Breezeway cat cabin

Since we’re having freezing temperatures at present, and Pumpkin has been hogging the cat house and cabins, I thought I’d get another heated shelter for the other cats, and put it further away.

At first, I had the notion and wrote up a design to build a shelter on top of a new enclosure for our well, since the current one is kinda ugly and falling apart:

Well enclosure

Here’s inside; the well head, plus an electrical outlet that powers the chicken coops and an Eero to help spread the Wi-Fi mesh (amusingly named “Well Actually”):

Well head and Eero

But I had some misgivings with that concept, as it’d take a while to build, by which time the worst of the cold would be past, and I’m not sure they would use it there anyway, among other issues. So I decided to put aside that concept for now; I might revisit it in the future.

Anyway, I thought that a more immediate, cheaper, and easier option would be to just buy another prefab heated shelter like I have for the cabins. And that I could put it in the breezeway next to our workshop, where the cats often walk, which would also protect it from the elements:

Breezeway

Some of the cats walk through there every day, on their way to other haunts in the trees on the east side of our property.

I put the shelter on the lower shelf of the (largely unused) heavy-duty shelving in the breezeway, and (me being me) also got a camera to watch it:

Cat cabin and cam on shelf

So far, the camera has shown only a couple of cats (one of the twins, and Bella) investicating it, including going inside, but nobody has stayed for long:

Investicating new shelter

Time will tell if that is a successful location. If they don’t end up using it, I could try putting junk around it to make it less exposed, or move it elsewhere. We’ll see. At least now they have the option of another heated shelter if they want it.

Cat update for week ending January 11

This week: using the cat house a bit more, Paladout becoming accepted, Pumpkin and Bella not so much, a little snow, and more.

But first, a Steller’s Jay on the cat house deck:

Steller's Jay

Pommie (I think) and Bella:

Pommie and Bella

One of the twins inside the cat house; not sure if Pommie or Spud, though probably Pommie. They have spent several nights in the cat house, since Pumpkin has mostly vacated it in favor of the cabins:

Cat inside

Poppy entering the feeder via the back door:

Poppy going in feeder back door

Poppy and Bella:

Poppy and Bella

Porcini and Paladout seem to be getting quite comfortable with each other. Here Paladout approaches Porcini fairly closely:

Porcini and Paladout

When she turns around, he backs off a bit, but they seems happy enough; not even a warning hiss:

Porcini and Paladout

Pumpkin arrival:

Pumpkin arrival

Using the back door:

Pumpkin arrival and exit

The twins on the deck:

Twins

Pumpkin is still using the cat house a bit, typically just before breakfast, while waiting for it to dispense:

Pumpkin inside

Our dog Rory inside, watching Pumpkin by the gate (look closely… and a hummingbird visible too). She can react to seeing cats on the deck by jumping up on the window, which is strongly discouraged; we’re worried that one day she’ll break it:

Rory watching Pumpkin

The cabins with their typical occupants, Pommie and Pumpkin:

Cabins

A twin on top of the camera housing, watching Paladout:

Watching Paladout

The cat house façade and signs:

Cat house signs

A fun detail; a cactus ornament in the feeder cupboard window:

Cactus ornament in window

When I do my morning rounds, and refill the bird feeders, Pumpkin often retreats, but sometimes he stays in the cabin and watches me warily; here he was slowly blinking (cat smile) while I reassured him he was safe there:

Pumpkin in cabin

Bella and Pumpkin really don’t get along. Here she is entering the feeder, and Pumpkin is way over by the bird feeders:

Bella by feeder, Pumpkin by birds

As soon as Pumpkin saw her, he came running up:

Pumpkin running up

And they had a bit of an encounter in the feeder:

Bella and Pumpkin

Followed by a rapid exit out the back door:

Bella and Pumpkin

A tail sticking out the back door:

Tail sticking out door

Two cats watching a bird:

Watching a bird

Paladout, with Porcini peeking around the corner:

Paladout and Porcini

Paladout eating, Porcini watching from the back door:

Paladout and Porcini

More Porcini peeking, this time on our main deck, watching me inside our house:

Porcini on deck

My first hint that it was snowing the other day was seeing some white flecks on a cat in the feeder:

Snowy cat

As mentioned, a twin has been spending the night in the cat house, but Pumpkin likes to turn up in the morning to wait for breakfast. That of course led to them having a face-off, with Pumpkin outside and the twin growling and hissing to defend the house:

Pumpkin and a twin

After a few minutes, Pumpkin decided to wait in the feeder instead:

Pumpkin and a twin

A sneak peek of snow:

Snow

Cat footprints in the snow on the bird box:

Snow

We’re expecting much more snow next week, so you can look forward to more snowy pictures if that eventuates.

Flock Friday for January 10

This week: some treats, some snow.

