wildbillsdreamscape

One of the five fab cats, feral, who got adopted; she almost always hates for me to pick her up for a cuddle, I do it just to tick her off and to remind her that I am the predator who rescued her and her sisters.

pet store owner

Originally uploaded by canuckshutterer (W.J. Gibson)
this guy owns the pet store where I go in for pet food and other supplies. I patted him today and he meowed his thanks.

Of the five fab adopted feral kittens now ten months old, only one, Cadbury, is keen to go out. They all hang out in the windows and watch birds and squirrels. One starling was obliging enough to build a nest in the top of the 9 foot tall cedar hedge which is about ten feet from the corner window on the sun porch. They have spent a lot of time watching the youngsters get fed. The baby starlings are down and out.

Cadbury has been studying the kitchen storm door with her stop watch in paw has worked out to a bank robber’s precision the timing on the automatic closure. A few times when I have gone in our out with Mr. Shakespeare the dog, she has bolted through and gained her freedom. Usually twenty minutes and a few circuits around the perimeter of the house pass before she allows herself to be captured. I have taken to calling her Steve McQueen and have contemplated getting her a miniature BMW motorcycle. She does a lot of crying at the screen door. When I call her Steve McQueen she often gives me a squinty movie star look. I am sure at night I can hear the sound of tunneling.

For years we have been putting out seed for birds to feed upon in the winter. This year it was very mild into part of January then winter arrived and we have had some cold weather, down near to -20 Celsius.

Although it is seed for birds, a gang of black squirrels and one little red squirrel have been stopping by to grab some food as well. We used to see quite a few chipmunks running around the place but not so many in the past two years. I may be wrong but I think they lay up for the winter with their store of seed and other goodies of the chipmunk kind.

This year we don’t seem to have any sparrows around. Used to see a couple of varieties of them. Maybe they will turn up yet. So far it has been mainly mourning doves, chickadees, and nut hatches.

Less frequently in the past, we see blue jays and rarely a cardinal or two. That blue and that red are something to see against the snow. The special whirring sound of mourning doves taking flight is a real treat to hear.

This year the five wild kittens who we have adopted, all indoor cats except for Cadbury who tries to get outside with little success, have been spending less time watching TV and instead watch the live nature channel out the kitchen window. The bird feeder hangs from a branch stub about twenty feet from that window. I have set two old benches out closer to the window from that tree and I brush snow off them and spread seed there. I also clear off the deck railing and pour seed on it.

If I just refilled the feeder, one black squirrel would tie that up all day with his stunt feeding acrobatics. This morning I counted nine mourning doves feeding. Yesterday we set a local world record with seven black squirrels feeding at the same time.

observing behaviour of the fab five, wild kittens adopted back in August, they now run things….

observation: When I open the freezer door and pull out a  blue plastic ice tray and crack the tray to extract some ice, I am no longer alone in the kitchen.  First one then many kittens arrive. They may have been asleep but it does not matter.  They arrive because they are hopeful that a small ice chip will explode out of the tray when I tilt it to catch the ice and drop them into my glass. Often this happens. Then the kittens watch as the designated chip batter bats the ice chip around on the linoleum floor.

I have considered flooding the kitchen floor and putting down a miniature puck, but it has been pretty mild this winter and I don’t think the rink would hold for long.

Cadbury and Emma catch some sun

Originally uploaded by canuckshutterer.

December 10th, a sunny day so the kitchen furniture gets moved around a bit, so that the kittens can curl up and sunbathe near the kitchen door

still I struggle to get a decent shot of these black kittens and tortoiseshell kittens……

In this one you can see just how shiny Emma’s coat is these days.

off to the left out of frame is Sugarfoot and Bella, tortoiseshell and black kittens respectively….

Cadbury October 30, 2006

Originally uploaded by “canuckshutterer” wj gibson.

One of the five kittens who make up Team Purr, she is the heftiest. Her coat has become lighter this month, as has her sister, Sugarfoot’s.

Sugarfoot on a quilt

Originally uploaded by “canuckshutterer” wj gibson.

one of the fab five kittens……trying out a new nap location. They just keep on growing and growing.

took the five wild ones to the vet today, they are in excellent health…..before we went in, I spoke to a young man who was holding his ferret. I asked how the ferret was. “I’m putting him down,” he said. He looked like he was about to break down. I told him that it is a horrible moment and that I had lost two pets this year. I told him, “it has been six months and finally I can look at one of my dog’s photos and not bawl my eyes out.”

“Sugarfoot”

Originally uploaded by canuckshutterer.

one of the blue jeans climbing feral kittens who may be staying permanently with me – still negotiating with the dog about this roster change

Sugarfoot got her name from her two right light coloured paws, her sister calico, Cadbury, is darker overall and has some light coloured toes on her back left leg.