Wildlife

On my third chai today, it is that time of year when the snow has settled in, and so are the animals..into my house! I realized last night or I should say this morning at about 3am, Dennis got up to stoke the fire and somehow missed Nishka wimpering in the 'if you up, i gotta go out" sorta way. So there is me searching for my eyewear...cause i am truly blind as a bat, trying to slip out without waking up "the others". The others being the ones that are outnumbering the people! Nishka, the ten year old mutt that has seen the world and now retired as the extreme nanny, Daisy with her big tail clanging against the closet door "i am up too!" I haven't had a dog with a tail...hmmm ever! Dennis had our faithful "Dobie" when I met him...an overweight doberman with floppy ears, and before I met him I had a toy fox terrier named sadie...seven pounds of vicious but my protector!..still no tails...i see a benefit to docking the tails now. So out to the porch release the hounds, and sit with a bottle of water to 'freshen up in the cold winter air" Low and behold the door opens and in walks
Mon Nom, purring away thanking me for letting him in...by licking my toes? Normally, the kitties are all outside 80% of the time in summer, with the other 20% sleeping in my sock drawer. I go inside to the living room and lay on the couch because I know that the girls could be back in five or 45mins. Purr Purr Purr...here is Squawker...Cat#2 brother to Mon Nom he chooses to lick the end of my nose..ouch! He is a gigantic mass of hair, unlike his shorthaired mother who was sleek and tiny, Diesel sadly was lost when her litter was 4wks old. They were born under our bed in our 24ft trailer two summers ago...we presumed she was eaten by wildlife,(revenge perhaps for all she had taken out over the summer). So up off the couch, no sign of the girls but the cats are up and must be fed or the chorus of meows will begin. Finally back to the couch where Mama Kat(#3) has curled up in my spot. This one we were given this summer, when my cousin moved west. She is the mother to Blackie, another cat of ours that was lost to a bad driver on a country road and also the fav of all our cats for Dennis. Strangely the one cursing them daily now, but always the one that said yes or arrived home with the furry bundles. Blackie travelled with us one summer in the trailer, walking through the campgrounds with us and Nishka...just great when you have to stop and scoop for the cat too! When it was time to check out Dennis would play his harmonica and suddenly Blackie would appear to hop in the van and go! Mama Kat however is not Blackie! She is the one to cause problems between my boys, she is a b-tch that takes know prisoners and both dogs and cats here no it. She is also the one who devoured our parakeet Coo-Coo and the one I found sitting up top the cage of Chirpy(the remaining parakeet) just this morning.
Yes there are 6animals moved in for the winter, 4 fulltime humans, and of course despite the fact there are three cats...the mice have moved back in as well. Today is the day to make things comfy for them too as I moved all the silverware back into the soup pot on the counter, shopvac out all there presents left behind, and oh..this year a new trick...remove the spice rack, replace it with a bucket, a pole, a popcan covered in peanut butter, and add water...yes I am going to drown the bastards this year. I tryed the live traps, they come back, I can't poison them in case one of the fat lazy cats decided to munch (although?) and between them taking the whole damn trap with them last year, and finding a sticky trap with hide on it (why can't I see the bald mouse running by??) I give they have to go. A neverending battle I suppose but today begins the fight.
Onto sweep up the dog hair, drown some mice, feed the turkeys, yes over run by animals but loving it all the way! I have had them all my life, trust my life and kids with my dog, and have no regrets...besides after working at a dog kennel for a few years...i make dennis do the scooping now!!!