outside cats

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

Morning kitties

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After not seeing Beep Beep’s kittens for a while, I began to think she had moved them again.

I was right.

This morning, I caught some movement out our bedroom window and saw Beep Beep in one of the big maples by the old garden shed.  I called my husband’s attention to her, and that’s when he spotted a kitten!

The tuxedo was up in the tree, too!

So when I went to feed the outside cats, I brought food over to where Butterscotch’s kittens are, then left some for Beep Bee’s kittens, in front of the garden shed.

Then I waited.

I also got video.  It’s uploading right now and taking a while, so I might not have a chance to post it before I head into the city for our big grocery stock up trip.

So here are some stills for now.

I sat at the picnic table, and Beep Beep came to say hello. :-)

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She was torn between demanding pets, and checking out the bowl I use to carry the kitty kibble.

Rolando Moon also showed up.

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Oh, she’s a mean one!  She hisses at the other cats and bats at them fairly regularly, which I normally don’t interfere with, but when she starts hissing at the kittens, I step in!

So she went over towards the garden area and began rolling in the dirt next to a gooseberry bush.

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While taking video, I was very surprised to see an orange kitten come out!

Now I need to figure out; is this Beep Beep’s mystery third kitten?  Or did one of Butterscotch’s babies come to visit?

Butterscotch had come over, too, and I started to see her kittens coming closer, too.  Including her teeny tabby.

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So if the teeny tabby is adventuring this far out from where Butterscotch has put them, the bigger one is certainly able to go right in.

There are so few distinguishing characteristics, it’s hard to say.

The tuxedo did not come out at all while I was outside.

Oh, they are so cute!!

The Re-Farmer

Cute kitten overload!

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I noticed that Butterscotch’s kittens tend to be out and about later in the day, so I decided to head out and see if they would be out again.

They were!

Oh, they are so cute!

Unfortunately, the light makes for some poor photos.  I tried taking video, and the image quality sucked.  These are the best of the photos I was able to get.

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When I first came out, they were quite far afield!  One of the orange kittens had gone as far as the garage.

There is a significant size difference between the two orange ones.

The tinier one was in the planter near the outhouse, falling asleep, until I got too close for its comfort – though I did almost come close enough to touch!

I use the weed trimmer around the yard, in preparation for mowing, and went further in between the bushes between the old dog house and the outhouse then usual.  They seemed to like the newly cleared areas.

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The little orange one, and this calico, both looked like they could barely stay awake! :-D

For a while, I was kind of playing with the larger orange kitten while it was on the other side of the tree, on that tire.  Butterscotch kept putting herself between me and her kittens, demanding I pet her, and ended up on the tire as well.  Her kitten immediately started going for her tail.  When I had the chance, I started wiggling my fingers around the tree, and it went for them. <3  That was all it was willing to put up with, though!

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This brave little one climbed higher for a better look at me. :-D

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Sooo sleeeeepppyyyy…

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Tired baby!

I am hoping they will start feeling more confident and let us play with them.  I really want these to be less feral than the rest of the outside cats!

The Re-Farmer