Heidi Chronicles - Almost Spring 2010

This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, raccoons and the occasional opossum that frequent my backyard wildlife feeder. For the past month or so we have been on winter 'vacation', just hanging out together and chatting, but are now expecting the raccoons to return (any day now) to begin preparations for the spring breeding season.

Prior Thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073998/
1st Thread in Series: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944/


The photo below is from a prior year at the buffet.

KyWoods,

I can draw. Remember the blue raccoon? ROTF. Kidding!

But, despite the blue raccoon drawing, I can draw. I actually sold paintings, mostly oils and a few pastels, decades ago before I went back to college for engineering/software. However, in the interest of time I went with an old pic from years back for the thread.

We are going to get back to raccoons soon, but I have a few Kitty stories to tell you 1st. Also, I haven't made it out to the buffet yet. I have some yucky, scary stuff going on right now in my personal life. I'm trying something new this time - keeping my personal stuff off the thread for a change. Not really interested in discussing it right now anyhow. Only mentioned it so you will understand why I'll probably go AWOL here and there over the next days/weeks/months (depending on how long it lasts).

Before I come back to do responses, cover issues left hanging etc, I'm going to tell you what's new with Kitty.

Ahhh, I do remember you mentioning your art now! Sorry, bad memory, lol.

But 1st, a comment on the very excellent book that Ruth mentioned "The Book of the Cat". I found it and ordered it for < $5. I haven't read it yet. Just got it today. But it looks like a very good book. Also, it got excellent reviews from readers.

For those who might be interested you can order a used copy on Amazon (which is where I got mine). They have quite a few, many for .01 or .04. There is a S&H charge of $3.99 for all used books, so the final price (on the prices I mentioned) will be $4.00 and $4.03 respectively.

If you haven't ordered used books from Amazon, I can only tell you that I've ordered quite a few, a few dozen at least, and have been pleased with all of them. When you buy a used book from Amazon, you are actually buying from an individual or another book seller of some kind, but Amazon handles the money (so no one else sees you credit card info) and Amazon stands behind the sale, so in theory there is no risk. Books are graded as "acceptable" to "excellent" or "like new". There is a page somewhere on Amazon that explains labels. Basically, when you get down to the lower ratings, the book may have writing or highlighting and other cosmetic dings. All books must be readable, have all pages intact, and have a solid spine. Although I usually order "very good" and above, for this book I went with "acceptable" and still got a book that is in very good condition. So far I haven't even seen in highlighting or writing in it. ( I've found that most sellers advertise books a level below the actual condition to avoid complaints and some high volume sellers just mark everything at a low level to save time looking for markings. )

Most of my used books have arrived quickly, usually in a week or less. I ordered this one the day after Ruth posted the info and received the book today.

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Cat-Michael-Wright/dp/0671416243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267846327&sr=8-1
Follow the links for new and used copies.
Here is the link for used ones: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0671416243/sr=8-1/qid=1267846327/ref=olp_tab_used?ie=UTF8&coliid=&me=&qid=1267846327&sr=8-1&seller=&colid=&condition=used

If interested, I would recommend you hurry. In the past when I've posted links like this in threads, the items have gone ultra fast.

Oh, forgot to mention. I talked with Ruth already. This is the book she was talking about. Also, Amazon has an image of the page with the coat patterns represented as pelts. Several of the reviewers mention the genetics info, also.

Here is that page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0671416243/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0


There are quite a few of these books on Amazon right now for < 5 cents, so you may not have to worry too much, but another thing to consider is the Amazon is BIG on collecting and analyzing data. If the book suddenly starts to sell quickly, the prices may get raised accordingly.

No problem, KyWoods

I didn't actually expect you to remember all of my ramblings. ;-)

Kitty has improved in leaps and bounds. These days I just think of her as a normal cat and treat her accordingly. Occasionally, something will upset her momentarily, but all in all she is doing great. There was a time when she would run and hide if I was walking around outside. Then once she got accustomed to me walking around, she was still inclined to be afraid of other people and certainly of large dogs. Today when I was walking in the front yard close the the sidewalk and Kitty was lounging on the walkway (about a car length from the sidewalk), a lady walked by with a huge dog (on a leash). I had never seen the lady before, but she stopped to talk (seemed very nice, too). I was amazed when Kitty didn't stayed right there lying on the walkway even as the lady and I talked nearby.

