Three Birds, Two Cats

Song Sparrow

The cats and I walk together every day we possibly can. Because of the cats, the birds keep a close eye on us as they perch in the trees at the edge of the woods. John has made benches for me from trees that he culled in the woods. I sit on a bench as the cats hunt mice and the birds come out of the trees to watch and be photographed. As the summer progressed, I was able to get my first photographs of many different birds. I never realized in all these years how many species we have here. I miss those long summer days!

Young Oscar watches the birds watch him.

American Goldfinch

Cedar Waxwing
Waxwings always seem to stay at the top of trees.

At the end of our walk, we saw Grumpy Pansy scowling behind the barn.

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Proud Parents

Pansy brings her mouse to us in the house.

I think John and I are too permissive, indulgent, complacent — whatever you want to call it —  about the cats. I find that not many other people understand stories like this.

Pansy caught her first mouse in New Hampshire two years ago and since then we have no documentation that she ever caught one again. But she got one on July 10. I was leaving the house out the back door, which is always open during daylight for the cats, with my camera, as Pansy was trying to come in with her kill. Pansy hates my guts, so she wouldn't enter while I was there. I took advantage of this to photograph her and then stepped aside to let her in.

Under the kitchen table.

Pansy ran to the kitchen and dropped her dead mouse under the table. She doesn't eat her mice. She just drops them and guards them. But Oscar was not going to let an old lady's spitting deter him. He began to bat the mouse about on the floor when Pansy hissed at him. Oscar challenged her authority and she relented and let him have it.

Spitting Pansy.

Now it was Oscar's turn to be ferocious. He growled and postured as he took possession of the mouse.

July 10 was a Sunday — pancake breakfast day — so I began cooking.as Oscar was tossing the mouse about the kitchen and dining room. A friend, R, dropped in then. Since we were going to have breakfast, I invited him to join us and he accepted. He sat down and began watching Oscar tossing his dead, mangled mouse about. John and I, realizing this may be an odd breakfast activity, explained to R that Oscar was learning to hunt, getting a good taste for mice, and we were very proud. An odd expression came over R’s face, but he ate plenty of pancakes, sausages and coffee.

Growling Oscar

After breakfast, I cleaned the kitchen while R and John talked at the table. It had been over an hour since Oscar took the mouse from Pansy but he was still tossing it high in the air and leaping about the kitchen. Soon Oscar became quiet, so I went to see what he was up to (quiet kittens, like quiet children, need to be checked on). Oscar was crouched in the dining room — eating the mouse. In fact, he had eaten the entire head and shoulders. How proud I was of him! I called out to the men at the table, and John, equally proud, interrupted his conversation to watch Oscar. Our boy was going to be a great hunter!

R had to leave then. Oscar ate the entire mouse except for the read end and tail. R has not returned for another breakfast.

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Team Hunting

Pansy spends all her days outside from 6 AM to 7 PM, rain or shine. I don't know what she does because she doesn't like me one little bit and avoids me. Bu I did manage to capture her hunting with the love of her life, Buddy. Until this day (July 6, 2011), Pansy had only caught one mouse, and that was in New Hampshire two summers ago. But since this photo, she has caught and brought home three mice. She's improving her technique and the pickings here are good. Pansy’s mice are always dead and she always brings them home to the kitchen. She does not eat her kills and lets the other cats enjoy them.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead in my tracks with Pansy's evil eye.

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The Cats in Spring

Buddy resting while walking with us in the woods.

Buddy doesn't like our long walks anymore — he now prefers short ones close to home.

Buddy waited on this stump until we returned.

Zorro ran up and down the trees.

Zorro scratching the elm tree near the brook.

Zorro will be 15 years old in August.

Possum usually only grazes outside.

Possum is the most talkative cat I have ever known.
Pansy seldom goes outside and dislikes me so much I can't even get a photo of her.

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Pansy ♡ Buddy

Pansy

Pansy & Buddy
Pansy may look unhappy, but she isn’t.
She always looks miserable when I am around.

