For a brief time this week, we enjoyed an orange-breasted Northern Oriole visitor to the bird feeders, especially the hummingbird feeder, before it continued its trip north. We are disappointed, though, that we've not seen a single hummingbird, yet. We don't understand it, since we keep fresh nectar in the feeder, and grow the birds' favorite flowering plants in our gardens.
Another visitor, who has perhaps taken up residence on our back porch, is a tortoise shell mama cat, with three half-grown kittens. We don't know if the cat belongs to someone close by and has opted on her own to move her kittens to our house, or if she was dropped in our yard by someone wanting to get rid of her. From time to time, we've acquired cats that way, though most of them have either moved on in a few days, or have met their end on the highway out front.
We're not really in the market for a cat, since they notoriously hunt the songbirds, but since she's here, we've bought cat food for her and set out dishes of milk for her and the kittens. We hope that if we keep her well-fed, she'll leave the birds alone. Probably not, though, since hunting is so deeply ingrained in her feline soul.
4 comments:
If the kittens were old enough, I'd get one when we see each other in a few weeks. I need one here. There are mice, and the only cat around here is a tom who only hunts for a way in so he can eat Sassy's food.
I'm thinking these kittens should be weaned by the time we come down there. Right now, though, we don't know if they are male or female. We'll try to check it out and let you know for sure if there's a female.
Thanks! I'm ready to have a cat in my life again.
Well, you'll have one if we can catch one of the little rascals! Right now, the mama cat is friendly, but the babies are skittish.
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