Kittens!

This morning when I went down into the dungeon (aka basement) to deal with the laundry and turn off the heat, I heard these little squeaking sounds. At first I thought: "Birds? Mice? No, that's kitty sounds!" I then located the sounds outside the basement. Outside one of the windows were some feline babies!

Outside of said window we've let some vines take over and there is a pile of tree limbs and yard waste. The momma kitty decided that this was the prime spot for her kitten nest. The babies must have just started to move about and cry. There is a third kitten not pictured. Pooky had to rescue the third one because it had gotten itself tangled up in the branches and vines.

The momma kitty creeps around the yard, so it explains why we've been seeing a lot of her! Last night she was on the front porch just looking around. Pooky decided to put the kittens in a box with a blanket and have them inside the basement, just beneath the window. We've left the window open for the momma to come inside (he set up some boxes for her to jump around on) and set out some food and water for her. Hopefully she will accept her accommodations and continue to care for her babies.

We figure the babies are about 4 weeks old, they still need another cuople of weeks of care from her before they are ready to face the world on their own. The question came up can we have three more cats to care for? The answer is no—having even one more right now would be pushing it. I hate to turn them over to the animal shelter, but that may be our best bet. I don't want to give them away to strangers.

I'd like to think that this is further proof of our house being a Shrone House. There is something about this place that is a real cat-magnet. I've seen the momma cat in the neighborhood since we moved in and I think she once belonged to tenants in the apartment house behind us, but since that place has people coming and going, I think she got left behind awhile back.

Now that she has entered Shronedom with her brood of three, she'll be taken care of. (BTW, Mr. Doo is not very pleased with the presence of kittens. I think he fears the competition for cuteness.)