Diana The Huntress

[rpcrowe]

Diana isn't exactly a pet. She is a working barn cat.



We have just adopted two feral-barn cats under the auspices of Love Your Feral Felines Rescue Group. http://loveyourferalfelines.com/feral-barn-cats/

Diana and the other cat's assignment will be to eradicate the rodent population from our large RV garage which is larger than most barns. The citrus trees on our property are quite a draw for rodents.

Feral or barn cats are cats that are not comfortable enough around people to be adopted as a house cat. We are happy that we have a place to give a home to these two cats and save their lives. They both have been spayed and have all of their vaccinations.

We are following the protocol recommended by Love Your Feral Felines to give the cats the best chance to stick around our RV garage. According to the supervisor of the Shelter from which we actually got the cats, Diana is a wonderful huntress. She is a bit more accepting of humans than her partner. Diana will not run when she sees us but, will not let us get near her., either. The other cat has been hiding since we got her. However, when we are gone, she eats the food we put out for her and uses her litter box.

Photographing these cats will be a bit like wildlife photography. They are, after all, wild creatures. I was somewhat surprised that Diana stood still long enough for this shot.

However, it is a win-win situation. The cats get a safe shelter and good food and we (hopefully) get our rodent population under control.

We have an area in which we can keep them separated from our dogs...

[Stagecoach]

Ha Ha Ha, just wait till they realise it's far more fun to bring the rodent into the house and play with it

[rpcrowe]

Their house will be the garage. I had a indoor/outdoor pet cat who eradicated both the field rats and mice as well as our gopher population. That guy was immense, weighing twenty five pounds (over 11 kilos) at his prime. His mom and dad were both feral. The mom would have her kittens in a friend's barn every year. She would teach her kittens to hunt before she took off. Our friend's were never able to trap her.

[IzzieK]

Good shot, Richard...

We only have one house cat, a Siamese but getting old now and lives upstairs in our bedroom, uses my husband's toilet like it is hers and never learn how to flush it. And yes, you can train cats to use the litter but it is more tidier to teach them to use the toilet bowl.

[JamesScott86]

Wonderful capture.

[deetheturk]

Very nice Richard

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[rpcrowe]

Izzie...

Our last cat, a very big (25 pound) yellow tabby used the toilet. One day I heard a big splash and a loud meow from the bathroom and saw a wet cat running out. You can guess what had happened!

[Downrigger]

To make a home for feral cats - where they remain feral - is really interesting, Richard. Thanks for sharing the story and the handsome portrait.

[marlunn]

Richard, nice and very interesting. Good luck with that I hope all parties get a good deal out of it - nice to hear that feral cats are respected and helped if needed

[rpcrowe]

is that I won't have to build an ARK. We have added four chickens to our menagerie. I am expecting this prefabricated chicken house to come any day now.

http://www.myurbanfarmers.com/2015-D...m1plqscsfapp02

I have over an acre of property and the area in which I will keep the Chickens is double fenced - my outside fence and an interior fence. I may just build an extended run to give the birds some additional room to run but still keep them safe.. They won't start laying until October. I have four different breeds of hen chickies...

[rpcrowe]

is that I won't have to build an ARK. We have added four chickens to our menagerie. I am expecting this prefabricated chicken house to come any day now.

http://www.myurbanfarmers.com/2015-D...m1plqscsfapp02

I am fairly handy and could have built this from scratch but, the cost was fairly trasonable so I opted for the pre-fab unit...

I have over an acre of property and the area in which I will keep the Chickens is double fenced - my outside fence and an interior fence. I may just build an extended run to give the birds some additional room to run but still keep them safe.. They won't start laying until October. I have four different breeds of hen chickies...