Cats, Raccoons and BATS, Oh My!

It was Sunday night, and I stepped out onto the front porch in the dark, looking at the bright moonlight and the moon shadows all around.  Then I heard this odd squealing and squeaking, an animal in distress.  I asked Becca to hurry outside with me to check on the Americaunas, because the sound came from that direction.  The chickens were fine.  I looked around, but could see nothing moving.  Becca said she saw eyes gleaming in the garden area.  A large animal.  I started over to see what might be there, but she was frightened, because she said it was big - possibly a coyote.  I turned and came inside.  She later heard scratching at the outside of the house, and I figured it was raccoons or Star Kitty.  Monday morning, I discovered I was right.  It was raccoons.  They'd found a trash bag I'd stashed outside to take down to the can the next day and tore into it, in addition to pulling the cover off of the compost bin again.  Wednesday night, I saw one jump out of the compost bin when I came outside.  I'm not too worried about that.  I can easily put the lid back on in the morning, and they don't make a mess in there.

Monday dawned cold and windy, and surprised me with a little bit of rain as I started the morning routine.  I decided to make the pound cake and put two sticks of butter on the counter top to soften so we could make it.  It was well away from the edge, but when we came back inside from evening chores, I noticed one was missing.  There's only one thing that could do that, and apparently Breezy was in such a hurry she even ate the paper on it!  That was the last of the butter, so we had to wait to make the cake until after we went to the store next.

Star Kitty is getting mischievous in his old age.  He's about 10 years old and rules the outside of the house.

He doesn't like dogs much, having had Breezy chase him the same day we brought her home.  (I hate it when people tell me a dog gets along well with cats, and then have that not be true!)  The only time Star has had a recent problem with Breezy was when he sneaked inside the house and she went after him.  I pulled Breezy off, Star ran back outside without any injury, and Breezy's face looked like a pincushion.  Breezy is always on leash outside because she likes to run off.  Duncan is better behaved, so he gets to go outside without his leash.  This means that when Star knows Duncan is coming out, he hides.  Duncan likes to chase cats, too.

Duncan is another dog that I was assured got along well with cats.  I saw him interact with the family cat before we brought him home.  Apparently that cat was grown when Duncan was a puppy, and liked to beat up on him.  So Duncan respected that cat.  He probably developed a resentment toward cats, because he would really prefer to chase them!  He does that every chance he gets, but Star is too fast for him to catch.

Star has started messing around with Breezy when I take her outside.  He used to stroll around about 10 feet away as she did her business, and just watch her.  This drove Breezy crazy and sometimes she wouldn't do what she was supposed to because she was so distracted by the cat.  Recently, Star has started coming closer to Breezy.  Sometimes he'll walk right up to her and touch noses.  Breezy stands there all tense, wanting to chase after him, but knowing that she can't get anywhere.  Wednesday morning, Star did this again.  He walked up to Breezy, touched noses with her, and then walked away.  What he did next had me laughing out loud.  Star walked back up to Breezy, and ... tapped her on the side of the face with his right paw before walking away!  He also likes to taunt her when she's in her outside crate, making her crash against the side and bark loudly, then sauntering away.

Wednesday afternoon, we had plans to meet with a dear friend of mine for lunch and a shopping trip.  I've known her for 22 years, first professionally as staff at opposing counsel's office, and we grew to be friends.  I haven't gotten to see her often enough, and am so happy for our recent reconnection.  She invited us to her beautiful home for lunch and wanted to take Becca on a shopping trip to get new summer clothes.  Since I am still unemployed, she knew that I wouldn't be able to do anything to help Becca this year.  We had a wonderful lunch together, visiting and laughing and cuddling with her sweet cats.  The shopping trip was a blast, and Becca found some really cute clothes that will take her well into school, as well.  Between the two of us, we were able to combine sales with senior discount and a coupon and the total savings was well over 50%.  It was a magical day, and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.  I am really looking forward to seeing her again.  It seems that I always leave wanting more time to talk!

When we got home, Becca hopped out of the car to get the mail.  As I waited for her, I heard a scream.  Sometimes she messes with me, but this time she came running back to the car.  "There is a BAT at the mailbox!!  It hissed at me!!"  I was confused.  A bat?  She was afraid to go back.  I asked her if it was inside the mailbox, and she said no, it's on the ground.  She didn't see it, and accidentally touched it with her foot, and it moved and hissed at her.  I think I would have screamed, too!  I went over to take a closer look, and sure enough, this huge bat was spread-eagled on the ground in front of the mailbox.  It must have been injured, perhaps by a car.  I snapped this picture while Becca pleaded with me not to get too close.

I am making the picture larger so you can see it better.  I've never seen such a large bat in Sonoma County, and it is at least three or four times as big as the little one we found inside our old house.  I very carefully reached around to get the mail out of the box, and texted Bette to warn her so she wasn't surprised when she got her mail.

The garden continues to grow beautifully, and it's exciting to see the tomatoes start to bear fruit.  It was especially exciting to see a glimpse of orange Wednesday night, and know that we'll soon be able to eat these!

