No self-respecting rural homestead can dare call itself a “farm” unless it is home to some “farm” cats. With that in mind, we recently acquired two really cute black-and-white farm kittens from a couple of kids in our church (who, of course, wanted to keep all five kitties in the litter, but were overruled by their parents). We named these future four-legged mouse traps “Salt” and “Pepper.” Pepper is the female and was so named because of her spicy personality. The first day, not long after we'd brought them home, I was holding her when one of our dogs came into the room. She had not encountered a dog to this point in her young life, so was naturally scared by this huge, curious creature. In her fright, she jumped, turned away from the dog and then literally “bit the hand that feeds her!” Within a few minutes she learned to hiss and spit - this time in the direction of the dog, who quickly found out that this new creature was not going to be the playmate she’d hoped for.
A screened porch for the kitties.
Over the years we have witnessed our chickens ganging up on small bunnies and chipmunks - making quick snacks of both - so we felt we needed to provide some protection for the kitties as we introduce them to the flock. We put a comfy blanket in a kennel and made a makeshift screen porch for them. It’s a safe place to play and get acclimated to the other residents of the farm. As you can see in the picture, the chicks we got from Runnings this spring (see the blog post from April 20) are nearly full-grown and came to check out these new furry creatures who were hanging out behind their coop. Pepper is the one on the left - the one with the “Come any closer and you’ll all be chicken dinner!” look in her eyes. This picture was taken a little after lunchtime. The chickens, curiosity satisfied, soon got distracted and went off in search of whatever it is they find while pecking through the clover.
Later that evening...
Violet and I came back from our after-supper walk. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my phone with me, so you’ll just have to imagine what we saw as we went to check on Salt and Pepper. The scene was similar to the one in the lunchtime picture. The five “cheepsters” were approaching the kitty porch again, but this time, Pepper had found a small opening between the wall screen and roof screen and was sitting on top of the porch. She was crouched low in her “stalking” stance - almost daring the chickens to come within striking distance! Not one ounce of fear! It was a hilarious sight to behold!
Any mice who have thoughts of taking up residence on the farm this fall had better check Zillow for alternative homes! (And the chickens have been put on notice not to turn their backs on Pepper either!)