But first, pre-dawn ducks:

Pre-dawn ducks

Chickens enjoying rice, their second-favorite treat (after mealworms):

Chickens enjoying rice

Ducks enjoying mealworm treats:

Ducks enjoying treats

We got a sneak peek of snow this week. Here’s the tree by the chicken runs, laden with snow:

Tree by chicken runs laden with snow

As usual when it snows, the chicken run roof netting collapsed under the weight. Someday I’ll get around to replacing it with welded wire:

Run roof netting collapse

Chickens with a little residue of snow:

Chickens with snow

Snow on the duck house roof:

Snow on duck house

Snowy pond bank:

Snowy pond bank

Me tossing treats to the ducks:

David giving treats

The ducks in the pond (which isn’t at all frozen), surrounded by snowy banks and trees:

Snowy

Cat update for week ending January 4

Some more feeder back door tweaks this week, among other things.

The cats seem to be accepting Paladout; he has been hanging around pretty much every day, and they’ve walked by without seeming concerned by him:

Paladout

A different configuration of three cats:

Three cats

Porcini closeup:

Porcini

Pommie and Pumpkin at the cabins:

Pommie and Pumpkin

Poppy closeup. She always looks grumpy:

Poppy

Some birds making poor life choices:

Birds

Porcini not at all bothered by Paladout:

Porcini and Paladout

Graceful Pumpkin:

Graceful Pumpkin

A long-distance zoomed shot of Pumpkin in the house and two others on a rock:

Pumpkin in the house, two others on a rock

Me refilling the feeder; you can see the feeder drawer out, and I’m dumping excess food into plastic bins that get stored on the top shelf:

Refilling feeder

Pumpkin looking handsome:

Pumpkin

Puzzle time; there are four cats here; can you see all of them?

Four cats

A cat peeking out from under the house, while another cat scratched the tree:

Cat under house, cat scratching tree

The cat under the house reached out and tagged the tail of the other one:

Cat under house, cat scratching tree

The latter then jumped a bit:

Cat under house, cat scratching tree

Paladout eating in the feeder, and is blocked from leaving by another cat. He considered using the new back door, but wasn’t sure about it (which is strange, since he’s clearly a pet cat, since he has a collar; perhaps his humans let him out instead of having a cat door?):

Paladout blocked in feeder

He tried to get past, but couldn’t:

Paladout blocked in feeder

Paladout peeking from behind one of the twins, who was ignoring him; the twin eventually wandered off, so Paladout could leave:

Paladout blocked in feeder

So based on that, I decided to help them further, and attached a bungee to hold the feeder door open:

Feeder door held open

Didn’t take them long to investicat the opened door:

Investicating door

Peeking in the door:

Peeking in door

They seem to like it open; they can now freely exit and enter through the door:

Entering door

Pumpkin:

Pumpkin

Going out the door:

Going out door

The original reason for installing the door: escaping Pumpkin:

Escaping Pumpkin

It was still a big step, a bit awkward, so I then added a cinderblock to make it more comfortable to use:

Step

Two cats investicating the step:

Investicating step

Finally, a harder puzzle; again there are four cats; can you see all of them?

Four cats

Flock Friday for January 3

A fairly short post this week.

We went away for two nights during the holidays, and were greeted on our return with 15 eggs in one of the nesting boxes (and a few in another):

Eggs in nesting box

Some of the chickens enjoying treats in the old coop:

Chickens

The ducks:

Ducks

I captured a shot of the ducks on the pond at midnight at the new year (see the timestamp); probably not enjoying the distant fireworks:

New Year ducks

Later, some night fish:

Night fish

I haven’t seen much of the fish recently, since it’s been so cold; they’re mostly hibernating in the deep end. Though I do occasionally see a few.

The ducks in their house, having breakfast:

Ducks in house

Back on the pond:

Ducks

Finally, a few chickens:

Chickens

Cat update for week ending December 28

Let’s check on the cats.

Three cats from the temporary side cam (aka mobile cam), from before I installed the cat door:

Cats from side cam

Pumpkin peeking from inside the cat house:

Pumpkin peeking

Peering around the corner:

Peering around the corner

Porcini closeup:

Porcini closeup

Between cabins:

Between cabins

Twins:

Twins

Checking out the cat door installation:

Checking out cat door installation

Um, there seems to be a hole in the wall:

There's a hole in the wall

Three cats:

Three cats

Four cats:

Four cats

Poppy and Pumpkin inside:

Poppy and Pumpkin inside

Pumpkin between cabins:

Pumpkin between cabins

Heading out, don’t mind me:

Heading out, don't mind me

Another day, both cabins occupied by the same cats again:

Cabins occupied

Paladout closeup:

Paladout closeup

Paladout arriving, watched by two others; they seem to be getting used to him:

Paladout

Three cats:

Three cats

Jumping onto the camera housing:

Jumping onto camera housing

A sequence of Pumpkin squirming off the deck, while Paladout watches from around the corner:

A sequence of Pumpkin squirming off the deck

Two cats:

Two cats

Flock Friday for December 27

The pictures this week are pretty evenly split between hummingbirds, ducks, and chickens.

