Cat update for week ending March 2

Some interesting encounters this week at the cat house.

But first, a couple of cats looking out of the shelter; I enjoy the eyes in the window:

Cats looking out of shelter

Cats snuggling:

Cats snuggling

Yet more snow:

Snow

A pile of all five cats in the shelter:

Cats in the shelter

A couple of cats watching a raccoon:

Cats watching raccoon

A “SLOW, WATCH FOR FERALS” sign in the driveway, flecked with snow:

Slow, watch for ferals sign

Snow:

Snow

A cat with snow on their back:

Snowy cat

Did you watch the video on YouTube of cats playing in the snow?

Another raccoon encounter. This time Poppy had enough, and went out of the shelter to hiss and swipe at the raccoon, and then retreat back to the safety of the shelter:

Raccoon encounter

Another cat then ran up from behind the shelter and did the same from the other side:

Raccoon encounter

A screenshot of my iPad, showing cats in all four cameras:

Screenshot

A Steller’s jay bird flying in for a drink from the heated water dish:

Bird

A cat climbing the tree next to the shelter:

Cat climbing tree

Another raccoon visit, watched by a couple of cats:

Raccoon

The alien orange cat visited a couple of times:

Orange cat

The reverse angle:

Orange cat

Cat snuggles:

Cat snuggles

A cat watching a deer:

Deer

Pepper the shop cat watches a moth flying by:

Shop cat & moth

Pansy, the other shop cat, reaching for some food:

Shop cat

Three cats playing on the driveway:

Cats on driveway

The alien orange cat came back again early this morning:

Orange cat encounter

The cats inside quickly evacuated:

Orange cat encounter

The orange cat went inside the shelter, and Poppy followed and expressed her displeasure at the invasion:

Orange cat encounter

There was much hissing and growling, culminating in a little swiping and rapid exiting:

Orange cat encounter

But let’s end with more snuggles:

Cat snuggles

Cat update for week ending February 16

We start this Caturday with some lingering snow, and a cat peeking out of the shelter:

Cat peeking out of shelter at snow

The cats have been somewhat absent during the day this week, though did show up for food, and occasionally spent a night in the shelter. Here are all five cats in there:

All five cats inside shelter

Birds in the snow:

Birds in the snow

A bird on the heated water dish:

Bird on heated water dish

I set up the old automatic feeder in the back of the shop, so I can eventually control the amount of food Pansy eats, since she’s somewhat overweight. Initially I had both feeders there, so Pepper still ate back there. A few days later, I moved the manual feeder and a new water dispenser to the front of the shop, where Pepper lives. So this is probably the last time we’ll see Pepper in the back:

Cat in the shop

I’ve got some new cameras for the chickens and ducks, so will move the old camera from the old chicken coop to the front of the shop, to watch Pepper’s food. Probably more on that next week.

Here’s Pansy, eating from the auto-feeder. Currently it is dispensing too much food, but I’ll slowly reduce the quantity to match the level she eats, then a little less over time:

Cat in the shop

Back outside, here’s a cat drinking from the heated water dish, while another eats their dinner. This is the last of the snow, too:

Cat drinking from heated water dish

A cat having a good stretch against a tree:

Cat stretching

Dinner queue. I don’t usually show pictures from this time of night, since the contrast between the darkening outside and the lighted feeder area doesn’t work that well in pictures, but hey, something different:

Dinner queue

The theory with the feeder light was that a bright light would deter the possums and raccoons, since they can’t see in that brightness… but they just feel around for the food, so that didn’t work. I suppose I could turn the light off, but I haven’t; it might help a little, perhaps, and makes it easier to see things via the camera in there.

Two cats on the deck after dark:

Two cats on deck

A cat eating, when a raccoon turns up outside. The cat kept eating, then quickly evacuated when the raccoon got closer (there was no food left):

Cat eating, raccoon outside

I think this is the first time I’ve seen a rabbit on the camera:

Rabbit

Three cats waiting for breakfast:

Cats waiting for breakfast

The breakfast rush:

Breakfast rush

Four cats:

Four cats

Finally, some disappointed alien visitors. A small possum:

Possum

An orange cat:

Alien cat

A bigger possum:

Possum

A raccoon:

Raccoon

Cat update for week ending February 9

It’s a snowy Caturday!

