Kitten Watching

I've been home for a good two weeks, and I'm still not really "back". I'm in this zone where I just can't get it together for more than an hour. I can't concentrate. I have very little desire to do much of anything.

My problem? Kittens.

Yep. The little darlings have me hypnotized. I watch them playing, sleeping and so on. You see, mommy cat moved them, coz they were getting bigger. So she put them under these large juniper type bushes that grow low to the ground, and the main trunks are larger around than my thigh. These bushes are situated right out side my office widows. I sometimes can look out and see these little cuties running, climbing up and around their "jungle gym" and I get so engrossed in their antics, I get nothing done. I think, though most people can forgive me for being so engrossed in them.

And then someone mentioned that one--a black and white--has the look of a Maine Coon (American Longhair). That wasn't the first this was mentioned. Mother cat is just a plain tiger cat. Nothing too special, but her fur seems thick--not long, or anything out of the ordinary. But the color is buff. She also hisses when my husband goes out and feeds her. She will alternate with these gravely meows. Our neighbor, who took care of them while we were gone, said that a Maine Coon does this in greeting. Some greeting. My husband is her keeper, although he will not admit to owning her. She is more wild than tame. Or is this just the way a Maine Coon acts?

I had to look up Main Coons. They are beautiful animals (above picture is one), and they are quite different from other cats. The one thing that struck me was that Maine Coons are not your typical "lap" cats. They will not come up and want affection from you. They are more aloof than any other cat.

Their name apparently comes from both the color, and that big tail. The fur is gorgeous, and there are as many color mixtures as there are in any cat world. The legend of how they came to be in America. Various stories survive. One being that ships at some point brought a type of long-haired cat to our shores, they jumped out much like the sailors and mated with the mainland womenfolk. They may have been from the Vikings who brought with them the Norwegian cat (to the right) which look pretty large and capable of surviving winters.

There are 5 kittens in this batch, and I have a window seat every afternoon and evening, and I watch them play. When they get going, it's like they've got fire under them. Jumping, chasing, creating new ways of crouching and then displaying that stiff-legged, arched back thing. It's hilarious! I feel like I'm in one of those zoos where you watch on one side of the window and they continue on as though you aren't there. I see them learn something new each day. Now they are able to capture things in their paws. They haven't been able to do that before this week.

Are they related to the Main Coon? I don't know. They say that Main Coons have fur between the pads of their paws. I've not been able to befriend them that well, yet. Only one--the runt--seems friendly enough to stick around. It also meows. Only one has unusual coloring a black back and two long white socks in the back and his eyes are outlined in white. Something they all have and I don't know if that's a trait. But the rest look more like the mother. The other four are tigers--gray or the buff color of the mother. But two have some white on their paws. My little runt has been the only one to come near me. He's the only one who doesn't run and hide. I may have to give him/her a special name. I've already named the black and white one Captain Jack. If it's a girl it will be Captain Jane. He's the larger of all and only one with longer fur.

Well, that's why I've had nothing to post. That, and because I'm waiting to get those pictures to post. Among them I hope to have some decent kitten pictures.

All for now.