We live outside Bay City limits on six acres that provide something of a glimmer of rural life.
That said, I’ve grown weary, with no expectation of change, of predators.
Most of them are unseen, making life unpredictable as to why numerous poultry and three cats since March have disappeared.
I say disappeared the final testimony has been evident of the cats and the chickens in splashes of fur, heads and feathers.
It’s been a fact of life for years, yet I mourn the departure of the cats who were both inside and outside members of our household.
One of the cats, a beautiful white-furred, 13-year-old feline named Smidgen was my friend.
As I worked on the paper as I’m doing know, she would curl up in the chair next to me, content to be there as long as I occupied my chair.
Over the years, she would repeatedly seek out my company wherever I was in the house.
We’re not sure what critter took out our cats and chickens – two piles of different colored feathers indicated hens were the most recent victims – but MaLinda seems to favor owls as the most likely culprit based on their modus operandi of defurring and defeathering their kills.
I’ve always believed – and still do – that cats are effective in keeping most snakes away.
While we mourn our felines – we also have two dogs – and feel angst at bringing another fur creature into our domain, I remain steadfast that we should acquire another semi-outdoor cat.
But considering the nighttime danger zone, it seems selfish.
We do have an inside cat, Domino, but she’s shown little attraction to the great outdoors.
I see her point.
We take one or both of the dogs out early in the morning for them to do their business.
This morning, I listened to an owl hooting in a nearby tree.
Its presence brought a long-ago memory of watching owls descend with their wondrous wingspread on an oak tree branch and observe the human observers on a back porch.
It seemed to be a fascination for both the birds and the humans.
The owl is a reminder of the wildlife we have and the occasional threat they pose to the domestic animals we have.
I do wish the owls would focus more energy on the reptiles we have.
