Cats Galore!

It all started before the Husband and I got here.  Two cats showed up on the porch last winter, and Mom felt sorry for them, as it was a very cold winter, so she began feeding them.  By summer, two kittens had joined the party, and she found herself feeding four cats.


We arrived and liked the idea of cheap pest control, so we continued feeding them.  The male cat briefly considered hunting the chickens, and while a warning shot from our air rifle did not dissuade him, three angry Rhode Island reds, each of which is larger than this male cat, convinced him that they were not going to be easy prey.


Things continued in this fashion for about six weeks.  Last weekend, we decided to walk the property and prioritize the improvements we wish to make.  For example, the chickens have taken over and love spending their time digging around the front yard right in front of the porch -- right where I wish to plant some pretty flowers.  Also, while chicken poop is a fantastic fertilizer, I'm not much interested in having it sprinkled liberally all over the front porch.  To top things off, they've gotten it in their heads that the cat food and the cat water dish are theirs.


This made me realize that it would be fruitless to start a vegetable garden when the chickens are likely to dig it up and trample the seedlings.  However, the benefits of allowing them to be free range far far out weigh the need for caging them up.  That said, nine chickens will do just fine on three fourths of an acre.  They don't need the whole acre and a half.  This led us to our first priority of fencing in the yard.


We walked to the back of the yard, about a third of which is covered in woods. It's nice having a patch of forest, but it's so dense and overgrown that it's of no use to us in its current state, so we intend to clear out the undergrowth and keep the large trees, thus making fencing an easier process.


As we returned from our walk to the bottom of the yard which is at the bottom of a thirty degree grade hill, we noticed four new kittens investigating the chicken coop and eating the chicken feed.  None of them could have been more than six to eight weeks old, and they were really adorable - two gray and two ginger in color.  We decided to give them a nice bowl of milk and contemplate the possibility of having eight cats living under the front porch.  Not a possibility any of us was in favor of.  


After checking with the neighbors who weren't home, we decided that if they continued to hang around, we'd see about getting them fixed and adopted.  We sat on the front porch, enjoying a nice beer and watching the two ginger kittens, who'd followed us, playing and generally looking adorable.


The following morning, the husband opened the front door to find that one of the ginger kittens had remained behind.  Of all the cats that have been hanging around the place, this one is the friendliest.  He's also fearless.  He wanted to eat some of the cat food, and the other cats were not interested in sharing.  In particular, the mother of the other kittens decided to stake out her territory.  This ginger kitten, who sits easily in the palm of my hand, threw his back up in the air and dared her to take him on.  She backed down and allowed him to eat.


Then he came over to us and set his mind to being so adorable we couldn't resist him.  He succeeded.  Tomorrow, I take him to the vet to get his vaccinations and make sure he doesn't have anything my other cat could catch, and then I will slowly introduce the two.  My other cat - Gracie - is a twelve-year-old Maine Coon (not pure), and thus very large.  She also hasn't had any company since her brother passed away two and a half years ago, and she likes it that way.  But this kitten is so friendly and just wants to be loved and I'm thinking Gracie won't be able to resist him any more than we were.


The husband fell for the kitten first, and he came up with the name of our new little family member.  I present you with Spaz: