Breakfast: A Wild Time -- Literally

At our house breakfast is a wild time -- literally.

This morning I fed 8 indoor cats, 5 outside cats, and 20 raccoons in age from babies to teens to grandparents. Last night was the same. Huge crowd. With temps in mid to upper 90s it's affecting the wildlife. No food, no water.

Even Danny was here this morning, unusual for him. I'm guessing he and his sidekick Davy are sticking closer than they have in the past.

I spied the brother of the blind baby raccoon Helen this morning. [See Helen's story on right sidebar.] A year ago June was when I grabbed her. Helen's brother, Huck, had a half blind left eye. Well the raccoon Ray and I have been watching walk on his back legs, carrying food to the pool to dunk, is Huck. This morning I shooed him for the umpteenth time off porch where cats were eating, and finally figured out he wanted water to eat with. So I tossed kibble into the pool. He sat in it happily eating the floating kibbles.

YumYum: "He's eating my food. I don't want the food, but I don't want Huck to have it either."

I started supplying the local wildlife with food and water 5 years ago when we had a bad drought that lasted for weeks with no rain and 100+ temperatures. I'd noticed my outside cat's water was yucky every morning, and then I spied a raccoon out at noon, eating leftover kibble and gulping water. I saw more and more clustered along the woodline. I bought a baby pool and scattered dog kibble. And they came, bringing babies and grandparents. I worried my neighbors would freak, but they thought the family was high entertainment, and since the raccoons proved to be an unusually orderly bunch -- few fights, no messes and no ravaging of neighbor's property, everyone seems fine with me feeding the group.

Tucking Them In

I make my rounds tonight, tucking in my fur babies. Some sleep in pink puffy beds, some stretched out across the back of a sofa or curled into a ball on a camp chair. Most get a kiss on the brow from me. A couple are too macho for Meowmy kisses.

It's in the 50s tonight. Because I'm a pushover for little girl cats like Chauncie Marie and YumYum, I brought out the heat lamps and blankets, put away since we've hit over 90 for several weeks now.

As I write this Herman is snoring softly in his pink bed. Gidget is in her loft over the refrigerator. Barney warms is belly atop the cable tv box. And Opie is silently pantomiming his need for a few more Temptations, a most excellent bedtime snack.