Saturday, June 13, 2009

Mothering Is Hard Work

This morning I was out and about with the camera, snapping a flower and junk pile here and there, when my husband sauntered over and whispered, “Look over there…..Tigger is moving her kittens.”13th058 Seriously, that’s a monumental task for a mother cat.  What if we humans had to carry a baby around with our mouth!  It makes my jaw ache just thinking about it.

  Tigger’s three kitties are two weeks old and had been nestled cozily in a nest of straw behind a wood panel in the calf building, where I enjoyed peeking at them everyday.  Evidently, Tigger felt it was time to move on to seemingly safer environs in different shed on the farm.

13th060 Oops……Buster suddenly spied the kitten-moving activity and Tigger spotted Buster barreling towards her……

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Husband barked at Buster to get away, and Tigger continued on her merry way……

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a good mama she is.

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

Gail said...

When Barnie brought her kittens out, she had a tom on each side and a dog leading the way. Talk about an armed escort.

Pat - Arkansas said...

Wonderful photos of the Mama Cat Transportation System, Jeannelle. Do you know to what new location she moved them?

I'm working from my son-in-law's home computer. Have had no power at my house since 5 p.m. yesterday. We had a willy-waw of a storm yesterday afternoon, funnel clouds aloft, thank goodness, and it took out a chunk of the city's power system. I think the few blocks surrounding me are about the last ones to have power restored.

Hope you're having a good day.

Leenie said...

Mamma Tigger's reaction to the doggy threat made me laugh. Fun photo. I would guess she could have sunk some claws into Buster's nose if he came too close. I have seen cats take on dogs five times their size when they thought it was necessary. Farm cats are a blessing when it comes to ridding the place of varmits.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Blue Ridge Gal,

Yes, she is! Amazing the instincts they have.

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Hi, Gail,

That would have made a great scene for a photo!

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Hi, Pat,

I know which shed Tigger moved the kittens, too, just not sure where in there.

Sorry about your power outage, but thankful you avoided tornados and such. Hopefully, you are working on another great blogpost of your childhood memories there at your son-in-law's computer!

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Hi, Leenie,

Yes, each of the cats seems to have its own hunting territory to prowl here on the farmstead. I saw Miss Kitty take on a big Yellow Lab one time when she thought her kittens were threatened. It was quite a sight to behold.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

It's amazing how strong the instincts to protect the young are. This brings back such memories of all the litters of kitties we had when I was a girl. There is nothing quite like kittens.

Anonymous said...

Nice photos of that, Jeanelle. I like how husband 'barked' at the dog. Our old Buster, and also, Casey, both died last summer. Now we have 2 younger ones, Skip, and Pinkerton, who has the nose of a sleuth. Dairymary

Patti said...

Wow...your Tigger looks exactly like my Tess.. even down to size and eye color....hmmmmmm

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Ruth,

Yeah, those protective instincts are fascinating and we humans possess them, too, somewhere deep within.

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Hi, Dairymary,

Oh, neat, you had a Buster dog, too. Sorry to hear he's not around anymore. I love that "Pinkerton" name....were his detecting abilities apparent before or after being named??

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Patti,

Haha....Tigger probably looks like a million other cats! She's quite generic. Thanks for stopping in!