X is for … X-Rated! #A-ZPhotoChallenge #AnimalTales 01/03/2016

Okay….promise me that you won’t zoom in on this photo of a squirrel…..and his nuts!!

I SWEAR I had no idea until I got home and looked at the photo on the computer screen – honest!

I was actually disappointed with the quality of the photos I’d taken on my phone – every one was fuzzy, but there’s still…..erm…..a lot of detail on some of them!

This was one of my morning walks. It was a lovely one; late enough to miss the school kids and the dog walkers, so I wasn’t tempted to stop and natter, but I was absolutely amazed at the number of squirrels who were out and playing in the winter sunshine – so I stopped walking anyhow!

Usually I see the odd one or two squirrels, but there were masses of them, in very high spirits from the warmth I think. They were darting up and down the trees, jumping over the river and running in and out of the gardens which adjoin this wooded area. It was a lovely sight.

I did get one more reasonable-ish photo….

I showed this one (thankfully not the other one!) to my nephew, Euan, who is three, and asked him what it was. His answer? A rabbit….

 

 

Pin Up Boy! #AnimalTales

Well, when Shadow came to live with us we had no idea about his secret career as a Calendar Cat! We have a constant stream of girl cats knocking down the cat flap trying to get in to get his paw print – honestly, we could do with kittyguards on the door 24/7 to keep off the caterwauling fans!

Okay, perhaps that’s not entirely true, but when Shadow first came to live with us you may remember he was a very shy and nervous boy who had a myriad of hiding places. When he began to settle down, this was one of the first photos I managed to get of him playing with one of his new toys. I was so pleased at the change in him that I sent the photo to the local Cats Protection to show them the transformation. I had an email back from them to ask whether I’d like enter Shadow’s photo into the competition to appear in their fundraising calendar – well, of course! I was so pleased to see that he “made it” and is October’s pin-up, which is quite appropriate given that 27th October is National Black Cat Day!

It’s a really beautiful calendar full of lots of local rescued cats and a great idea as I’m sure all of the owners of its starring cats bought at least one copy, like us!

So, if you’d like to form an orderly queue, Shadow will be available soon for autographs…..!  I’ll leave you with a photo of Obie, yet another local stunning pin-up. Aren’t we rich in handsome kitties around here?!

I AM Going Outside! #AnimalTales

When Shadow moved in with us we had strict instructions that he should be kept inside for 3 to 4 weeks so that he got used to us and used to his new home. At first this didn’t appear to be a problem. We weren’t sure if he had ever been allowed outside before, and whenever we opened the door to the garden he hid at the far side of the kitchen with his eyes popping out of his head with shock! After he’d been with us for just over a week though, that changed when he suddenly decided he WAS going to be an outside cat, and most definitely wasn’t waiting 3 to 4 weeks for it to happen. He seemed quite happy to come out sit and watch the washing being hung out, or Kev working on the garden…and then suddenly Kev turned his back one day and Shadow was up and on the garden fence. Shadow was actually very sensible about it and walked the length of the gardens on our street on top of all the fences, having a nose as he went along. Hanging out of Holly’s bedroom window with my camera lens zoomed right out, I could just about spot him. Not knowing if this was his first outdoor venture ever, Kev decided to go out of our back gate and follow him along the lane. He came back shortly afterwards to get Shadow’s treats to try to tempt him back to the garden. A while later I heard him come back again and went downstairs to greet the pair of intrepid adventurers….just in time to see Kev walking up the garden with blood dripping from his nose! The moral of the story of course is not to try to carry pet treats in one hand and a fully clawed up cat (who hasn’t been out of a pen for much more than a week in the past 3-4 month to blunt off those claws!) under the other arm! Waiting to see if Shadow would come back of his own accord was nerve wracking, but seeing him walking along that fence up to our house was so pleasing. And when he did it again and again, meaning he WANTED to come back and had chosen to be part of our family, well, that was just wonderful. With his cat flap now fitted into the kitchen door he goes and, even better, comes back as he wishes. As we’re getting to know more about him, he seems to be night time cat – happy to laze around the house all day and then go out prowling in the evenings. They grow up so quickly!!