We got a trace of snow last Sunday. The area around the cat house is somewhat sheltered by trees:

Cat with trace snow

Looking across the small pond to the cat house, with a dusting of snow:

Cat house across the small pond

Lots of cat footprints in the snow on the path to the cat house:

Cat footprints

Another angle of the cat house through snow-covered branches:

Cat house with snow

A view from the driveway through the fountain garden, with the cat house visible through the trees in the middle:

Snowy landscape

Some snowflakes on a cat in the feeder:

Snow on cat

More snow overnight:

Cat in snow

A bird making poor life choices, snacking in the cat feeder; fortunately for it, nobody was home at the time (I do have bird feeders too):

Bird in feeder

Porcini looking from feeder:

Cat looking from feeder

Pommie with her tongue out, drinking from the heated water dish, about the only non-frozen water available:

Cat with tongue out

Cat tracks in the snow across the driveway:

Cat tracks in snow

The cat house with lots of cat footprints out front:

Cat house with cat tracks

The side of the cat house, through snowy trees:

Side of cat house

A cat on the front path, watching me:

Cat on front path

Just for fun, I made a couple of very rough mini-snowmen by the cat house. Here a cat is poking at one:

Cat poking snowman

A rare sighting of a cat-head snowman:

Cat head above snowman

Three cats:

Three cats

Five cats toasty inside the heated shelter overnight. That makes me happy:

Five cats inside shelter

We had more snow overnight:

Cat in snow

Likely more snow on the way over the next few days, so there will probably be more snowy cat photos next week. Stay warm out there!

Hummingbird feeder heater

With the sub-freezing temperatures recently, I have hooked up my hummingbird feeder heater, so the hummers have some non-frozen sugar water to drink.

This consists of four parts: a thermostatically controlled outlet, a small waterproof heating pad, paperclips to attach to the feeder, and an extension cord to connect the outlet to the heater.

Here’s the thermo outlet, that switches on the power when the temperature drops below 35°F, and off when above 45°F, so the heater is only on when it’s cold enough to need it:

Thermal power outlet

And the heating pad, originally designed to heat engine blocks, held below the hummingbird feeder by paperclips:

Hummingbird feeder with heating pad

The heating pad gets really hot, enough to keep the sugar water liquid. I use the clips to avoid melting the plastic base of the feeder.

Here’s another angle:

Hummingbird feeder with heating pad

A customer on the feeder:

Hummingbird on heated feeder

It’s a bit of a hack, but it works really well.

Cat update for week ending January 19

It’s that time again, Caturday! And don’t duck out from reading the blog tomorrow; I’ll have some exciting news then. Stay tuned!

Lots of pics this week. I usually aim for about 20, but today we have 31. Including some new visitors.

But first, some cuteness:

This may be a little hard to see, but there’s a cat climbing a pole in the background (and one eating):

The gray alien cat:

Stretch!

A screenshot of my iPad, showing cats on all four cameras: Pansy in the shop, and some outdoor cats:

A non-cam photo of the cat house. You an see the outdoor cam housed in a stack of concrete blocks on the left (one day I want to make a nicer enclosure, but this works):

Another angle, looking from the path by the bird feeders to the cat house, with the white gazebo and pond deck in the background:

Closer to the cat house. I really wish the two signs were more readable from a distance; I’ve thought about painting the lettering. They say “Cat House Saloon” for the shelter side, and “Mercantile” for the feeder side:

Double-decker cats (Porcini on the awning, Poppy on the deck):

Pippin is fascinated by the cats on my iPad:

With the big and small ponds frozen, birds have been taking advantage of the heated water dish (when the cats are elsewhere):

Poppy:

More snuggles:

A daytime screenshot of my iPad, showing Pansy in the shop and others. I really gotta put her on a diet:

What’s this? More snuggles! How shocking:

All five cats inside:

Breakfast queue:

Me refilling the heated water dish. Since the garden taps are disabled for the winter, I bring out a bottle of water (a reused creamer bottle) to flush and refill the dish: