Thursday, December 4, 2014

Barn Catting

Last winter, we saw a mysterious cat wandering in and out of the barn.  I even saw it inside the barn a few times, scurrying toward a corner where he (?) could duck into a little hole under the floor.  I don't remember ever seeing him over the summer, but now he's back again.  I have seen him a few times, and then a few days ago Ella found a mouse head/face on her sled in the barn.  It was gross, but at least I know the cat is doing something to pull his weight, which is more than I can say for our indoor dandy cat, Harvey.

With the temperatures dropping faster than the barn's mouse population, I decided the least I could do was give him a little shelter.  I built this little shelter out of foam board, which should trap in his body heat.
Note: the foam board was pink when I bought; I didn't paint it that way as part of some macho headgame to emasculate the cat or anyone else.
I stuffed some hay in there, as well.  And made the entrance enticing by spraying it with catnip.  I put it under some shelving we have, with the little door right up against the hole I've seen the cat disappear into.


As I was finishing it and putting it into place, I kept thinking "the trap is set," then reminding myself that it's not a trap.  The cat is free to come and go as he pleases.   I've just been assuming it's a homeless cat, but maybe he passes through here on his rounds for the mice. For all I know he lives in the ridiculous faux-Italian mansion down the street that was clearly designed by someone who likes cocaine a lot.

Looks like our wiffle bat fell into the cat hole.
With the door up against the wall, I will also have no idea if the cat is actually using it or not.  I'm certainly not going to stick my face down there to peer inside after seeing what he did to that mouse.  I guess i can put my outdoor wireless thermometer sensor in there, which should pick up the cat's body heat.  Or maybe I will just keep my eyes peeled for a cat walking around with bits of hay stuck to him.

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