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Cats on Tuesday: Pansy Bites

left to right: Buddy, Pansy, Zorro

Pansy continues to grow friendlier and bolder. Last night my ears were bothering me so much that I took to bed very early to watch TV. The cats immediately piled up around me. Buddy is always in the crook of my left arm. Pansy, who passionately loves Buddy, curled up on top of him and began to wash my hand. But then she began nibbling. And then she began chewing. And finally she sunk her fangs into my hand. I think she would've torn a hunk out of me if I hadn't pulled my hand away from her quickly. I can't believe that my Pansy, who has avoided me for years, who ran away from me for years, is now kissing me!

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Cats on Tuesday: Happy Pansy

Pansy is not the most companionable cat. I seldom write about her because she doesn't really like me. But here in New Hampshire she has blossomed. She interacts with us, goes outside, sleeps with us, sleeps with the other cats, and even killed her first mouse! She adores John (because he sneaks food to her all the time!) and walks up to him for scratches. Her fur is thicker and glossier now, too. I'm sure these changes are due to there not being any beagly Vermont dogs here! Scout and Sophie are challenges to many cats (and people like me) and they intimidated Pansy. Her disabilities (deformed legs, hips and feet) make it difficult for her to move quickly out of the way of a bouncy dog.

Pansy was given to me by a student in Hartford, Connecticut. Jose came to school and told me that there had been a kitten on his roof that boys had thrown rocks at. Jose climbed to his roof, rescued the kitten, and cared for her overnight in his room. He thought Pansy's deformities were injuries and wrapped one of her tiny legs in an ace bandage around a Popsicle stick. Jose and I left school immediately, got the kitten from his house and took her to my vet. We returned to school where we and the rest of the staff and students waited for the vet to call. She called and gave Pansy a great report! There were no deadly diseases and no injuries. But the kitten did have significant birth defects.

None of Pansy's problems have stopped her from enjoying life. She requires extra protection and care. But she is doing great!

Pansy's Set on flickr

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Pretty Pansy

Pansy is making wonderful progress. She is happier in New Hampshire and spends a lot of time with us. She talks to us, demands doors be open and snacks be given. She is relaxed and glowing. How gratifying to watch her glow!

Pansy's Set

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A Slumber Party

Left to right: Buddy, Pansy, Zorro. Possum does not ever join the pile but will sleep close by on the bed. I thought this was a pretty good capture! Click on the photo to see the full size photo in order to see Zorro in mid-yawn more clearly.



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Pansy's Violent Love

Pansy the Crippled Cat has always had a thing for Buddy. She follows him around, sleeps as close to him as she can, and even wrestles him for love. If a human girl ran down her beloved, hit him full force in the belly with her head and, when he dropped to the ground, she jumped on top of him and demanded to be kissed — well, that's Pansy. Buddy is pretty wary of her advances and often runs away from her. But sometimes he acquiesces and gives her kisses :

Pansy's Set

Buddy's Set

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Pansy's Big Weekend

I don't write too often about Pansy because she doesn't like me. But she is changing here in New Hampshire. Without dogs and with the ability to go outside, this disabled cat is learning trust and how to enjoy life. She is interacting with John and me more every day. She even talks to us now!

Last weekend was unseasonably warm and Pansy enjoyed sunning nearly the entire day on the deck. The next day, Monday, I was looking out of a window in the back of the house and I saw her hobbling back to the house . . . with a mouth full of mouse!

This was the best photograph that I got of her with her kill. When I got too close, Pansy abandoned the mouse and returned to the back field. But what a big day for her! Pansy is over 10 years old and this was her first kill! And she was bringing it home! John and I were both so proud of her. And so happy for her.

By the way, the mice in Vermont that the cats brought home were less than half this big. In Vermont, this would be the size of a rat. If Vermont had rats. Which it doesn't. This thing was huge! Warmer weather does create larger critters.

Pansy's Set

Pansy Caught a Mouse!

