Thursday, October 15, 2009

nature (detail)



look at these! they suddenly moved here with their mother and took over the front porch (the kittens. not the chairs). in the morning i watch them from my kitchen window curled up together, still sleeping, on one of the pillow seats. so sweet. they won't let me get close, which is fine, they can have the chairs. i'm a bit worried to make the mother anxious about human stalkers, so i keep the kids away from them too. last time a wild cat had kittens out there she ended up eating two out of three. no kidding. gruesome story, but apparently not unusual in a cat's world: i googled it after i had seen it (yes, i saw it!). i was afraid i had a crazy cat on the lose in my garden and next thing you know, it would try and eat one of the kids. my kids, that is.
story is, a sick or week kitten attracts predators and wastes its mother's milk. and if it's anyway going to die it would be a waste if the mother doesn't use the extra food providing for her other kittens. nature shows no mercy, eh?

i'm sorry if i now left you with terrible images going through your head, but i wanted to share the fact that when i look at these two sweethearts, i can't help but fear for their future. and i make sure to leave food out for their mother. wouldn't want her to go hungry. she is, by the way, a furious thing. she's fighting off the neighbor's huge male cat when he gets too close to her or her kittens. seems nature doesn't have any fear either.

13 comments:

  1. what a story! [again..!]

    feed the mother! [both of jou..! ;)]

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  2. It's the survival of the fittest, a natural behaviour that should remain in the natural world. It's good of you to leave food out for the mother cat.

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  3. I think that mothers don't have any fear when it comes to protect their kids...
    How sweet of you to look after them!

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  4. I haven't heard of this. It makes sense in the way only laws of nature make sense, but still it's an awful thing to accept - and see! It a good thing those kittens have you to feed them a little extra.

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  5. Do you have animal rescue organizations there? If we have strays here, there are these groups that trap them, spay/neuter them, then re-release them where they came from, or adopt them out. Maybe there is something like that there??? It stops the homeless cat population from multiplying. Just a suggestion...

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  6. what a fiesty feline! sounds like a typical woman. we really need a cat to start coming to our flat to kill all the mice we have invading our walls!

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  7. Aww... I don't really know what to say. I've seen this too. When I was a kid, it happened by the father-cat and well obviously the most harsh scene anyone can see!...
    But you know that's just instinct, nothing less nothing more. But how can we explain "the human"'s behavior... They are doing the same things, just wrapped in foolish excuses...

    p.s. So happy to have you at my blog. :) really.

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  8. In some absurd way I can understand her. There are a lot of things I rather do than see my kids get hurt. Also, being allergic to cats is one of my great sorrows. I love them but I get so sick having them near.

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  9. you are a wonderful person trinsch. have a wonderful day*

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  10. Now I have one more reason for being a dog-person.

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  11. those look a bit big to be eaten by their mother, so i hope they're ok!! when our barn cats at their kittens, it was before they even had their eyes open. it does seem really brutal!!!

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