Kittens!

Just before the end of March, our outdoor female cat, Beatrix, who had been VERY pregnant, disappeared for a couple of days and then re-appeared, no longer pregnant and VERY hungry! Of course, we knew that she had had her kittens, but we didn't know where they were. We figured that they were well hidden somewhere and that she would probably bring them out in about 4 weeks.

When more than 5 weeks had passed, and we still had seen no kittens, we assumed the worst: that they must have died. In fact, Beatrix, who had been coming by to eat nearly every day, seemed a little sad and weary.

But about a week ago, I was out hanging some laundry to dry on our east patio, and, to my great surprise, I saw two kittens! They were over on our neighbors' porch next to their front door. When I went towards the kittens, they, of course, ran away. I followed a bit, and then I knew where Beatrix was hiding her litter -- behind our neighbors' shed. They were well hidden, too, under some long wood slats. Of course, I didn't want to disturb them, so I didn't move anything (besides, it's our NEIGHBORS' yard!).

At first, we assumed that she must have had only 2 kittens, since we saw these same 2 a couple more times. But then one day, I looked out and saw 2 kittens that were definitely DIFFERENT than these two! It now appears that she has at least FIVE kittens, since David saw that many all at one time. Mostly, though, we only see 2 or 3 at a time, and they are ALL terrified of us, so they scamper away whenever we happen upon them.

Today, I had opened the heavy rolling metal blinds of the security room to let some light in while I was feeding the snakes there. When I went in there later, I saw 2 of the kittens (the 1st 2 that we had seen, I think) exploring by the window. Although they did spot me, they didn't run away right away because the floor of the room is 7 steps (maybe about 3 feet or more) lower than the patio outside, where they were, so I didn't seem so big this time. Also, they probably couldn't see me as clearly through the glass as I could see them.

I left the blinds open, and later this afternoon, we saw 2 of the others playing and just having a grand time out there. By this time, the sun was shining directly on the window, so they probably couldn't see us watching them at all due to the glare.

Of course, I don't have any pictures to share at all (that window is WAY too dirty!), but eventually they'll get accustomed to us, and I'll get some nice photos of them.