Stepping out of the Shadow….

…..to introduce you to the new boy in our lives.

Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan with our adoption of Cartman the cat last month. We thought we’d bitten off more than we could chew, but sadly it was he who was a bit too handy with his teeth. We weren’t able to stop him biting in totally unprovoked attacks. Cats Protection League were more than understanding when we called to say we had a problem and said that we should take him back immediately to have another chance at being rehomed. I’m hoping he has found a new home where he’s happier now. I think perhaps somewhere with just adults or out of town would be good as Holly was scared of him, and we were worried about the children living in our street in case they came the wrong side of his teeth.

We were pretty shaken by the whole episode but decided that we did want to go ahead and have another cat in our lives. When he was calm, he was a lovely cat, happy to sit with you and follow your every move. It was like having a little shadow at times.

And now we have a real Shadow! He came to us from the local branch of CPL, is three years old and, sadly, had been with them for several months. Did you know that traditionally black cats are difficult to rehome? Can’t understand why!

Shadow was VERY nervous when he first came home with us, spending his first night hidden behind the curtains under the table. Much of the second day was spent hidden under the settee and then, when he did venture out, trying to find any other hiding places he could…..This one nearly gave ME kittens…..!

Thankfully he managed to get down as easily as he’d got up there and, after a few days was settling in nicely and even taking a few tentative steps at beginning to play with his toys and scratching post.

This is him looking far more relaxed, just one week in.

So, hopefully this time we’ve got it right and Shadow will continue to be a happy and content member of our family. I hope that this time I’ll get to share lots more stories with you, and bore you to tears with photos of him too!

A New Family Member! #AnimalTales

Having thought about it long and hard, on Sunday we popped to Axhayes Adoption Centre, part of the Cats Protection League, in Exeter. We always had cats before we moved house and have missed having one in the new house. We were going just to investigate as we’ve always had kittens before and never adopted a cat. However, the people at Axhayes turned out to be really lovely and helpful and we came away having found ourselves reserved a cat!

We’d spent ages over the past weeks looking at the Axhayes cats on the website so it was almost like a celebrity encounter to finally come face to face with the likes of the gorgeous Augustus, Molly and wonderfully sad but equally gorgeous Shrimp.

While Holly was busy getting to know Val, something else was going on in one of the other pens. Kevin, who we’d had trouble persuading that a cat was a good idea, was getting to know a lovely grey tabby who had been named Cartman by the Centre (after the family who brought him in to them). I’m not really sure who chose who – as soon as the door of the pen was opened Cartman launched himself at Kev and we had trouble keeping him in place – he wanted to come home with us (other cats please note, this is an amazing technique, try it!).

We reserved Cartman there and then, with the idea of picking him up Wednesday this week….he’s here already! Kev managed to get away from work early yesterday, picked up Cartman and it’s already like he’s been with us forever. We anticipated a few teething problems as little was known about his past and he had been a bit “antsy” before the Centre neutered him. But, so far so good! He had quite a restless night, but with the high winds and all of the associated noise we’ve had, it’s hardly surprising. Today he’s just lounging around the place like he owns it….just like a cat should!

I See Sea Birds! #AnimalTales

We’d never been to Poole before, but found ourselves there and having a lovely afternoon walking around the old town and harbour area.

I think Oystercatchers must be very common around the edge of the water in this area as we were the only ones walking along taking any notice of them whatsoever! With the amount of noise they were making as they flew along the waters edge, they were hard to ignore. Some were picking along alone and others in big groups. With their amazing long beaks they made fascinating watching (well, to us at least!).

We then spotted this beauty, sitting quite happily just down from a busy bridge and road, seemingly unbothered by the noise of the traffic. We thought it might be a juvenile shag, but to be honest weren’t quite sure. My plea for anyone out there who might be able to identify him/her was kindly answered by Stella Lee @Purfylle – thank you very much for your help! Obviously our first up close and personal with a cormorant 🙂