Thursday, May 25, 2006, 21:15
Let the Adventure Begin
I took Charlie for a walk around the hayfield this morning, and then I went back into the barn to brush Kajun and put some RepelX lotion on his face and ears (gnats and face flies were bad this morning). When I walked in the barn, I could see Little Sister sitting on the hay bales above the kitten nest.
Charlie trotted into the barn with me, and as soon as he did, Little Sister started in with a high-pitched growling snarl. She was not at all happy.
Charlie looked at the cat and took a few steps closer.
"Grrrrrrrr!" said Little Sister.
Not knowing when to leave well enough alone, Charlie came closer still.
"Grrrrrr! Hissssssss. . .snarrrrrrl," said Little Sister.
"Charlie, if you end up with a cat attached to your nose, don't expect me to save you," I said as I started to brush Kajun. "If she's not happy with you, and I try to intervene, I will probably end up with a cat attached to my nose, too."
"Grrrrrr! Hissssssss. . .snarrrrrrl," said Little Sister, who was glaring at Charlie with murder in her eyes.
I've got to say one thing about mother cats: they are courageous. Charlie weighs 70 pounds. Little Sister weighs 7 pounds. If that.
As the mother cat continued to glare at the dog, I was struck with a thought that made me put my brush down.
"I'll be right back, Kajun," I said. "Don't go away."
As if he would, with a nice flake of alfalfa hay in front of him.
I crawled through the fence and went over to the pile of hay.
"Chirrrrrrrrp!" said Little Sister.
And sure, enough. Just as I suspected. A little gray kitten was up on the hay with Little Sister!
"So," I said. "You coaxed one of them into venturing out of the nest for a few minutes, did you."
"Chirrrrrrp!" said Little Sister.
The tiny gray kitten looked up at me and blinked a couple of times.
"Aren't you a cutie!" I said.
Little Sister apparently felt that as long as I was watching over the kitten, even with Charlie close by, it was safe for her to go and get a drink of water. So she did.
"Hi, baby," I said, stroking the top of the kitten's head with one finger.
The kitten tilted his (her?) head back to look at me.
"I think," I said, "with momma over there getting a drink, you should go back in the nest with the others where you will be safe."
I picked the kitten up and set him down in the nest. He toddled over to the pile of kittens and snuggled down on top.
I crawled through the fence again and finished brushing Kajun and putting fly spray on him. Then I went outside to brush Isabelle and put some lotion and fly spray on her, too.
When I returned to the barn with my armful of brushes, halter and lead rope, fly spray, RepelX lotion and baby wipes, Momma Kitty (Little Sister's mother) was sitting on the hay above the nest.
"Grrrrrrr!" she said as soon as she saw me. "Hisssssss. . .growwwwwwl. . .snarl."
I set my armful of paraphernalia down and went over to the hay.
"Grrrrr!" said Momma Kitty.
I looked down at the bale -- and sure enough, a little black kitten was out of the nest, nursing Momma Kitty.
"So," I said, "you coaxed another one out, did you?"
Momma Kitty gave me a dirty look, left the kitten and jumped up on a higher bale.
"Okay, little feller," I said. "I think you should go back with others, too, since Momma Kitty is not right here to look after you."
The little black kitten looked up at me and blinked. I picked him up and put him in the nest where he toddled over to the pile of kittens and snuggled down.
And so it begins.
The momma kitties will bring the kittens out of the nest for a few minutes at a time now to let them explore the bales right around the nest and to nurse them where they have more room to sprawl out. As soon as the mommas leave, the kittens will go back in the nest.
A week from now, the kittens may be coming out on their own to play around on the hay right by the nest. If something frightens them, they will scamper back into the nest again where they feel safe.
And so, for the little kittens in the barn, the "great adventure" of life outside the nest in the real world has begun. Their adventure has not taken them far yet. Only a few inches.
But every journey -- long or short, close or far -- begins with that first step, does it not? And then the next step, and the next, and the next. . .
Now, as long as Charlie can keep his nose to himself, things will be fine. He won't, though. One of these days, I will be working outside or around in the barn, and I will hear "YIIIIIPE!" and Charlie will come away pawing at his nose. And I will turn around to see either a mother cat sitting there with an extremely satisfied look on her face, or else one of the kittens, with an expression that says -- "did I do that?"