The dog actually pooped in the edge of my yard (lady picked it up so no prob). Even with the dog that close, Kitty was fine. After a little while I sat on the bench in the front yard (different from the one on porch I often mention), and Kitty came over to sit beside me without being called. The lady stayed on the sidewalk. She asked about Kitty. Then she called Kitty. Incredibly, Kitty got up and walked toward the lady. She didn't go all the way. Remember, the lady had a huge dog. Kitty stopped maybe 6-8ft from them and stood looking at the lady. The lady was surprised to hear that she had once been stray and afraid of people.

Kitty has always been eager to come inside. Lacking a proper invite, lately she has been taking matters into her own hands. The other day I walked Widget & returned him to the house. Later when I went out to feed the cats, only the kittens came to eat. I waited a few minutes thinking Kitty must be around the corner somewhere. After a while when she STILL didn't show up, I reached behind me - I was sitting on the mat outside the front door again - turned the door knob, opened the front door a crack, and said, "Kitty!" and out she came. I have no idea how long she had been inside. Lately, she sneaks in when under my feet.

Today I let her in. I had seen her urinate outside moments earlier, so I felt relatively safe. She did lots and lots of exploring. 90% of the time I couldn't find her or see her. A few times I called her. Amazingly, given the normal cat attitude, every time I called her she came right to me. Widget was a bit annoying, but I had expected as much. After a while I decided to read a book. I called both Kitty and Widget into the master suite and closed the door. Kitty still had plenty to explore between the master bedroom and master bath. I made Widget stay on his bed on the bottom corner of my bed. I put Kitty on the bed, but she immediately jumped back down onto the floor. After a bit of exploring she returned and jumped back up onto the bed beside me. Later she disappeared entirely, maybe under the bed or under the club chair or behind furniture somewhere. When I didn't see her I was a little spooked, but once again, as soon as I called her, she materialized. Later when I sent her back outside, she wasn't at all eager to leave. In fact, she wouldn't go on her own, I had to put her out.

BTW, today I had lunch at a restaurant. I ate salmon cooked on a plank. Yummy. Although there was very little left over, I insisted on bringing those little bits home for Kitty. I knew she would love them. I didn't expect her to be home though. I don't know where she spends her days, but I usually only see her for breakfast and again for dinner. Once she comes for dinner, she and the kittens stay out there until the wee hours of the morning. By daylight, they are gone, but Kitty comes back for breakfast. She's pretty much never here in the middle of the day though, so imagine my surprise when I came home today around 1PM to find her lounging on the walkway. I hope the trend continues. I would like for her to learn to stay here during the day and night.

OMG! This was too cute. This afternoon when I took Widget for a walk, Kitty went with us. She walked sometimes on the edge of the street (very edge, out of danger), sometimes on the sidewalk with us, and sometimes on the edges of lawns, but she went with us every step of the way, and when we turned around to return home, Kitty turned around with us. It was so nice to have her join us that way.

I see signs like this that little by little she is getting the idea that she is part of the family. 1st she started feeling safe in the yard especially near the door. Now she feels comfortable walking with us, down the sidewalk in daylight. Don't worry, there is very little traffic here, and she learned to stay away from cars a long time ago. For her to walk with us in daylight is incredible though. It wasn't all that long ago that Kitty didn't even feel safe being out in daylight.

On the negative side, this morning I awoke to find my front porch and walk covered in feathers, gray feathers. I'm guessing mocking bird. Bad, bad Kitty.

Now for yesterday's Kitty news. This was quite incredible. I couldn't even believe it myself and I was there.

I took Widget out. When it's midnight or after as it was at the time, I let him go on the front lawn or the strip of grass by the sidewalk. That time of night he usually only has to urinate anyhow, and I don't feel safe wandering around the street at that hour.

Widget went out onto the lawn. I was standing on the walkway. I have Widget trained. He goes out and does his thing on command, so I don't have to stand around out there forever. But last night, just as he found the spot and started to assume the position - Widget stretches out like a female. He's not a leg raiser - so at that very moment, Kitty, who had been standing beside me on the walkway, suddenly dashed across the lawn running right up beside Widget and then off to the sidewalk, just enough to break his concentration and keep him from doing his 'work'.

After that, Kitty came back and stood beside me on the walkway, while Widget wandered endlessly around the yard sniffing, thinking, no not this spot, moving, sniffing, the very stuff I had sought to avoid when I trained him to go on command, but now that Kitty had disturbed his 'work', I couldn't get him to try again. Finally, in frustration I brought him back inside.

No sooner than Widget got back inside, he started saying he had to go, so I put his leash back on and headed back outside. This time I sat on the bench determined to wait as long as necessary. Kitty came over to the bench to join me. Widget found a spot not too far from us and then just as he got into position, once again at the last minute Kitty dashed over there beside him and he stopped. Actually, he hadn't started. He was just getting into position. It was the last second before he would have started - and then Kitty ran over there to aggravate him. By this time it was very clear that she was doing this on purpose.