The hummingbirds have been very hungry this week; I’ve been having to refill their favorite feeder pretty much every day. There are 11 hummers on this feeder; can you see all of them?

Hummingbirds

Foggy pond:

Foggy pond

The chickens have mostly kept to their own coops so far, though Lola (the introverted chicken) did spend one night in the new coop:

Lola in the new coop

Ducks:

Ducks

Pippin in my arms, watching hummingbirds:

Pippin watching hummingbirds

After refilling the feeder (yet again), I stood there a moment and captured them a couple of feet away:

Standing next to hummingbird feeder

Partially frozen pond:

Partially frozen pond

Ducks

More frozen pond; they struggled through the ice to come see me (or rather Gert struggled while Bert followed along behind; I’m sure one could have gender commentary about that):

More frozen pond

On rounds (see Rory by the coop), the chickens rushing to the new coop, where I was dispensing treats for the chickens there:

Chickens

Adding a back door to the cat feeder

As mentioned in previous Caturday posts, I wanted to add a back door to the feeder area of the cat house, to enable a cat to escape if trapped inside by another cat (let’s be honest, Pumpkin) or wildlife.

After considering various options, I decided that the best place for a door would be on the side, next to the access door. A big advantage with this location is that usage of the door would be visible from both the outside cam and the feeder cam.

Today the weather was clear enough (albeit very cold) for me to do this.

Here’s the side of the cat house, prior to installation:

Side of the cat house

A view from the feeder cam of me cutting a rough hole in the wall with my jigsaw:

Cutting a rough hole in the wall

This rough hole let me confirm the position and such:

Rough hole in the wall

I then made the hole larger, based on the cat door template, and tried fitting the door insert (a little tight here):

Larger hole and trying insert

I paused for lunch, and a cat investigated my handiwork:

Cat investigating

Me screwing the door insert into wood blocks above and below it:

David screwing insert

Horizontal boards above and below the insert give it something to mount onto. I also (rather messily) removed portions of the batten boards:

Boards and insert in place

The outside portion of the door installed:

Outside installed

Inside; you can see the mounting boards:

Inside

Outside with screw caps:

Outside with screw caps

I touched up the paint above and below the door:

Painted

Finished:

Finished

Now that I’m done, I kinda wish I had gotten a white door, instead of brown. I got brown to match the other two cat doors (front and back of the shelter portion), but those are on red walls, so brown works better; white would have worked better here. Oh well; I’m sure I won’t notice after a while, and I could replace it if it really bothers me.

Finally, a cat peeking out:

Cat peeking out

Merry Christmas cats! 🎄

Cat update for week ending December 21

It seems like just yesterday that it was Caturday, but here we are again.

Pumpkin, handsome as ever:

Pumpkin

I’m beginning to get the impression that Pumpkin and Portabella (aka Bella) don’t get along; there were a few incidents with them this week, starting with this one where Pumpkin arrived, and instead of his usual polite hanging back, rushed forward and swiped at Bella as she rapidly egressed:

Unfriendly Pumpkin

A cat under a tree in our field:

In the field

Porcini and Pommie:

Porcini and Pommie

Porcini looking at the camera, with a couple more in the background:

Porcini etc

I mentioned last time that I plan to add a back door to the feeder. I was originally going to put it above the feeder, but I decided it’d be easier and in some ways better to instead go through the wall next to the access door. So I moved the water dispenser outside, and cleaned out the leaves:

David cleaning out leaves

The water dispenser next to the heated water dish and camera:

Waterer

Something’s different:

Something's different

Bella about to jump onto the camera housing:

Bella about to jump onto the camera housing

A twin by the cabins:

Twin

Bella inside the house:

Bella inside house

Pumpkin arrived, and they had another incident, with Bella and Pumpkin having a bit of a fight. Again, I think they have a personality conflict; with Poppy, Pumpkin would just hang back, but with Bella he went on the offensive:

Bella and Pumpkin fighting

After some swiping and bad language, he went out the front, and she went out the back.

Peeking at Pumpkin:

Peeking at Pumpkin

A twin (probably Pommie) and Pumpkin in the cabins:

Twin and Pumpkin

Paladout on the deck, Pumpkin approaching:

Paladout and Pumpkin

Paladout backed away:

Paladout and Pumpkin

Pumpkin started rolling around and rubbing on the edge of the deck, without a care in the world, while Paladout cautiously watched from the feeder:

Paladout and Pumpkin

The twins, looking rather freaked out by the strong winds:

Twins

And others similarly concerned:

Freaked out by wind

Paladout from the mobile camera:

Paladout

Pumpkin:

Pumpkin

I then moved the mobile camera to next to the cat house, in anticipation of installing the back door. Porcini watched me from a safe distance:

Porcini

The mobile camera in a new location. Now I just need to wait for the rain to stop long enough to install the new cat door (to the right of the access door):

Moved camera