Mama Kitty and Stubs

When Janice first moved here, there was a sweet black and white cat she nicknamed Mama Kitty, for good reason. Mama kept them well supplied with little black and white mouse catchers.  


The cats lived in barns and out buildings and except for coming to the house for food or water, they kept to themselves.

When Mama Kitty was nursing her kittens, she kept her distance from Jan, but when she wasn’t caring for little ones, she was friendly enough to accept some petting.  

Papa Kitty was a black cat with stubby, flat ears named Stubs. Mama Kitty and Stubs had an interesting, and rather unusual relationship for a pair of barn cats. Stubs would disappear when the kittens had grown big enough to fend for themselves, but when Mama Kitty was caring for babies, he was always around and helped her take care of them. Although Stubs accepted Jan and the family, he was never friendly enough to come up to them. And the youngun’s followed suit. They would scatter when people came near.

Oftentimes a cat would hide under a vehicle in the yard, but most were wary enough of humans, and when someone walked toward the car, there would be a flash of black and white shooting away into the bushes. Sometimes, though, they would perch on the undercarriage out of the wind, perhaps to get closer to engine heat. And that would lead to new adventures for an unsuspecting, but very agile kitty. I’ve mentioned before that farm cats come and go. Several of Janice’s cats have managed to hitch rides to new places, on the family car.

Last fall, Janice took the kids to an orchard 50 miles away in order to go through the corn maze. When we got out of the van, a woman said she thought she heard a cat. As Janice leaned over to check under the car, a black and white cat shot out from the undercarriage and dashed away into the field. He had ridden the entire way under the car!

On more than one occasion Mike has discovered a black and white cat from home hopping off from under the car, at his workplace 30 miles away.

And Susie, the black cat that is currently living here, hitched a ride on someone’s car from a neighboring farm.

Mama and Stubs aren’t here anymore. Last winter, Mama moved to the farm down the road. I can only hope that Stubs is somewhere around there.

Susie now reigns as the kitten producer. Tiger Tom is co-producer. But he’s not the faithful father that Stubs was.

Susie is sweet and the kittens are adorable, but I have to admit that I miss seeing Stubs and Mama Kitty. They really were a special pair.

Black Cat Farm

When we arrived at Janice’s house a week ago, we were greeted by a bevy of cats. This is a great change from years past, when I would drive in and the cats would scatter. 

Janice’s cats were typical farm cats. Farm cats come and go. They are outdoor cats. Some are wild/feral. Some are just wary. They roam from farm to farm. They take off for parts unknown. And unfortunately, coyotes help maintain the population.  Janice’s cat population used to be black and white cats. That has changed, as well.

Last winter was exceptionally cold. Most of her cats usually found shelter in the various barns and out buildings, but a few were very young and were living more or less out in the open. When the temperatures plummeted well below zero, Janice piled some old blankets on the enclosed porch and caught as many of them as she could. Most of the cats were happy to sleep inside at night but scampered outside first thing in the morning.  One black cat, a single young one, liked the porch and was always ready to come back in at night. ‘Susie’ had found a home. And then, Susie gave birth to 4 black kittens. The kittens grew, stayed and are now happily ensconced in their surroundings.

They hover near the door when the wind blows.

They roam around the yard when the weather’s nice and hide under the trees at night to sleep.

They guard the place from various perches.

Warren was very happy. Warren loves cats. By the time the weather warmed up, and the cats could go outside, a very happy relationship had been solidified between the cats and the family, especially Warren. The end result of that cold winter was a new crop of tame farm cats.

The cats have names. Kisser is Warren’s favorite. (He’s a licker.) Susie is mom to several of the others.  And Scar is the one with the single white whisker! To Larry and I they all look alike. And noticing one white whisker takes a pretty good eye.

Susie has apparently found a beau. The porch is currently home to 4 adorable little kittens; 2 tigers, and 2 (more!) black cats.  The population may change in the future. But for now…..

Welcome to Black Cat Farm.

 (By the way, all of these pictures were taken at the same time. They are not the same cats! I've counted 7 so far, but who really knows....?)