Although Halloween passed three days ago….I’ve still got a ghost around the farm. It’s a newly manifested ghost that’s haunting the tall grass and the ready to be cut back flowerbeds. Until a few hours ago we never saw it. The cats have been making us aware of its presence with their attention focused on this specter we humans fail to comprehend. They are completely ignoring the chipmunks and birds in favor of devoting their total efforts to this fresh elusive wisp. Then, late this afternoon, there it was in corporeal form about 800 feet from the kitchen window. A 12 to 14 week old (I think) skinny little tabby kitten hunkered down stalking the flowerbed along the split rail fence. I speculate it may have taken up residence in my big barn across the road. I also think I know its origin. A few days ago I took notice of a small older car pulled off the road in front of the barn. It sat there for a few minutes and I saw the driver with his cell phone against his head. This in itself isn’t abnormal. Our area is very rural and our road is a narrow winding snake with little opportunity for the lost and disoriented to pull over to get their bearings. For some reason I got a bad vibe about this particular visit….my spider sense warned me of the possibility of something shifty going on. I think this may have been the clandestine delivery of my ghost. I’ll never know for sure. Right now he/she (to be determined at a later date) wants nothing to do with us. I don’t think the kitten is feral, just scared. When Joan slowly approached, while making the universal “ I come in peace “gesture of noisily shaking dry cat food in a plastic cool whip tub and reciting the “ here kitten/good kitten” mantra, he stood his ground until she violated the ten foot territorial limit. Then like a rocket he was off into the tall grass, gone to ground. The light was fading quickly (damn standard time) a day ago we’d have another hour to maneuver. Not wanting to freak him out with our benevolent encircling maneuvers we headed back to the house. J made a show of strategically depositing the dry food close to where he had been previously sitting. Hopefully he’ll return to that safe spot and grab some chow. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can entice him/her with some canned food. Tonight I’ll dust off the have-a heart traps. My hope is he’ll find the food, have a good meal tonight, survive the busy road and sleep in the barn. It’s only been six weeks since we lost Merlin. One door closes, another opens. Here we go again.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 00:14:53 +0000
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