Two more time, she did this. As soon as Widget would find a spot and get in position, she would run over there and stop him. I don't know the exact dynamics of how she stops him, but for whatever reason, when she runs over there beside him, he stops. It looks like she intimidates him - intentionally. I was getting most amazed AND frustrated.

I kept fussing at Kitty and trying to stop her but to no avail. My cat would not let my dog go, well, you know And in between these events, she would come and sit beside me on the bench only to rush back over there at the last minute to stop Widget each time he tried to relieve himself. (Hmm. Maybe she was trying to tell him not to do that on her lawn.) Finally, in desperation, I had to grab her by the scruff of the neck and hold onto her until Widget finished. Had I not done so, I suspect the 3 of us would still be out there on the front lawn, Widget trying to tinkle, Kitty refusing to let him, and me verbally reprimanding the cat telling her to leave the dog alone.

The kittens really are getting big now. I definitely need to catch them and do something with them, but lately I've been letting personal stuff get in the way. Anyhow, to me it is interesting to see how Kitty is still training/raising her kittens. This despite the fact that we humans usually take kittens (and puppies) from their moms at a much earlier age. I can't help but wonder how many important lessons on how to be a cat they miss when we take them away so young.

Despite their advancing age/size, the kittens only come out at night. Apparently, they spend the entire day in and around the same 'nest' they have stayed in since birth. Kitty comes to breakfast these days, but the kittens never do. I was beginning to wonder if the kittens would continue this behavior into adulthood when today for the very 1st time, and found that Kitty had brought the gray tabby to breakfast with her. I don't see any sign of the brown kitten. He tends to be a bit timid, so I gather the mom doesn't think he's quite ready to brave the daylight.

I can definitely see that Kitty is calling the shots, leading the kitten, etc. While they were eating and I was spying from a window, a bird sang nearby and both Kitty and the gray tabby kitten stopped eating, got in predator mode, and went around/through the shrubs to check it out. This is not good. After spending so much time on her own, Kitty appears to be a master hunter, and now I see that she has a definite taste for song bird. Worse, it looks like she is teaching the kitten to hunt. Because of her time in the wild, I imagine that Kitty has characteristics of both pet and wild animal (with respect to things other than dealing with humans).

You know...yesterday when she was so eager to stay inside and explore and when she kept finding places to hide, I remember thinking that she seemed to have a very definite agenda. Her body language clearly indicated she was very busy and could not be bothered. She wasn't just exploring for fun. She had a purpose. I remember thinking that she reminded me of a pregnant cat looking for a place to have her kittens. At times I even wondered, "Ghee, could the SPCA vet have 'missed' somehow? Could Kitty still be able to reproduce?" Of course, I immediately realized that was too unlikely to imagine and that whatever Kitty was up to had nothing to do with a new litter of kittens on the way.

Seeing her this morning with the gray tabby, I realize...she was looking for a new place to stash her existing kittens. Slowly, very slowly Kitty has been in the process of realizing that this is her new forever home. At 1st she only hung out at the door at the time she knew I would be going out to walk Widget. She would eat, maybe hang around a little while and leave. Later she started spending more and more time at the door at night. Eventually, she the kittens up to 'snooze' on the rug in the safe nook beside the door from twilight until the very early AM. Recently, she started spending more of the day here. Now she is working on bringing the kittens here during the day and/or relocating the nest here.

I don't know just where she has the kittens stashed. She had been on her own in the wild for a long time before she 'found' me. During part of that time, other people were feeding her. It seems very likely that the nest where she keeps the kittens stashed is not particularly close to my house. It may be near someone else's house. I had been hoping she would begin to spend more of her time here, and now it looks like she is working on doing just that. Apparently, the main hold up is the kittens and their nest. Looks like she is now trying to relocate that/them. Since she still feels the need to keep them hidden for safety, she seems to want to relocate them into my house. That's a nice compliment, that she considers my house the safest place. Awwwwh.

I know I've mentioned this before but my experience with the raccoons opened my eyes considerably. Now I see things I didn't see before when dealing with cats/dogs, animals in general.

Tuesday evening when I got home it was twilight. The kittens were here. I got out of the car and started moving the garbage receptacle out to the curb, a scary, noisy thing for timid kittens. The black kitten ran 1st to the car for safety and then when I went to the car to open the garage door and bring out the giant rolling container, he ran around the side of the house.

When the kitten headed around the side of the house, Kitty ran after him, stopped him, and told him to wait, everything would be ok. In the past, seeing her running behind the kitten that way, I would have just thought she was fleeing, too. Everything that came after would have seemed just coincidence. I would not have thought they were making logical decisions about what to do. But now I could see so clearly that the mom was running after the kitten stop him. She wanted to tell him the noisy garbage container was nothing to be afraid of. She wanted him to wait. When I finished making noise, she wanted him to return to the door. She didn't want him running all the way to the forest or back to his nest. I could see their communication so clearly now, but in the past I would not have noticed any of it.

Just came in from the garage. Spent an hour or two out there cleaning out the car and then cleaning and organizing the garage (in part. much more to do on that one). Kitty 'helped'. She appeared to be having a blast out there climbing on, through, over, and under things. Every now and then I would turn and there she would be sitting beside me. Moments later I would see her climbing 'stuff' on the other side of the garage somewhere. She stayed out there with me the entire time and followed me from car to garage to front door. If I was in the garage working, there she was. If I was in the driveway cleaning out the car, she was sitting on top of it. If I took a break to sit on the front bench for a minute after carrying things inside, she sat on the other side of the bench. And when I went out to get the mail, she walked with me to the curb.

I really enjoyed her company there with me step for step all day. Is this normal cat behavior? It has been about 2 decades since I had a cat. There's a lot I guess I don't remember. This is more like the way I thought dogs were 'supposed' to act. I love it though. She is great company, always there yet so quiet and unobtrusive - and I don't have to keep saying "no, don't do that" as with Widget. Unlike Widget, she's not very destructive. She can climb all over stuff without harming any of it.

Oh, and while we were cleaning the garage, Kitty found something for her - a large, natural jute rug, 8x10, I think, and fairly thick. OMG! She could not stay away from that thing. Apparently, it's a natural scratch pad. In the beginning she would scratch a bit gently and leave only to return a few minutes later. While scratching, she would look over her shoulder at me as if for a reaction. As you may recall, she appears to have been raised indoors for a short time before being abandoned. I gather during her time indoors she was yelled at for scratching furniture as she seemed to be on the look out for any sign that I was going to flog her. After a while and seeing that I was not upset with her, she became more energetic and enthusiastic about her new scratch rug, even running to and from the rug playfully between sessions.

The rug is damaged, but I couldn't bare to throw it away, so I tossed it in the garage (a few yrs ago). I think I will donate it to the cats. It's pretty big. I might cut it down, put part out there where they sleep. Maybe later I can build a simple scratch pad out of wood and attach a section of the jute rug to it. All ideas welcome for ways to use parts of the rug - for Kitty and otherwise.

What a perfect scratch pad!
I laughed out loud at the story of Kitty purposely distracting poor Widget from his duties...but yeah, I did feel sorry for the poor little dog, too. That would make a funny video!

KyWoods,

At the time, it was both amusing to see how determine the cat was to interfere and frustrating to be so unable to stop her. And her timing was so perfect. She always knew the exact moment to distract him.

As for Widget, any time I'm tempted to feel sorry for him, I stop to remember that he started all of this by constantly trying to chase her and the kittens away. I guess she has a right to 'fight' back - even if she does fight 'dirty'. Kitty fights like a girl, and she gets even like one, too.

You know, I was thinking about this incident last night. Not to be too graphic, but I think I may have figured out what she was doing. I think rather than being mean she was actually trying to potty train the stupid [in her mind, that is] dog. Normally, Widget does the stinky stuff in the back yard when he goes out in the morning and/or when I take him for his early evening walk. When I take him out for the last time around midnight or so, I let him go on the front lawn because he usually just waters the lawn a bit, and that way I don't have to risk walking down the street alone at that late hour.

For some reason that night he actually needed to go 'pooh'. Since he's not a leg lifter, under all that hair it isn't always obvious ahead of time just what he is trying to do. I didn't realize he was setting up for a pooh drop, but I'm thinking Kitty did. She has claimed the front yard, the area around the front door, for herself and her kittens. After thinking about it, I don't think she was being mean after all. I think she was trying to keep Widget from soiling her lawn where she and the kittens hang out and play.

To really 'get' this (why she might care), you have to realize that I have a postage stamp front lawn. The area in question is a small rectangle delineated by the driveway, the sidewalk, the side hedges, and the walkway and front of the house. It's roughly 1.5 car lengths by 2 car lengths. If you were parking cars on that 'postage stamp' (and that would be a HOA sin, BTW), you might get 3, maybe 4 at best, facing the house. That's it. That's all the grass there is in front of the house. I think if the front lawn were larger, Kitty might not mind, but given how small it is, I don't think she wanted him depositing germs there. Kitty urinates in the flower beds. I'm not sure where she does the other stuff, but she appears to keep it away from the house and yard. Apparently, she expects Widget to do the same. I swear that cat is amazingly smart. I shouldn't admit this, but I always thought cats were kind of dumb. Clearly I was confused.

Did I mention that Kitty herds us around like a sheep dog? If I'm running out to my car and she's hungry, she will cut across in front of my feet over and over all the way to the car, trying to get my attention and steer me back to the house to feed her. A time or two I've run out in a hurry to pick something up before the store closes and planning to feed her when I return in 20min or so. She will do her best to physically turn me around by walking at an angle in front of my feet. She does the same thing with Widget when her kittens are out there and she wants to drive him in a direction away from them. With him it actually works since although he is slightly taller than her and looks bigger with all that hair, she actually out weighs him by several pounds, so she can drive him in one direction or the other with her body. She's my little sheep dog.

Edited to fix spelling issue.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2010 8:09 PM

LOL, a sheep cat!!!

Fun stories, great insight....wonderful to read.

Just checking in...letting you know I'm following right along.
Thank you, I love these little glimpses into your life!

Thank you, Sharran!

Always great to 'see' you. Thanks for dropping by.

Wow, you were a real night owl last night!
That friendly raccoon youngster has been coming around here again. He stayed there next to me as I was pouring kibble into the dishes and dove in and ate while I was still outside! That was a couple nights ago.
Last night, he was eating, and I was inside watching him through the glass door. I started talking to him, and he rose up on his hind legs and looked at me, as if to say, "Yes?? You're talking to me, right?"
It was so cute!

Oh Cheryl, the cats you've had must have been males if you thought the species was a bit challenged intellectually. I absolutely adore the boys, but they're a bit like the college jock whose idea of a great time is sitting around in his boxers, drinking beer and watching football; or chasing ladies. Female cats are too smart for our good; they can outthink most of us, and have a wicked (or delightful, depending on your viewpoint) sense of humor, delighting in playing tricks on the unwary. Obviously these are generalizations, and there are exceptions; but for the most part, I've found that female cats are almost scary smart, while the boys....well, they have what they need to fulfill the tasks nature has set for them.

LOL! Too funny and too true!

Ky woods my group of raccoons is getting braver. One came out while I was still filling the dishes the other night. I haven't seen them up close since last fall. I think it was about this time last year when they started comming out while I was still out there(back of the fence)and I had a wonderful Spring and Summer watching them eat from 5 to 15 feet away. I am so looking forward to warm weather so I can stay out and watch them.

It's supose to get near 70 today and the lows only in the 40's! I will go into a full blown depression if the weather turns cold again.........well not really but I will really hate it! The flower beds are calling me to get out there and clean them up today. After being smothered by 5 feet of snow(hubby and I cleared off the driveway every snow and thats where the snow landed)all the plants are peaking out of the ground to see the sun again. Now of course it is going to rain for the next 4 days.

Spartacusaby,I have never had a male cat but knowing quite a few in my lifetime I can believe that is a great analogy,with exceptions I am sure.

This message was edited Mar 10, 2010 10:26 PM

ROTL, Ruth!

You know your cats. Every single cat I have ever owned was a male. Growing up my parents would only allow male cat and dog. Easier to fix. The Himalayan was my only cat after I grew up and he was also male.

Kitty is the 1st ever female cat with which I have dealt and she is something else again, just like you described. She is always planning, scheming, thinking. I can literally see the wheels turning when I'm around her. She can't sit still for long. Too much to do.

Now that you mention it, as much as I love Widget, he has never panned out as a replacement for Sassy. Sassy was just so brilliant. Widget on the other hand is a bit challenged I think. Another thing I've noticed with these 2, not to be too graphic again, is that Sassy was fastidious about cleanup after the 'job' whereas Widget could care less - leaving me to worry about such issues. I'm think that too is a guy thing.

Gotta go. Pushed for time. Hope to check in again later tonight maybe.

Little girl kitties can get pregnant as young as 4 months old, so you might need to think about trying to get them spayed pretty soon if you can catch them. Wouldn't want a population explosion.

OH, noooooo, I thought it was six months! Thank you for that info, I got some kitties to catch, too!

Four months old and pregnant is a definite possibility in cats; sorry, KyWoods. Doesn't happen often, thankfully, but I've seen it many many times in the shelter years.

That gender/IQ analogy does seem to work for dogs, also, Cheryl, and raccoons and....well, I should stop there in an effort to be PC.

Judy, glad to hear your raccoon friends are back, and braver than last year!

Cheryl,
You are so very intuitive about your "critters". I am continuously amazed at your "right on" assessments of animal behavior & tactics.
Hoping much is well for you (neighbors, job, etc).

Blessings on you,
Sheri

My little coon friend sniffed a piece of food from my hand last night, but then retreated back into his hidey hole. I'll keep trying!

KyWoods and Judy,

Wow! Sure sounds like both of you are having great success with your raccoons this year. Way to go. As I read your accounts I could feel the excitement of seeing them up close that way and of having them come closer to you.

slvrwilo,

Thanks for reminding me. I know I do need to do something with those 2 kittens and very soon. I've had some 'stuff' going on just lately that has gobbled up both my time and my energy. I was thinking I might set that trap tonight to see if I might be able to catch one. Unfortunately, it is raining out. Just drizzling mostly. I guess I could throw something over the top of the trap after I catch one. I hate to see them stuck in there in the rain. Definitely though, I do need to get them to the SPCA ASAP. Thanks

A few things have happened since we last spoke. One night while in the foyer area I heard Kitty making that snarling sort of warning sound. I opened the door to find a very large opossum out there eating the cat's food. It was quite a large 'fella', clearly not Snowball and not dark enough to be Puddle. As is the way with opossum's, it looked back at me standing just inside the open door a mere 3ft or so away and just stood there. As soon as I closed the door, the opossum waddled into the hedges and was gone.

After that I began to keep a closer eye out while the cats were eating and to bring the food in as soon as they were done. Still, a day or two later there was a repeat of this same scenario. Later that same night, after having seen the opossum out there twice already, I once again heard the familiar sound of Kitty snarling. I rushed to the door and opened it expecting to find the opossum, but this time I found a big, beautiful raccoon. "He" was such a beauty! He looked up at me and then quickly disappeared into the hedges. It was so nice to see one of the raccoons again that I wanted to rush out back to feed them - except that by this time I had already fed all of the 'raccoon' food to the kittens. Anyhow, I could see that I had a more pressing problem to solve.

I scratched my head over where to feed the cats so as to avoid feeding opossums and raccoons - at the front door, no less. I'm sure you all know that I don't mind feeding the critters, but aside from the problem of having them at the front door, there is the even bigger problem in that as soon as they show up they steal the food from the cats and gobble up everything - which explains why for some time now the cats have seemed always hungry despite appearing to consume what for them would have been massive quantities of food.

I should mention that although the sidewalk in front of my house is little more than maybe 1.5 to 2 car lengths from the door and sees frequent traffic from walkers, joggers, dog walkers, skate boarders, kids on bikes, and the like, not to mention the cars on the street. However, to date no one has mentioned anything to me about seeing either opossum or raccoon at the front door - and you can be sure that Gladys Kravitz would have made a point to see me and tell me if such had occurred. My guess is that either the raccoons and opossums hear the people coming and hide out in the nearby hedge or without a human out there (and light on) to attract their attention, passersby may not even bother to look. The hedges run along the front of the house (right up against the house) leaving only a gap the size of the walkway. As such the hedges obstruct the view for anyone who isn't directly in front of that walkway opening which leads to the front door. With the porch light off a raccoon could be there eating and probably go undetected. At any rate, there has been no news of sitings.

I've had problems ever since with trying to feed the cats. Some nights I sit out there with them - but they are cats and they eat so slowly. And the kittens run off every time I breath hard, so that slows the progress ever more. Sometimes Kitty thinks it's her job to sit as sentinel watching for freeloaders while the kittens eat. Then I have to wait for her to eat.

For a few nights I fed them in the garage. At 1st I left the garage door open about 18in to 2 ft. Kitty and the black kitten came in to eat, but the tabby would not. I was sitting in the garage though not close to the food. Later I opened the door all the way, and all 3 came in to eat. To avoid enticing a brave raccoon or opossum to come inside, I put the food as far from the door as was possible. I thought it was a good sign that the kittens would come inside that far even with the door open.

My plan had been to feed them in the garage a few days hoping the kittens would eventually be willing to come in through a small gap at the bottom of the door. Each night I removed the cat food as soon as the cats quit eating. But there were 'problems' with this method, too. For starters, I had to sit still and do nothing while they ate. Otherwise, the kittens would leave. It would have been great if I could have worked on cleaning and organizing the rest of the mess out there. In addition, the kittens LOVED the garage. As soon as they ate enough to ease their hunger they would start exploring and playing, climbing on, over, under, and through everything. I didn't mind them playing out there. I was glad to see that they were that comfortable in the 'house'. The problem was (1) it kept them from eating their fill and (2) it made it somewhat difficult for me to get them all out (reliably) and close the garage again esp cosidering I didn't want to do things to scare them. With so many hiding places, when I got ready to close up shop, I would have to go outside and count heads to be sure I hadn't locked anyone in the garage.

Now, for the past few days, I'm back to sitting outside with them. Tonight since it was drizzling and yucky out, I came back inside, just for a minute. I was sitting in the foyer where I figured I would hear Kitty snarling if any critters came along. After maybe 5 min, I looked out through the side window (beside the door). I didn't bother to turn the light on. Through the ambient light from inside, I could look down on the tabby back(s) and see that...
wait a mintue! That wasn't 2 tabby cat backs. That was a raccoon back. The color is so similar in low light. Darn it. I opened the door, and the raccoon disappeared. The cats wouldn't come back to eat, so I guess they had already finished.

Last night I picked up a large bag of cat food for the raccoons, no treats, just cat food. I was SO tempted to rush out back to feed them. It had been so nice just to get these quick glimpses of them at the front door. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, it's raining out, so I decided to wait another day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better and dryer day for feeding raccoons.

Now I am still left with the problem of how to feed cats. I think I will get about the business of trapping those kittens and taking them to the SPCA. Then I can just bring Kitty inside to eat. She sneaks in all the time already. I am forever outside trying to find her only to realize that she apparently traded places with me when I came out the door. Then I go back and open the door a crack and out comes Kitty.

Widget doesn't even mess with her too much anymore, so I can't even depend on him to let me know when she sneaks in. He just stands there in the foyer watching her as she walks by. When I come back to look for her or to get him depending on the situation, they are usually standing there in the foyer together. Don't get me wrong. They don't look chummy or even happy to be together. Kitty is usually standing there with an air of "I'm in command, and I know exactly what I'm doing." Poor Widget just looks confused.

At the moment, circumstances don't allow for me to 'stay' and chat long right now. If I didn't respond to your post, please don't hold it against me. With any luck at all, things will eventually quiet down, and I'll be back to chat more.

Don't let a little drizzle discourage you from trying to catch the kittens, Cheryl. They'll be fine with something draped over the trap; after all, they are well accustomed to being wet in every rain. The important thing is to get them safely to the SPCA while they're still young enough to make further taming possible... and of course to prevent the girl from becoming pregnant. And if taking them out of the equation will solve the feeding location dilemma, that's another strong incentive.

Thanks, Ruth,

I missed out on the trapping last night, mostly my own laziness. Also, I didn't get to read your post until just now. At the moment, I am tied to the antique desktop upstairs and waiting most impatiently for the delivery of my laptop - supposed to arrive today but time running out fast.

I think I may set the trap tonight and see if I can take them to the SPCA even though it will be the weekend. I know they don't do spay/neuter on weekends but hopefully they still take in strays.

Last night I forgot to mention that I finally learned where the cats have been living, where the nest is, so to speak. Last week the landscaper finally materialized to do last minute cleanup in the backyard before spring - which is already here BTW, daffs in full bloom everywhere. He was doing a fabulous job back there, stuff that would have taken me ages done in hours. Then the rain started again and chased him away. Anyhow, one day he came to the door to ask if I knew I had a family of cats living in my backyard. Turns out the 'nest' is in/under the rosemary in one corner of the backyard garden. Sounds like a pretty good site considering the house is on the ground so no crawl space available. Their is a slope or burm back there leading up to the fence and forest. I planted rosemary and lavender on the burm on that side of the yard. The lavender struggles a bit in our climate, but the rosemary grows in leaps and bounds on that dry slope aided by the heat of our summers. I have several varieties of rosemary planted up there, both upright and creeping types. It grows so fast I have to sheer the stuff every year and give rosemary to everyone who will take it.

So Kitty had the kittens, and herself at times, stashed back there under the canopy of rosemary. Being on the slope would keep them from ever being in standing water even during torrential downpours, and rosemary even acts as a deterrent to some creatures who don't care for the smell - a smell I love. She had them in the farthest corner so that they were protected on two sides by the fence. All in all, not a bad spot. I instructed the gardener to trim the areas around their 'home' leaving it alone for now.

Yippee! My laptop just arrived. I am positively helpless w/o one. I knew from a web check that the driver would need a signature, and I didn't want to risk having him leave with my laptop on that truck. I was upstairs on the desktop when he arrived. I learned just how fast and old broken down woman with decrepid knees and a bad back can fly down the staircase in an emergency. I heard the truck pull up at the curb, glanced out the window to confirm it was UPS, and actually made it to the door before he rang the bell - and those guys are fast.

Well, now I'm off to debox my laptop and start getting it setup and online.

Yay!

My new Mac laptop is up and running! I am so naked and helpless w/o a laptop that it borders on amusing - or sick depending on your perspective. Either way it feels so good to be back online, current, and mobile again. Ok, technically, I still have to do a lot of setup and customization stuff to make it work 'right', and I'm actually talking to you from the wireless account provided by my nice neighbor (thank you). Since my wireless is locked down pretty tight it takes considerably more effort to get a computer setup to talk to it - at minimum a trip upstairs to get the router setup to recognize the MAC address and so forth. Anyhow, Yay, I'm back.

Can you see me now? I wish you could because I have the biggest smile on my face. : D

I've had some personal issues lately - as happens to everyone now and again. The past few weeks I've been blue and stressed, so tonight was such a magical and much needed moment.

It's still wet and nasty out. Did I mention it's the unofficial monsoon season here too? I decided tonight I would force myself to go out back and try to feed the raccoons - if any showed up.

My aversion to the rain or even the wetness than follows the rain may be difficult to understand. I live in what was once wetlands. Even now I am surrounded by wetlands. The area just over my back fence is so boggy a guy in hip waders gave up and returned after only a few minutes. There is a creek of sorts back there, and I think the distribution of [boggy] land vs water (creek) back there depends on recent rainfall.

My house is raised. My yard slopes from the house down to the street and down to the fence in back. The front yard is 'shorter' and thus has a steeper grade which keeps it quite dry no matter how much rain we get. My backyard is considerably larger and longer than the front yard, so the grade back there is very shallow, so much so that it's virtually unnoticeable. Bottom line, when it rains a lot, esp when it rains for days as it has lately, the backyard soil gets saturated, and it's just very yucky back there, just not a place you look forward to going esp at night when it's extra creepy.

But I forced myself to grab a sack of cat food and go. I almost talked myself out of it a few times, but I went. It was wet, but truly it is a LOT nicer out there since the landscaper went out there with his machete and slew the Amazon rain forest I had going back there. I imagine he probably killed more than a few good plants, things he just didn't recognize as such, but it was still worth it in the end. However, he also cut down all of the weeds and plants the raccoons count on for safe havens. It's not even a cottage garden at the moment, just a lawn with a few shrubs and trees.

When the raccoons haven't seen me for a long while as is the situation now, they are usually a bit shy about revealing their presence much less coming to me - and now they would have to come out in open lawn w/o cover anywhere. I wanted to see them again but really wasn't looking forward to those 1st few days trying to get to know them again.

I was expecting to go out there, see no one, sit for a while, bored, staring at the forest, my over eager mind making raccoon faces out of various leaf formations in the darkness, and then return without ever seeing much less feeding a single raccoon. As I walked out, my eyes trained on the ground in front of me for snakes, I was already wondering if, after seeing no raccoons, I should leave the food to attract mice and other unwanted guests and possibly get soaked into the ground with the next shower.

Still looking only at the lawn under and just in front of my feet, I walked over to where the landscape guy had left my little garden seat, picked it up, poured out the rainwater that had collected in the lower tray, and carried it back to where I wanted to sit. I placed it a few feet farther back than where I normally sit. Just in case a raccoon showed up, I though he/she might be more comfortable if I weren't so close.

I sat down, said "Heidi, Heidi" and looked up at the fence and forest line for the 1st time. I was positively amazed to see a slightly chubby raccoon sitting atop the fence in plain site in front of me. She wasn't even trying to hide. Instantly, she ran down the fence and loped toward me. I had set myself up to give them more space, but she was already within 5ft of me before I could even get a handful of food out of the bag.

It was Heidi, and I was so happy to see her. Out there in the dark with no one around to see me, I sat smiling ear to ear. She hadn't been afraid of me at all. Nor had she forgotten me. Our time apart, the drastic changes to the environment back there, the loss of cover, none of it seemed to matter at all. Apparently, she had been sitting back there waiting for me. I don't know who was happier to see whom.

I sat with her while she ate. She seemed quite calm. From time to time a sound next door or at the street would worry her at bit. I would say, "it's ok" and just like old times she would respond by dropping her head to eat once more, her demeanor saying, "well, ok then. If you say it's not a problem, I'm sure you know this side of the fence better than I."

As I mentioned, she seemed a bit chubby, not beach ball large, but not svelte either. I'm guessing she is already carrying the 2010 litter.

It was wonderful to see my dear friend once more.

Cheryl... i sit here smiling with you.

what a wonderful surprise... i'm sure she was happy to see you too.