The spotlets are growing up. Their eyes are turning yellow. Crawford here, continues to be ahead of his sister Collar, in his comfort around me and his willingness to let me pet him. All three of the spots have made significant progress in checking out the inside of the house. They will be mostly outdoor cats though, unless they show a demanding preference otherwise.
Despite the unfavorable choice of locations to do their business, the resident gardeners will be pleased at least with their great hunting success of mice, voles and sorry chipmunks too. Mama Spot brings home squeeze toys for the kids mostly.
I know many people will take issue with cats that are allowed to hunt the small critters. My feeling is that this is nature's way. The snakes, hawks, falcons, owls, raccoons and coyotes who live here all survive by hunting. At one time there were bobcats and cougars in these mountains. Maybe there still are. A healthy diverse ecosystem that provides for a vibrant population of small critters is more important than the loss of individuals.
Still, after the holidays it will definitely be time to make an appointment for the kitties nip and tuck. To many predators isn't good either. Now I even worry more about the owls, hawks and coyotes. I might be a little less understanding if one of the cats turned into somebodies lunch.
It has been grey, rainy and wet since Monday. At least it has been "warm". It makes for generally extra slow movement when all the cabin construction that I can work on is exterior work. Today there was a brief pause in the rain. Five pieces of corner trim are now attached to the cabin and the holes are drilled for the extra fastening between the porch ledgers and the floor joists. Drats. The seven inch bolts were to short. I have to exchange them for eight inch bolts.
I can do that tomorrow when it rains again and look for the right color of lipstick for the porch. I decided to paint the porch roof's infrastructure, the exposed framing under the metal roof, the same color as the handrails. It will be easier to paint it before I put the roof on.
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13 comments:
i really enjoy your blog.
i'll just add one thought re: indoor/outdoor life for cats: indoor cats have much better odds for a long and healthy life than outdoor cats--and not just because of the predator issue--but that is a huge issue, particularly when there are hawks about. But either way: good on ya for adopting them...or letting yourselves be adopted.
Cats are an introduced species. They don't belong outside to maime and kill. If a Great horned owl or a coyote gets the spots it will just be too bad. At least you are having them nipped and tucked.
Hi Zephyr. Thanks. At this point when the cats come in I can close the door without them totally freaking out.
Lisa here is an article from National Geographic about the wild origins of the domestic cat and their world wide distribution following early man.
Christopher, I live in a neighborhood, and neighbors have lost cats to resident wildlife. I hope your Spots do well, but your environs are considerably more wild than mine. I suppose foxes are the culprits here, but we don't know for sure. I hope your kitties stay safe.
After reading the comments, I wonder if some of the cats might not have been lost to owls or hawks. We certainly have those in number, but my neighbor's cat was done in by a ground-based predator judging by her injuries. Again, I hope your Spots keep safe.
Wow, with all these comments I'm glad I have a dog - a big dog! (: Christopher, are you saying the underside of the porch roof is also going to be lipstick red? That'll be a wower.
bev
Bev, I have moved on from lipstick red. The tile inside will be a golden clay color so I want to move that color outside. I will be looking for an orange based yellow or brown I think, something that will work with the existing grey of the house, light yellow trim and blue of the doors.
Hi Christopher! Crawford was so big in that picture that I didn't recognize her and thought you had adopted another cat. :)
I have seen a large wild cat on our mountain. I tried to look online for a picture of what I had seen and it sure looked like a mountain lion. I would bet you have them your way too. I wish I had a kitty to take care of the mice and the voles!
It would be kind of cruel to the cats to force them indoors considering their wild origins.
The thing about letting them hunt tho'...and maybe it's not a problem in the country where you are, is that there are now bazillions of cats roaming the land where before not so many. Although there used to be lots more predators than there are now too, so maybe it balances out. But with bird habitat in particular being removed for human habitat (and again, maybe not so much a problem in the country), I think having lots of cats hunting birds is a problem.
Well, whatever. I try to see both sides. As long as you get them neutered, you'll be doing the world a favor and, once neutered, maybe they'll be more inclined to hang around the house and hunt toys instead of birds.
Hi Christopher,
Crawford sure looks cute. He sure has grown also. Do hope they stay safe. There's nothing wrong with nature.
I like your choice of "lipstick" for the cozy cabin. As I said before she will be a fine looking lady--none to compare. More importantly she will be yours.
Stay safe.
Hi, Chris. Re. bobcats: my neighbors in this flattish and (slightly) rural part of Henderson County say we have bobcats occasionally. So I bet there are some in your part of the mountains.
You have a lovely and entertaining blog, and the pictures are to die for! Julie
AS to my minirant...well, I just can't help but not like cats out roaming around. They can't help themselves. They just have to hunt. As someone else said there are just too many feral cats. I am glad you took these in. Who could resist that face anyway.
Hi Julie. Thanks for dropping by. Yes to you and Siria, I have heard reports of Bobcat sightings and one report of hearing a cougar. So far I have seen no sign of them. I get mixed reports on bears in this area, but I know they are in these mountains.
Chuck and Lisa to me there is nothing more disturbing and sad than a feral cat colony. I am not opposed to them all being trapped and put down if they can't be adopted. My cats on Maui stopped hunting for the most part when they were about four years old and we had plenty of rats to hunt. They still loved their lizard hunting though.
Even if they kept hunting, my garden provided enough food and cover that the small critter population was quite abundant. Habitat preservation is key. Granted you can't have a surplus of predators either.
My parents have been hounding me a bit since I arrived to get a cat because they had a chronic mouse problem here. I sealed all the holes in the house and was able to keep them out of the house at least. They feed the birds and the seed attracts the mice and makes them multiply. Now they were just outside running all over the decks and around the house looking to get back in. Then the Spots arrived.
The birds still get fed and Mama Spot does not seem to have much luck catching them because they are fed from the second floor with lots of trees and shrubs to watch from.
In Florida they have the opposite problem. Last year I found a man feeding a feral cat colony in the back part of their gardens. They complained that there were zero, as in no birds at their feeders this year. I suggested it might be about the office condos built next door and the loss of three acres of forest. Maybe that and the cats and who knows what else made the birds disappear. The man feeding them is tramping paths through the shrubbery and the missing birds might prompt them to some action. I would at least call the humane society and start a roundup. But they like cats and have had them quite often.
Then there was the time the neighbor's kid found a dead man in their back yard in Florida....Hopefully the new office condos solved the homeless camping in the woods next door problem.
Feral cats are definately a problem in areas without enough predators...they decimated our bobwhite quail population in Indiana. Up here, the cats are prey for eagles, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, cougars, and even the occasional fisher. Wild cats don't last long enough to catch many birds around here. (At least in my specific neighborhood, due to the densely wooded areas. And I didn't think we had cougars in the wild until my neighbor had to stop her car to keep from hitting one!)
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