06/08/2018 – Around Colehaus

Wally (Not W) eating at the feeding station – © Colehauscats.com

The cat known now as Wally/Winston a.k.a. Not W, comes around every few days to check out what might be in the feeding stations. We’re only feeding cats on demand now. Someone, a cat, visits, we give them a little kibble. We aren’t leaving food out all the time during daylight hours anymore. More on this reasoning further on down.

Wally/Winston has a collar, though no tag, and we’re very confident he has a home up the street. He’s in great shape and is well adjusted to humans, but not so much to a couple of other cats in the neighborhood.

Mmm, good kibble – © Colehauscats.com

Gotta love that free kibble, huh Wally/Winston? And why the double name? Mom likes the name Wally. Dad likes the name Winston. That’ll sort itself out sooner or later. And what a snugglebug!

A month or so ago, Mom saw a new kitty outside and try as she may, she’s not gotten within thirty feet of it. Until last week.

Someone new – © Colehauscats.com

This kitty has a collar and a tag but this is as close as Mom has ever been to it so she hasn’t been able to read the information she sees printed on it. She thinks it’s a boy cat and it’ll just be a matter of time before she’s petting him.

Someone new is cautious – © Colehauscats.com

Someone new is outta here – © Colehauscats.com

We had hot weather last week. Luckily, Mom took photos before all the rhododendrons, azaleas, and lace cap hydrangea flowers withered away.

Rhododendrons in bloom – © Colehauscats.com

This red one is Dad’s favorite.

Red Rhododendron, variety Vulcan – © Colehauscats.com

Years ago, we had your standard red and yellow columbines growing in our yard. Then, a sprinkler installation ended that. So Mom found some blue columbine seeds and we’ve had no other color since, despite trying other colors. . .

Blue Columbine – © Colehauscats.com

. . .until this beauty popped up. We did not plant this extra petal-y white columbine, but boy, do we ever love it!

White Columbine – © Colehauscats.com

Mom says it’s an accidental poop plant. And here might be the culprits. This is absolutely the only time bird poop has been welcome.

Ring neck doves – © Colehauscats.com

You might be wondering what’s up with Quint, now that his spring flowers were blooming. Why isn’t he out there on his (almost) annual spring walk, sniffing the flowers? Where is he? And is he painting?

Quint’s (nearly) annual spring walk, 2018 – © Colehauscats.com

Well, after his lack of pooping issue back in February, and his random “like it one day, hate it the next” canned food from kibble transition, which is STILL going on, we thought we’d ease up on the painting thing with him, you know, to keep him more relaxed and to not introduce anything else that might cause him to stop eating and even worse, stop pooping.

Quint’s favorite spring flowers – © Colehauscats.com

Other than this walk outside, Quint still stays pretty much all the time in Ruby’s room, which is the master bedroom suite, but just lately, he’s regained a bit of a spirit of adventure and has wanted to venture out of that room a little more every day. As for painting, he did work on something about three weeks ago, but since he was so out of practice, he seemed frustrated and splashed and slopped the paint around more off the art paper than on. We worked with him again last weekend, and although with better results, his tried and true dab and paw methods are still missing. He’s still working on it and who knows? Maybe he’ll come up with a new method all together.

Quint checking out the fountain – © Colehauscats.com

A year ago, almost to the day, our trusty fountain pump died and our fountain was out of commission until the end of July. We had a brutally dry and hot summer and if the weather people are to be trusted, it sounds like this year will be a repeat of last.

So imagine our frustration when one morning last week we woke up to silence in our backyard. The fountain had shut itself off sometime overnight. We blamed an outlet. The electrician who came out blames the fountain pump, the new, less than a year old fountain pump. After the electrician left, having not done a thing but charged us for an expensive service call anyway, Dad moved the fountain pump plug into a different outlet on the same four-plug outlet and the fountain has been running fine ever since.

We still think it’s the outlet. And by mentioning it, we’ve probably jinxed it and the thing will give us grief all summer. Because why not, right? Grrrrrrr. . .

Finicky outlet? – © Colehauscats.com

Meanwhile, and yes, while the electrician was here, less than ten feet away, Rose Ears was munching on nuts from the squirrel feeder. She didn’t mind. The electrician didn’t seem too happy about it. Hey, maybe that’s why we got the service call charge?

Quint doesn’t mind seeing raccoons outside the kitchen window. By now, their presence tend to bore him silly.

Rose Ears Raccoon at the nut box – © Colehauscats.com

Later, after Mom walked past her to close the gate after the electrician left, Rose Ears pouted on the fence in hopes Mom would give her some kibble. We’re not intentionally feeding the visiting raccoons this year after learning that a neighbor wants to trap and shoot them. Possibly, the neighbor was posturing, talking about guns and all, saying the raccoons will go after his kids and that one hissed at him while he was trying to stare it down (highly unlikely, but who would intentionally stare a wild animal down??)

We can’t keep Rose Ears from visiting here anymore than we can put a collar and bell on her and introduce her around the neighborhood as our new cat (anyone else envisioning a raccoon in a pink party dress and pearls?). She was brought here by her mama last summer and knows the location of at least one other neighbor who leaves cat food outside. She knows no different. She remembers and hears our fountain splashing and gee, we do live within a block of a natural stream and greenspace where all kinds of creatures live. This whole area is her home!

Mom is worried sick about Rose Ear’s fate. . .

Rose Ears waiting for possible free food – © Colehauscats.com

. . .so you know the situation had to be upped when a second raccoon showed up, one who is clearly nursing babies somewhere. Meet Peek-a-boo, who stood up on the other side of a rhododendron no more than three feet away from Mom as she was trimming it. “Hey lady! Peek-a-boo!”

Good thing Mom isn’t afraid of our visiting raccoons though she did say her heart might have skipped a beat initially. If Rose Ears and Peek-a-boo survive our neighbor, we expect we’ll hear the sound of trilling babies in a month. That’s the generation who will have to learn there’s no food here, the generation who will learn to be raccoons from the start. And that’s just the way that has to be.

Peekapoo – © Colehauscats.com

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A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2017 – No post
2016 – Wednesday Close Up
2015 – MultiCat Monday Progress
2014 – No post
2013 – No post
2012 – No, really. I’m HELPING!