A Rose is a Rose -- I sat down on the rock table in our backyard this morning with a cup of coffee, looked up -- and saw that the first rugosa rose of the season had opened up! So I figured I'd better take a picture of it. I will be able to enjoy the rugosa roses (they smell WONDERFUL) from now until the rose beetles begin their attack. Then the rugosa roses will be chewed to bits before the buds even have a chance to open up. But at least I will be able to enjoy them for a little while. . .
I really admire the rugosa roses. I don't have to prune them or cover them up in the winter. And the bushes are thriving in what is essentially just sand and rock. The only thing I do is water them once in a while throughout the summer with water I have bailed out of the washing machine.
A while back, I planted a wild rose bush not too far away from the rugosa roses. The wild roses and the rugosa roses look similar, except the rugosa roses have larger flowers and larger bushes. The wild rose is starting to spread out and a runner is growing closer to the rugosa roses. I wonder if they will cross pollinate someday? I guess I will just have to wait and see.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Comments -- To e-mail comments, click on the contact link on the right -- or you can also copy and paste in the address line of your e-mail and replace the (at) with @: bigpines(at)ruralroute2.com
Wednesday, May 24, 2006, 19:56
X Marks the Spot. . .
Our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, May 30. I took Charlie into the vet clinic this morning, and the vet thinks that the lump on his shoulder, as well as a fluid accumulation in the groin area and a lump on the back of his leg are all fatty tumors. But she still thinks they need to come off.
While Charlie is in for surgery, they are also going to clean his teeth. No sense in wasting perfectly good anesthetic, I always say!
The one funny thing the vet told me is that we should mark all of the spots with a marker before we take him in so they are sure they get everything. I've listened to documentaries on television that say the same thing: when you go in for surgery, you should mark the spot with a marker so they don't operate on the wrong arm or leg or some other part of your body.
Of course, seeing as a different vet will be doing the surgery, I suppose it's not so strange that they asked us to mark the spots. So, we will take a marker and mark the spots. I wonder what color Charlie would prefer. I've got yellow markers. And an orange marker. And a green one. Pink, too. And blue. Maybe, since Charlie is a boy, a blue marker would be the most appropriate?
Juliette My poor little Juliette is still in and out of the litter box. I asked about the antibiotic, but the vet said she usually tells people to wait 3 to 5 days to see if there's any improvement.
Three to five days?
I've had urinary tract infections myself, and as far as I am concerned, 3 to 5 days might as well be 3 to 5 months!
If Juliette is not improved by Friday, however, then I am supposed to go in and get a different antibiotic. So -- I am keeping my fingers crossed that Juliette will be feeling better soon.
I've noticed that if she can get comfortable and can settle down, then she can rest for a while. But as soon as she gets up and moves around, then she's in and out of the litter box again.
Well, like my dad always used to say: if you've got animals, then you've got trouble. . .
Raccoons-- I can't say for sure, but I think the baby raccoons that were in the hay in the barn are out of the nest now. I haven't heard anything out of them for about a week. Before that, they were downright noisy, chattering and murmuring and talking among themselves.
I did some research on raccoons, and the conventional wisdom is that raccoons do not like to have their babies where there is lots of noise and commotion. The recommendation was to set up flood lights and to leave a radio playing 24/7.
Seems like the raccoons left the barn after we got the lawn mowers out and started mowing the grass. We keep the mowers in the lean-to only a few feet from where the baby raccoons were in the nest on the other side of the wall. Perhaps starting the mowers in the lean-to and then mowing around the barn, not to mention using the weed whacker around the barn (it makes a horrible noise when the string rattles against the tin of the barn wall) convinced Momma Raccoon that she should move her babies to a quieter place. I hope so. Because I think that would be best for all concerned. . .
Kittens-- I still don't know for sure how many kittens we have in the barn. Both momma cats had their kittens in the same nest. I have peeked in there a few times, and the kittens all have their eyes open. Last night, when I went outside to let Charlie out and give the horses more hay, I heard one of the kittens let out a yell. Just a single yell, though. Not sustained screaming. I figured one of the mommas went back into the nest after eating some dry kitty food and stepped on one of the babies or nudged it out of the way or some such event. I think that sort of thing is to be expected because it must be getting awfully crowded in there with two litters of kittens and two momma cats!
LeAnn R. Ralph
