So, Keller Farms has Magic and Sweetie Pie 
as regulars for dinner all through out the winter. We also noticed a white and gray who pretty much stayed around. It would run away if we came near but I often saw him coming down from the loft in the barn to eat and we would also notice him coming “back home” via the perimeters of our property almost daily. I suspected he was a sibling to Sweetie Pie but had no way to know for sure. Once I did see him in the back corner of Irish’s pasture with Sweetie Pie and Magic, giving more credence to my suspicions. The black sibling we pretty much never saw. It is very skittish and we only saw it on rare occasions.
So spring came and Sweetie Pie and Magic continued to come for dinner. They were always so hungry that the generous food I put out would be gone quickly. Any stragglers to the party would be disappointed! I started to notice that Magic looked like she might be p.g. and as time went on, it was obvious she was. One evening when she came for dinner she was so huge I don’t know how she made it! She’s small anyway and her big tummy was barely clearing the ground. However, I used the opportunity to start petting her. She was hungry and she was couldn’t move fast so it was the perfect chance to get her used to my touch.
I also suspected that Sweetie Pie might be “with kittens” but she is a very slight kitty and it was difficult to tell if she really had a pooch tummy or not. It wasn’t long before I didn’t see Magic for awhile and I figured she had had her kittens. Then Magic was back and Sweetie Pie didn’t show for a few nights – at least, not when I was out there.
When I fed breakfast in the barn, I would always go out back to the feral’s igloo house and pick up the dishes. A few weeks ago, I found Sweetie Pie there waiting. I fed her breakfast. After a couple of days of feeding her, Magic was there with her. Ok. They both got breakfast. This started about mid-week and Bob and I were gone for the following weekend at a horse show. That Sunday evening, Bob went out behind the barn for something and found kittens playing in the horse wash rack! He got me to help him investigate and oh, my stars! Magic and Sweetie Pie had moved in with their kittens! They were living under the shed on the far side of the barn. At first we thought there were 6 – two belonged to Sweetie Pie and four to Magic. The moms kept the kittens separate as they were still nursing. Sweetie Pie kept hers next to a stack of wood under a leaning pallet so I could see which were hers: a white and gray and a gray with beige stripes – both of them semi long-haired. Thekittens belonging to Magic – who stayed under the shed – are a black one, a cream colored one, a cream colored one with a black face and ears and a tiger one. Alas, one day after feeding I hung out behind a bush to watch and it turns out Magic has SIX kittens: two cream colors (who look identical), the cream with the black face, the black and, not one but two tiger kittens (who also look identical) and if you didn’t see them altogether you wouldn’t know. You can imagine my surprise when duplicates came out from under the shed to ones already at the food dish!
What is incredible to me is that these moms mouth-carried these kittens, one by each, for over 1/4 mile each way! And, they had to cross the dangerous surface road to boot!
So, now I am working to get Sweetie Pie used to my touch so I can “catch” her, as well, as we are going to have to get these kitties fixed. They cannot keep having babies. It is not fair to the babies and it breaks my heart that there are homeless kitties out there like this. I need to be able to catch the kittens, as well, before long! A few of the kittens are getting bolder when I am out there feeding them. They won’t come too close to me yet but they are at least coming out from under the shed and playing in my presence. It’s a start. They are so cute. Of course, with all their cuteness, they bring the problem of placing them in good homes. Keller Farms is big but not that big!
Magic was gone yesterday and I was worried she’d left! But late last night when I went out to the barn before bed to bring in one of my house kitties, there was Magic…along with her other two kittens from Sweetie Pie’s litter. Sweetie Pie has very tall ears reminiscent of a jackal! Very distinctive. Last night in the ambient light, I thought I was looking at Sweetie Pie at the other end of the barn. I turned on the light and it was the gray and white. Those distinctive ears. And there, also, was the black sibling…same ears!
So, did Magic leave yesterday to find her kids and bring them here? The gray and white has pretty much been here but not the black one. I was leaving food out by Irish’s pasture for awhile in case the black one came for food. It hurt my feelings for it that it was now alone. Well, don’t have to worry about that, now, do I?. I didn’t see the siblings for breakfast this morning but, then, they’d be hiding anyway. And speaking of “not being there”, I have not seen Magic’s cream-colored one with the black face and ears for several days. I am a little concerned. Did it go off playing and get lost? Was it sick and it has died? Did it somehow get out too much in the open and was nabbed by a hawk? It is difficult to see under the shed with the support piers and uneven ground. I will try, though.
Lots of newbies. And what effect are these “come-here’s” having on the Keller Farms regular family of kitties, kittens and puppies? Interesting. Very interesting. But that is for another post.