Of Cats and Coons

My two adopted kittens Ollie and Ginny have become my new obsession. I find myself thinking about them all the time. It’s mostly because they’re so small and I worry about them being prey to some other larger animal out there. Since I live “in the sticks,” we have a lot of wild animals out here, including, but not limited to, possums, foxes, coyotes, hawks and raccoons.

Two nights ago I put out some food for them, but it was pretty late and I didn’t really expect them to come out of hiding after dark. I’ve carefully watched their habits for the past week and after about 5:00 PM they disappear. I suspect they squeeze under the garage door gap and spend the night in there. When I first started feeding them, I could watch them go in the garage through the window in the door. They would wait in there until I went back inside, then I could watch them slowly creep back out to their food dishes. This time, though, since it was dark but the porch light was on, I kept going to the back door to check to see if their food was gone.

Two nights before I had fed them after dark and then an hour later noticed the food was gone. I’d assumed they’d eaten it and was surprised the next morning when they acted starved when I fed them. So I wasn’t extremely surprised when I went to the window two nights ago and saw one of the biggest raccoons I’ve ever seen cleaning up the last bit of cat food! I don’t think he saw me, but since he was finished, he rose up on his back legs, sniffed the air and sauntered off the porch. I know raccoons are opportunists, and I know they love a free meal, but it surprised me a little that he came so boldly onto the porch under the lights. I guess pickings are slim during the winter.

Of course I felt sorry for the raccoon, especially since I noticed that it looked like he’d been in a fight and had a deep wound on his left side. But he didn’t appear to be malnourished and he could get around fairly well, so I wasn’t overly concerned. Then I started thinking about Ollie and Ginny and how they could easily be hurt or killed by a big animal like that over their food. I think they’re pretty smart, though. They’re never far from the safety of the garage, and there aren’t many animals that could fit under that gap like they can. Although, lately their bellies have been getting bigger and it’s harder for them to fit

Each day after their breakfast, I can go to the window and find them either playing and wrestling with each other or sunning themselves. Today was a tolerable day and they seemed to really enjoy the warmer temperatures. When I walk my dogs, I try to let them see the kittens so they’ll start getting used to the idea that they belong here. Snoopy is very curious and wants to smell them very badly. Bitsy acts as if there are more important things to do than care about insignificant felines. As we walk by the garage, Ollie and Ginny stand very still and watch cautiously until we get just a little too close. Then they squeeze their fat bellies under the door and poke their little heads back through and watch us pass with a cat’s curiosity.

I just came in from feeding them and they actually let me sit on the floor of the porch and watch them eat from only two feet away. They’re quickly getting used to me and the dogs, and they even watch the doorknob to see if I’m coming out with food. Yesterday Ginny got trapped in a corner trying to run from me, so I tried petting her. She meowed like she was scared, but after I petted her a few times, she stopped and let me pet her without protest. I’m optimistic that they’ll let me pet them freely in a few weeks. And if I can keep feeding them before dark, I’m optimistic that I won’t have any adopted pet raccoons in the near future.