The Worst Drop Off Year To Date

If you give any credit to my main indicator theory of Economic decline than the signs show the economy is getting worse.

What is this magical sign that accurately judges the economic health of at least the region around the Small-Hold you may ask?

Well it's simple really I just add up the number of stray animals that show up around here looking for a home. I find it is usually a pretty good indicator of just how bad things out there have gotten.

The Small-Hold has a lot of cats. Most are barn cats and a couple more think they are rough and tough outside cats until it gets cold anyway so we are not over run by the little vermin but it is to the point that I have stopped naming them and just assign them numbers. Thank the Lord for those little $25.00 Spay and Neuter vouchers the local cat lover associations give out. These groups are quick to demand no kill shelters and refuse to take any kittens off our hands but they do give out those vouchers pretty generously.

We also have some kind of symbiotic cat population going on with the neighbors too. Our last two barn cats left over from last year's dumping vacated the barn and moved next door when this years batch showed up. 

I am not even going to tell you what our yearly stray cat Vet bills run these days. In fact I am in complete denial and refuse to actually tell myself.

This year's total stray cat numbers came up to seven kittens and one mother cat. Two kittens showed up individually spaced a week or so apart but the other five showed up together and were safely hidden in the barn by the mother cat. I think they were there a good week or so before I discovered them and only came out after the mother cat got hit on the road and they were on their own. They were not born in the barn though because they were not feral, only shy and skittish. Within a few days three of the five were already purring and expecting to be petted while the two really shy ones couldn't help but be drawn to where ever people were even if they didn't want to be caught. They would always be within 20 feet or so playing in the open.

The two individual kittens were so happy to see a person they climbed up my pants legs and shirt all the way to my shoulder when they were discovered.

So far all but two of them (The really shy ones) have been captured and either delivered to their new homes or taken to a local shelter via a lucky family member who lives in town. The wife spends hours trapping and taming them so she can find them all homes or they have a good chance of being adopted.

Anyway this is the largest volume of strays we have had dumped on us to date. Last year was five but this year is really eight with one fatality. Considering kittens don't travel very far out here it really means someone is almost pulling up into the driveway and dumping these cats too. I am sure this last batch was dumped in my driveway and mom herded the entire brood to the first available building she could find which happened to be the barn. Small cats don't last long in the open fields here with all the hawks.

One of these days I am going to catch someone doing the deed and there are going to be dead bodies to take care of I swear. This constant stray issue is something that has really just developed since about 2008. I mean it has always happened out here but the numbers have ballooned drastically since 2008 to where it's a sure thing each Summer through Fall.

Whomever dumps these cats and dogs is about the lowest form of  life I can think of.  Rating only slightly better than cannibals, democrats and feminist in my book. I must admit though my buddies known as Sasha, Penelope and Pantheon wouldn't be here to follow me everywhere I go around the place if it hadn't been for the lowlife dumpers.

In a grid down situation population control will become a major issue I imagine but for right now we can still take the easy way out and use the adoption services. There is no more room at the inn I am afraid.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!