Thursday morning was bright and sunny, with the nearly full moon still hanging clearly in the sky.  Lily, the LaMancha goat, has been a real pistol the last few weeks.  While she normally waits for me to pick up her leash after I put Salsa on the milk stand, she has been nibbling at greens and then running away just as I get close to her.  She runs into the large pen with the dwarf goats and then plays keep-away.  Thursday morning was the worst by far.  She was running full speed and playing with Moonshine.  This meant that all four goats were running madly around, jumping up to head butt each other, and then running away from me while I was trying to remove leashes and grab Lily to put her in the other pen.  I eventually got hold of her, but she was such a pill that when I untied the gate, she knocked the post out of my hands.  That meant a section of the fence was flat on the ground, and Moonshine decided that it would be fun to walk out.  So now I have Lily on leash and Moonshine loose.  Because Lily is so much bigger and harder to handle, I decide to put her away and then catch the silly little wether.  By the time I get Lily in, I see that Moony is standing on his hind legs, with his head inside the grain bucket attached to the milk stand in front of Salsa.  I always worry about this because if Salsa tries to head butt him and knocks the milk stand over, she could be seriously injured or killed.  I ran to them to get him away.  He took off running, though luckily toward his pen.  He looked like he was about to take off, so I squatted down and stuck my hand out as if I had something in it.  He came close enough for me to catch, and I was able to put him back inside.  Because the goats are so full of energy, I may go ahead and put them all in the larger pen together today.  Hopefully I can get some video of their antics to share.

Lots Going On!

This has been a pretty unique 24 hours.  Where to begin?

First, with 48 hours ago, approximately.  While at Jessica and Cory’s place for an awesome birthday BBQ for Lorna (whose birthday is the day after mine), we discovered a litter of feral kittens and their mom were living in the foreclosed house next door.  When the kids went over to investigate they found 5 kittens, one malnourished mama, and two dead kittens.  Operation Rescue was enacted, and two kittens were gathered up.  (Since then, Jessica has arranged with Forgotten Felines to borrow a trap to catch the rest and mama, get the kittens healthy, tame and re-homed, spay mama and make sure she is healthy, perhaps find her a home if she was domesticated at one point, or allow her to be free if she is truly wild.)

I couldn’t resist adopting one.  Since Tiger passed in May, Star Kitty has not been the same, and I think he needs a roaming and snuggle buddy.

The plan is for this little guy (below) to grow into a fierce barn cat that can keep up with Star as a mouser and pet.  We have named him Boots, after Puss-in-Boots from the Shrek movie with the incredible, heart-melting eyes.

Jessica kept him and his brother Sunday night and Monday, to allow us time to pick up our cat carrier to bring him home.  Because she needed to work late last night, she brought him to our house.  Poor thing was very frightened, and would quiver in our hands when held, until we had petted and calmed him down a little.  Last night and this morning, he is more of a kitten - he is purring, rubbing his head against our hands, rolling over in our lap for belly scratches, and turning into a real love bug.  He is eating well as of tonight (yay!) and used the litter box all on his own tonight, too (double-yay!).

Jessi took care of Boots at her work again today and we both took him to the vet for a check-up this afternoon.  She missed an opportunity for a fecal sample when he had an accident on Jessica’s co-worker Angie (sorry, Ang!).  He is healthy, 1 lb 2 oz, and doing really well.  I did discover last night that his tail is broken at the end.  (I texted Jessica after the discovery, “His widdle tail is broken. :-( " )  The vet said that it has started to form a joint, so it’s going to be a bit crooked at the tip.  It will give him character.

As if that weren’t enough, the bucklings are raging with hormones.  They have been getting stinky over the last few days, and when I came home last night, Ebony was blubbering and attacking his brother as if he meant it.  Salsa was very eager to get out of there.  I opened the gate just enough for her to escape, and she didn’t hesitate or turn back.  I gingerly put leashes on the boys and led them to their crate in the barn, which is now being secured with an extra lock so they don’t escape and impregnate the herd at night.  I am envisioning a leash threaded through a pole so that I can easily keep them at arm’s length, because all they want to do is rub their stinky bad selves all over me!

This morning there was no hesitation - they had to be separated from mom, period.  I put a new battery on the PermaNet fencing to make sure Salsa knew that it meant business, and after milking her, put her in with the rest of the herd.  She walked right in without hesitation, probably happy to be back to her more normal pre-delivery routine.  Imbri immediately challenged her, and they were still sparring when I left for work this morning.  Everyone seemed to have settled in well by the time I got home tonight.

The bucklings came out of the barn last, and again, I veeery carefully, and as much at arm's length as possible (while dodging them), put leashes on and kept their leashes long as we walked (skipped, humped, ran, dashed, stopped) down the driveway.  They normally run around the corner of the shed and see their mom at the gate, then pull hard on me to get there, trying to knock the gate open to get in and nurse after being separated from her all night.  Boy, were they surprised this morning!  They stopped stock still after rounding the gate, then walked to the gate yelling their heads off for her.  I had to go inside to get them in the pen, quickly unhook them, and leave them in, still confused and calling for their mom.  Salsa?  She was too busy head butting with Imbri to listen.  Later, I heard her, so I went out to check and see if she was going to try to breach the fence, but she was eating alfalfa, absent-mindedly calling back to them with her mouth full.  She was totally fine.

