As well as having to contend with the hens while gardening, I am also supervised by Button. Above is a photo of her "resting" after some necessary supervision. Below is a photo of her - well - resting again! This time with head in the Nepeta (cat nip!). I had to put a wire basket over the nepeta as, of course, she just rolls in it!
And below is Charlie Boy. Charlie is also a rescue cat from Orkney Cat Protection. He was rescued from a house with about 40 other cats. However he has turned out to be rather a shy boy and has chosen to live in the barn rather than the house. (Believe me you know nothing about rejection till you've been rejected by a cat!). However after many months of patience he does now enjoy a fuss and having his ears tickled just before breakfast. After that I rarely see him. At first he would come into the garden, but once he realised I wasn't going to feed him he lost interest. This is just as well as Princess Button was NOT pleased at having an interloper! They *must* meet as both hunt in the same territory but presumably have come to some agreement. At least the pair of them keep the mice down in the barn and henny hoose!
Thankfully there are no rats on the island, just lots of mice..... this is fortunate not least because Button has taken to bringing in live prey on occasions and presenting them to me with great pride! I have become quite adept at scooping them up, corralling Button and then releasing them back into the field! As she has realised I don't share with her she doesn't bring offerings in very often - though I have been known to chase a mouse up the curtains in my pyjamas (no the mouse wasn't *in* my pyjamas - you know what I mean!). Oh the joys of country living!!
Mouses in pyjamas - happy thought! Our wee boy brought a little frog into the house the other day, to give the poor traumatised thing a guided tour. (I did persuade him to return it to the garden eventually.) A friend with five (!) children says that her eldest brought a mouse in once and she spent the next four months trying to catch it. Should have got a cat!
ReplyDeletePoor startled frog! But sweet that he wanted to show him around! As for getting a cat to catch a mouse - the problem is if you have one like Button that gets bored. She's only interested when they are running about! If they become inaccessible she wanders off and leaves ME to deal with it!
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