Thursday, April 26, 2012

Adventures of a wild feline

We have this cat on our farm, she is a feral calico with we have named Callie.(should have been ghost as she is that shy) We had thought she was looking unusually plump lately, and I guess we were right because she had kittens. Of coarse we really didn't know this until my mother in law and myself were pulling weeds in the water garden near the barn, when we stopped cause i saw something moving  against the wall of the barn and rocks. I first thought oh look its a baby opossum, but as I got closer and called mom over she reached in(very daring, I think) and pulled out the sweetest smoke grey kitten with piercing blue eyes.  As we watched over the course of the next hour or so we noticed there was more than one. Six to be exact. Three, white and orange, one tabby, Possum, one dark grey.
So you might be asking where does the adventure come in, well , we really didn't want to raise kittens in our barn, so we were more than happy to let Callie-cat move them if she wanted too, if not , it was okay for them to stay in the barn. note; (our neighbor was wanting one or two once they were weaned.)
anyway, I guess we were being too friendly with her babies, domesticating them and all,because a week later, she up and starting moving them down the road. Our neighbor saw her and the kittens, and rushed out to capture them, momma cat included. Did I mention these are feral cats. Well the babies were captured easily, but now for Callie-cat.  The babies were moved back to our barn and put in a large animal cage. one was put in a live trap with food and water to try and catch the mom. She was quiet elusive for several hours, but stayed hidden under the tack room, watching her babies from afar. Finally, i guess the mewing and maybe the smells from the can food became too much and she went into the live trap.
Now to get her out and with her babies. HK and our neighbor, cautiously went into the barn, and move the cages together in a haphazardly fashion, open slowly... and before we knew it Callie-cat (momma cat) was in with her babies in a flash.
So now we have kitten... we think they are about three weeks old maybe four.Callie-cat hisses when we come in but isn't too threatened as she is being fed and is in warm place with her babies.
If our neighbor would volunteer to take them would be wonderful. ( as she and her sister are the ones who want them... they are cute. But I am allergic, and one dog is plenty for me.
Did I mention they are too cute. See for yourself.

 Before capture.
Callie -cat peeking out at me from under the tack room.
 Possum kitten, the name stuck, this one has been potentially adopted.
After capture... one mass ball of CAT/KITTENS!
 This was a visitor to my garden he jumped out at me and sat me flat on my backside. Scared the tar out of me. I guess I uncovered him, better him then a snake.