Fuzzy Easter Egg Hunts

[hsifeng]

No, this is not a reference to Easter eggs lost in the back of my yard and ‘gone native’ with local bacteria. This is a reference to a Spring ritual that I have had every year at this house; It comes with living in an older district in my town, and with having “crazy-cat-lady” neighbors.

The fuzzy Easter eggs I am referring to are kittens.

 

Every year in early March, I notice that one or more of the local ‘mama kitties’ has become….well…rounder. Gravid. Basketball-like. Pregnant. This means at some point within the next month or so I will be on the hunt.

 

It usually starts with a *mew mew mew* sound from somewhere in the immediate proximity of our house. For a long time, the old garage was a preferred spawning ground, but with it torn down and Kallie living upstairs, the most recent batches have been found in the driveway side yard.

 

Not this year though.

 

This year mama kitty figured out that the garden is fenced off from the backyard – so no dogs. It also has nice shady trees in the North corner, an overhang with access to the houses crawlspace/basement and water via the upstairs kitchen sink ‘vent pipe’…

 

Pretty much kitty heaven!

 

Until this morning, when my dog Fritz followed me into the garden while I was watering and found mama’s nest in a matter of seconds; thankfully, no kittens where harmed in the process – but they may hate dogs for awhile and will certainly hate the sound of Fritz barking. *chuckle*

 

So, along with snapping pictures of the garden this morning, I got one of mama kitty. She wasn’t in her ‘nest’ when Fritz visited, and I counted at least five little black/dark grey kittens at that point. By the time I got the camera out, she was back and the ‘fuzzy Easter eggs’ are almost impossible to see against her own black fur.

 

But they are certainly audible….*mew mew mew*

Mama Kitty

 

I won’t be surprised if she moves them at this point, but finding them the second time is always easier!

 

*grin*

EDIT: Mama was away when I got home from work/school...


A pile of fuzzy Easter eggs...Looks like three black ones and one grey/white one...

Comments

[dravon.livejournal.com]

Aaaaw. Fuzzy easter eggs!

I used to live in the country, and we had outdoor cats. I would put out food for them. One day, I go outside and all the cats are ringed around the food plate and standing in the line-up was the ugliest cat you've ever seen. It had a nekkid tail, a pointy nose, tiny little beady eyes, little rounded nekkid ears, and all these tiny versions of itself clinging all over its back. Then I realized what I was looking at: a mama opposum eating cat food with all the other cats. Nobody seemed to care, and so we had cats and "ugly cats". I still call them ugly cats. hehe

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

*chortle* 'Ugly Cats' is right!

[docryder.livejournal.com]

LOL! Great story!

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

Fuzzy easter eggs indeed! Any of them all black like their mama?

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Hard to tell, they are young enough that I didn't want to handle them too much (in case 'mama' got freaked out by the contact). They all appear to be black or dark, dark grey.

Why, you lookin' for a black kitty? *grin* First one's free!

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

Black ones have always had a spot in my heart, since I was a kid. Just not sure if we are ready for a new kitten or not in the house.

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Well, these guys have some time left on em before they are ready to 'hatch'. Lemme know...

[stacymckenna.livejournal.com]

V's first summer when we went out to visit J's grandma at the family farm, she said the local cat was keepin' kittens somewhere but she'd not found them yet. We, being the city slickers we are, were all about exploring the old barn and such. During the day, we tracked down the mewling until we finally found them. By this point they were roly poly little explorers, of course, but she'd kept the nest hidden for over 3 months.

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

If Fritz hadn't nosed them out, I would still be clueless...*chuckle*

[docryder.livejournal.com]

Excellent photo.

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Thank you!