Our homestead is a sanctuary for fauna and flora alike. In 2015 we had a couple pregnant cats come to us, and our cat population blossomed from five to fifteen. All the cats got fixed, and though I found homes for a few of the kittens, most of them stayed here. This week, we welcomed a new cat to the homestead. Meet Strudel.
I’d seen Strudel along our driveway, darting into the tall grass a few times. Then, I saw Strudel by the hay shelter. I feared that perhaps it was looking for a nice cozy place to have kittens, but thankfully when it moved under my office cabin, I saw that it was a male. Whew. As cute as kittens are, we could take in one cat. More than that would be asking for trouble.
When Strudel moved under my office, right by my steps he got a name. He had reminded me in the few glimpses I’d seen of him of toaster strudel, golden brown with white frosting, only in his case it’s on his chest, belly, and feet/legs. He also began getting fed a can of food every day. What the heck, our cat food bill is already high, what’s another case of food?
Everything was going okay until a raccoon showed up and started causing havoc. I knew I needed to trap Strudel. Besides, let’s be honest, he had a name. It was only a matter of time before he came indoors. At first he was wary of the trap, but then, after a day and a half of hard rain when he hadn’t been able to get his dry food (crunchies), I put down the trap and he ran right in.
Now, he’s set up in my writing office in a super large dog kennel while I work to tame him down. Skittles is keeping him company. Once he’s sufficiently tame, we’ll get him fixed at the vet and he’ll be a full-fledged new member of the family.
Here’s a bonus picture of a blossom on a prickly pear cactus that I saw this week. I’m still pretty excited after growing up in Iowa to live where cactus are native outdoors plants. I suspect this is the northern extent of its range, but it’s a happy little plant.
