lifeisfunny

Living in the country has opened a whole new world for me. I have an all new awareness of nature. Some of it is annoying… like the “grasshopper season” and the abundance of toads, some of it I just can’t seem to learn an appreciation for … like spiders, and some of it is just really amazing to me….like mating season for example.

When we moved out here there were about half a dozen “barn” cats. That’s not quite an accurate name for them as we have no barn, but they belonged to the place, not to us. The owners asked us to be sure and feed them once a day so they’d stick around and keep the mice away.

We have a long-haired calico cat that divides her time between indoors and out. She sits at the door and waits for someone to let her out to do her “business”, then climbs the screen and looks in to let us know she’s done. She’s very protective of “her” dogs and “her people” and “her” home and “her” yard. She doesn’t stray, and she comes when you call her. She’s an interesting creature.

She doesn’t like other cats. It probably stems from .. well, forget the sordid details. Let’s just say it was not her idea to conceive with her first heat and, though she took care of her offspring in adequate fashion, she was not a particularly good mother.

She is so protective and possessive that when we lived in the city, and a neighbor stopped to chat while walking her deaf and blind 13-yr. old boxer, the cat had the sheer nerve and audacity to attack that poor dog! She was hanging off his side, her claws dug into his hair, her hair looking like she’d just stuck her toe in an electric socket. The poor old dog just stood there.  He couldn’t hear me screaming at the cat, or see me flailing my arms around, and if he felt her claws, he was just too darn tired to do anything about it. I was mortified.  

That said, it’s no wonder the six outdoor cats dwindled down to one.  

The one who stayed was pregnant. Soon another pregnant cat joined her. They had litters just a few days apart. Litters don’t last long in the country. Again, I’ll spare the details.

At any rate, Momma, as we call her, found a way into the garage to give birth. It was warm, kind of cozy in the box she crawled into, and safe from critters bigger than her.

She left when she lost her last baby; the other cat didn’t last that long. We didn’t see her for a month or better, and when she came back she was expecting again. It was then we decided we were running a home for wayward cats.  Again, she found a box, but these kittens were bigger and she moved them into a sleeping bag. I won’t be rolling out that bag any time soon.

I can deal with the mating habits of small animals. If they aren’t spaed, you just have to accept that they’re going to multiply every couple of months. Large animals are a different story.

The other night I had to go out for an intervew and when I turned on my headlights, four beautiful gray (their hair turns gray when the autumn arrives - I looked it up) deer were standing in the backyard. They didn’t run, they just stood there with a dumb look on their faces. I, on the other hand, got so excited I had to run inside and get my husband to see them, and of course they were gone when we got back outside.

I mentioned this to the woman I was interviewing and she said, oh, it’s rutting season so they just act a little stupid. I nodded and smiled, like I knew what she was talking about. Rutting season? Hmmmm….

This evening when we got home it was dark again. (it happens about once a day) We pulled into the drive and before I could turn off the headlights we saw a deer on her knees and a buck behind her.

I ran inside, logged on, and looked up “rutting”. As it turns out, deer don’t go into a heat, they rut.

Oh my! We had just caught them in the act!

I don’t think our garage could handle it if this doe found a way into it and tried to have her baby in a box. I don’t think I have a box big enough. I seriously doubt I have a sleeping bag big enough. And I’m not sure, but I doubt she’d eat cat food.

For a city girl like me, there is something “new” everyday to marvel at when you live in the country.

At least we’re not stuck in a rut.