Tonight was the first time milking Salsa after she’d been separated from her bucklings during the day.  I have been used to her giving a smidge over 2 quarts in the morning, so figured that would be about what we’d get tonight.  I WAS WRONG.  I was milking away and the bucket was getting fuller and fuller.  I asked Becca to get me another one, because I could tell this wouldn’t hold it all.  The bucket was filled to the top so that when I moved it, some sloshed out.  I usually eyeball the measurement in the 2 quart or 1.5 liter jars and know that she gives about 2 quarts.  Tonight I measured it.  She gave a solid 3 quarts.  Shock.  This means over a gallon a milk a day is what we are going to have at the IBTC farm.  I need more milk bottles, and I need to get started on making stuff immediately!  More goat’s milk soap.  Yogurt.  Cajeta.  Ice cream.  Cheese.  We tried Quark at the Farmer’s Market this weekend, and I could make some of that.  I have some serious cooking ahead of me!

All in all, a very busy, different, couple of days.  I am exhausted.  Time to get a few things done here, get Becca set up for the first day of school tomorrow, and hit the sack.  Tomorrow, another new routine to start getting used to, and oh no - I forgot to get lunch stuff...

Guess we’re getting up earlier tomorrow than I expected.

The End of Stay-Cation

It’s a Sunday, so I suppose it’s not technically a vacation day, yet this is the last day of my “vacation” from my regular job. It’s bittersweet. There’s a part of me that looks forward to more routine in my day, but I am really going to miss this time with Becca.

We both slept in this morning, me until an ungodly 8:00 a.m. Salsa is giving so much milk now that I am going to have to go to the bigger bucket. She filled the 2 quart plus bucket this morning, and had plenty more to give. I decided to let her bucklings finish, rather than go inside and get another container. I never thought I would get so attached to goats, but I really enjoy my time with all of them.

Mom is worried still about rattlers, especially since she told me this week that a man was bitten and is in ICU at Kaiser Santa Rosa. I am super cautious when out and make sure there is nothing lurking that might surprise me - or me it. I realized that even when I’m doing morning chores by myself, there is an animal with me most of the time, and I pay attention to what they are doing and looking at. They are all so aware. While I get the grain and alfalfa set up and feed the chickens, our tomcat, Star, follows me every step of the way. He wraps himself around my ankles, and walks in front of me, stopping often so I have to step around or over him. I pay attention to what he’s looking at and where he is going.

After that, I have the goats with me, and boy are they in tune with what’s going on. They are all eyes and ears as they walk to their pens, snorting and stopping if something unusual is about. Usually it’s Star that has them fixated, though they are starting to finally get used to him.

We did things around the house and started laundry to prepare for the work week, until receiving the call from Jessica that they were on their way to the new house in Windsor with their first major load of furniture. Moving day! Even though we moved relatively quickly (for having a 12-year-old who has to “get ready”), they beat us to the house and had already unloaded the trucks and trailer and were waiting for pizza lunch. We shared lunch with the crew and then headed to Sebastopol for another load. Becca and I stopped for gas in Windsor before leaving town, and saw this beauty.

We helped pile more things into truck, trailer and cars. It seemed so strange to see the place so empty. Popeye, their dog, was wandering around, watching everyone, wondering what the heck is going on. Jessica had to catch their cat, Savage, to get her into the carrier for the move over, and she was on edge, as well.

We girls left before the guys and had the cars unloaded and were relaxing a bit when the guys arrived with the big stuff and animals. We got the critters settled and then started unloading. A little time situating things and visiting and relaxing, and then it was time to go. Jessica is highly organized, and knows that she wants things just so, so it didn’t make sense to help unpack boxes. I reluctantly let her take that on, though I think they were going to just get the bedroom and bath essentials unpacked, shower and hit the sack. There is still a little more to pick up from Sebastopol, and some clean-up and repair that we can help with next weekend.

We’ve done chores for the night and I was so excited to see that the chickens actually left these for me!

I have really been struggling to figure out why one of our hens decided to start eating the eggs.  Some days I can catch them before she gets to them, and others I can't.  There's nothing worse that opening the coop in the evening and finding empty shells.  And there's a special feeling of excitement when you open it and are able to reach in and grab two perfect eggs like this from your own chickens.  Roxie will be separated eventually from the others, if she continues this bad habit, but until I can set up another coop, we will do the best we can and try to figure out how to work through it.

Becca got some swimming in after we got home. She was cold, so she has hot chocolate while I write this, and I have a cup of tea. Speaking of cup - still no sign of my favorite coffee mug. I e-mailed the retreat center caretaker next door this morning, and he and his staff will keep an eye out for it. The majority of our driveway is along an easement over the retreat center’s property, and visitors and staff alike often hike in that area. I also let my landlords know, in case they come across it.

Time to fold laundry, hit the showers, and get some sleep before the new week. I’m sad to see stay-cation end, but am happy for the time that we had, and all that we accomplished.