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Zorro's Chipmunks

Zorro is bringing chipmunks into the house regularly now. When we hear his yowl that tells us he has a gift for us, we try to meet him at the door in order to prevent more chipmunks from being released into the house. You can see here that the chipmunk is alive and alert in Zorro's mouth, and that is how they all come to us. We praised Zorro for his powers but wouldn't let him in, so he left the house and went over to the other door with his catch:

When he reached the deck with the chipmunk, he put it down but he too slowly put his paw on it to keep it still and it ran away.

This past week he and Pansy (our disabled cat) chased a chipmunk into the house. But as soon as it was in the house, they both left us and went to take a nap, leaving us to get the chipmunk back outside. Which we did. Chipmunk hunting is now Zorro's specialty. But it's getting a bit old as we constantly try to keep chipmunks out of the house.

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Pansy

Pansy (left, glaring) and Turnip (right)

Pansy's huge catitude is beginning to thin. She actually came to bed and slept with the other cats one morning (after I was awake of course, because she doesn't really like me). And she did bite John's toes. But still, she is becoming more sociable and talking to me when it is time to go out in the morning and come in at night. Before I took this photo, she had a smile on her face. But she saw that I was looking at her and she glared at me again. Turnip? Well, he's totally at home everywhere and with everybody now.
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Pansy Goes Outside!

Pansy is my secretive and furtive cat. One of my Hartford (CT) students found her on his roof as boys were throwing rocks at her when she was a tiny kitten. He rescued her from the roof and, thinking her leg was broken because it was so crooked, strapped half a Popsicle stick to it with an ace bandage. When Luis asked me to adopt the kitten, we left school, took her to the vet, and she was found to be disabled, not broken. She is now living in the living room (by choice) but hollers for stinky food (that I bought for Turnip) every night. In the morning, after I let the other cats out, I'll see Pansy out in the garden. She has never gone out before — not in Connecticut or Vermont. But here she is safe and feels secure. She is badly disabled with curled and crooked feet and a poor spine. I'm thrilled she is able to be out and about with the others. Now, if the sun would only shine, she could lie around and perhaps her aches and pains would lessen.
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Possum, Charlie & Zorro ♡ NH (but not Turnip & Pansy)

For the first time in her life, Possum (above) asked to go outside. And I let her go. She is in heaven here in New Hampshire in the gardens. She has taken to John quickly and had an easy transition. I think it is mostly because there are no dogs here to worry her. And the Bad Boys (Buddy and Charlie) are not worrying her because they are busy exploring their new world.

Charlie is in love with John. He sleeps with him, listens to him and chews on his fingers (it took Charlie two years to have a relationship like that with me). He has no problems living here. Charlie is killing. John said there have been a few headless mice around his truck. That is Charlie's signature kill — if he doesn't eat the entire mouse, he eats the head. Or simply chews the heads off. He also leaves the bodies about the car of the person he loves.

Zorro — a skittish cat in Vermont because of those dogs. He is relaxing daily now, conversing and interacting well with John and me. He comes and goes as he pleases. In the photo above he was chatting away with John in the garden. While there were, of course, chipmunks in Vermont, they were not on my land. We never saw them. But they are plentiful here. I see them standing on their haunches in the gardens when I let the cats out in the morning, or scurrying under rocks around the house. The cats are fascinated by them and I expect to see a couple of dead ones soon. The chipmunks set up a loud alarm whenever the cats are let out.

Turnip and Pansy are having a difficult time. Turnip came down with an eye infection the week before we moved. It has gotten worse here because of the stress. I debated bringing him until he recovered, but I realized that the stress of being left behind without his brother, Zorro, would be as bad as moving him. He has explored the house once but is mostly sleeping and is gradually getting better.

Pansy is an enigma. She is disabled with many birth defects but is stealthily moving about the house. She doesn't seem to have lost weight and is not growling or crying. Hopefully she and Turnip will integrate more as time goes on.

Possum's Set
Zorro's Set
Charlie's Set
Turnip's Set
Pansy's Set

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