Our Cats 3.25.14

I know there are many people out there who hate outdoor cats, but we are not among them.

It would be nice to have them as pets….it’s not meant to be.

This little grey kitty showed up on our deck one day.

I wasn’t going to feed her and entice her to stay but noticed she was either going to have kittens or already had them. So we started feeding to give them a good start.

She had 3 kittens…one got  badly injured and had to be put down. The other 2 and Mother were caught up and taken to the vets to be “fixed” so there’d be no more kittens.

Raccoons, Armadillos, Squirrels and Opossums still come in the yard, as well as, Blue Indigos, Painted Buntings, Doves,Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Titmice, Parrula Warblers and another little bird I don’t know the name of. My feeders are busy all the time.

I didn’t want the cats counting on my birds etc for food so Jim built a “feral” cat feeder. It is on a post with about 2  1/2 ft of aluminum flashing around the base to prevent Raccoons from climbing up.  I can leave a large amount of food for them and when gone my neighbor keeps it filled.

The cats can jump up into it and the Raccoons cant.

I figure if they are well fed they won’t be such avid hunters and they are not. They watch the birds and squirrels but get bored and leave them alone.

There are two other cats that also dine here. I let them for the same reason.

I had my Butterfly House outside and the grey Momma kitty used it to jump to the roof on the screen room. She loves going up there so Jim built them a “climber”.

The cat on the ground is Bolt…and that is what he does when we get near. The one on top is Lightning. I can pet him first thing in the morning when I put out food…but cannot touch him at any other time.

Smokey Momma will rub against my legs when I’m hanging clothes on the line but that is it.

I got up this morning and looked out….had to sneak around the back to get this picture…one on each step…you can see that Bolt is ready to do just that…bolt.

Never a dull moment around here. Love the critters. The cats can be sitting on the washer or dryer on the rear deck and an Opossum can come up …clean up a dish or bowl and the cats just sit there and watch…another part of the family. Same with the Armadillo or Raccoon. They’ve all adjusted to the company of each other.

Looks like they have their favorite steps. Jim noticed they were all on steps….same order as this morning. So I snuck out for another picture….you can see Bolt (second step) is in exit motion. Didn’t stick around for a second picture. As soon as I left he went back up. It will be interesting to see if they sleep there all night.

That is my frog pond at the bottom of the photo. Cats share the water with the Honey Bees. Better pictures in a previous post.