs, so I tossed over the cat toy, which he immediately pounced on.

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He’s pretty much right on top of where I found the shot glass.

Then there was Beep Beep.

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No birds use this bird bath.  I wonder why?

If you look under the grape leaves, you can see the black fur of the tuxedo kitten, sitting on the tire planter.

You know, growing up here, I never imagined I would ever someday be sitting on the steps, eating fresh grapes off the vine.  I never imagined there would ever be grapes that could grow here!

The Re-Farmer

Beep Beep: Mighty Huntress

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(Circle of Life warning)

Of all the outside cats, Beep Beep is notably the smallest, in every way.  Yet, now that she’s got kittens to feed, she is proving to be a Mighty and Prolific Huntress.

Case in point.

Earlier today, I was hearing an odd meowing outside my office window.  A very unusual sort of meow.  So I went outside to look at see what was up.

It was Beep Beep.  Doing this.

The odd sound I was hearing was her meowing with a mouth full of dead chipmunk.  Usually, I see her with a vole, sometimes with a bird.  This is a first I’ve seen any of the cats with a chipmunk.

Then, this afternoon, my older daughter noticed some odd meowing and went out to see.

Yes, it was Beep Beep again.  This time, with a bird.

Both bird and chipmunk remain beside the bowls of cat kibble.

As the kittens have starting coming around the house to the food bowls, I am no longer going to be putting food out for them by the garden shed.  Which means, kitties have a meaty lunch waiting for them when they come around.

The Re-Farmer

Kittens, kittens, all of the kittens!

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Butterscotch seems to have moved her kittens again, and from seeing her yesterday evening while I was clearing the bush, I am afraid she may have moved them off our property entirely, and to the neighbour’s across the road (no one lives there, as far as I can tell).

This evening, I brought food and refilled the water for Beep Beep and her kittens, by the garden shed.  There was no sign of them, and I went on my way around the yard.  As I made my way back, I found Butterscotch and all her kittens!

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I had to zoom in with my phone camera quite a bit, as they did not seem comfortable with me coming closer.

Eventually, I came around again and saw Beep Beep at the food.

Except it wasn’t Beep Beep!  It was her grey tabby!

I sat at the picnic table and, before I knew it, I had all 6 kittens around!  Butterscotch was still around, some of the time, too.

Here is some video I got while I was there.

Just before I was ready to leave, I did finally see Beep Beep.  She was carrying a bird in her mouth that was almost as big as her head!  She didn’t come close, though.  Her tuxedo saw her and ran after her, wanting that bird, but she continued carrying it through the garden.

It looks like she may have moved her kittens across the road, too. :-(  This concerns me.  While we are pretty isolated, that road is a main artery West from the highway, and is quite busy for a gravel road.

At least they know to come back here for assured food and water!

The Re-Farmer

Bribery will get you everywhere

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We have had little success in getting the kittens more comfortable with us, though we have been able to touch the odd one.

This evening, we resorted to outright bribery.

Wet cat food.

It worked.  Kinda.

Beep Beep and her kittens were out, and we started off with a can of paté.  They quickly finished it off.

So I brought out a second can of chunks in gravy cat food.

I even found a broiler pan in the old garden shed to put the food on.

Why there was a broiler pan in the garden shed, I have no idea.  But I will leave it there to put the cat kibble on, instead of in the dirt, until the kittens start regularly coming around the other side of the house to the food bowls there.

My daughter was able to pet BOTH of Beep Beep’s babies!

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Once their bellies were full enough, they were no longer willing to let my daughter pet them.  The tuxedo is a little more willing, but it will step back and hiss when touched.  The tabby just runs off.

They are getting so big. :-D

We won’t be able to keep this up, since canned cat food is so much more expensive, but I hope we’ll eventually get them associating us humans with good things, and that they will become more socialized.

The Re-Farmer

All in a row

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I’ve started a routine of putting cat kibble out for the kittens in the evening, when we tend to see them out more often.

When I came out through the sunroom, where we keep the cat food and bird seed, I startled Butterscotch and the one kitten that followed her to the food bowls by the house, so I made a point of putting kibble out near where her kittens are, first.  Then I went around to the garden shed, where Beep Beep has her kittens, and put more there.

I never saw Beep Beep’s kittens, but in the time it took me to move from one area to the next, Butterscotch and her babies were hungrily eating together!

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The bigger orange tabby couldn’t squeeze her way in, so she went around the other side.

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Too cute!

If it weren’t for the size difference, we probably couldn’t tell the orange tabbies apart!

I also got video. :-D

That was about as close as they would let me come, though Teeny Tabby did let me touch her (his?) back while eating, a couple of times.  I’m not sure if Teeny was being braver than the other kittens, or hungrier! :-D

The Re-Farmer

A rare sighting of The Hand

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Once spring arrived, most of the outside cats just seemed to disappear.  Butterscotch and Beep are around all the time, of course, since their kittens are here.  Rolando Moon comes around fairly regularly.  Nasty Crime Boy joined us a couple of times when we were doing cook outs, but we haven’t seen him in ages.

Then, there is the elusive The Hand.

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She just slinks in and out, once in a while.  I happened to be at the living room window, by the tripod, when I saw her go by and barely managed to get a picture!

She is just a beauty, and so very shy!

The Re-Farmer

Kitty videos

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Got a bunch of short kitten videos for you to enjoy!

The first three were taken today.

Butterscotch and her kittens – with a cameo from Rolando Moon.

Beep Beep does love climbing trees!  None of the others quite match her – though one of her babies is trying!

Trying to convince a kitten that the big, scary human is really okay.  A few times, it would stretch out, snuffle my fingertip, then hiss at it! :-D

This next video was taken a few days ago.

Those bright, bright eyes! :-D

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Two sets of kitties!

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While doing my evening walk around the yard, I ended up spending almost an hour, near the kittens.  I had brought out some cat food, and refilled the old pot that I am using for water near the garden shed, then just hung out.

So did the mosquitoes.

It was worth it.

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Butterscotch’s kittens love an exposed root, sitting on it or stretching themselves out along its length.  So I put a bit of cat kibble on it.

There are only two in this photo, but for a while, both calico/trourties, and the teeny tabby, where eating with their mom.  The bigger tabby showed up later.

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Beep Beep’s kittens enjoyed some kibble, too, but weren’t too sure about my being nearby!  So they hid under one of the old car seat/benches.

I suppose it’s a good thing we aren’t planning to clear this junk away anytime soon, because they love climbing all over it.

Speaking of climbing…

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That little tuxedo takes after it’s mother!

I took some video, too, and am uploading it right now.  I’ll include those in another post. :-)

The Re-Farmer