Saturday, February 7, 2015

Time to Fess Up I Guess





Well one of my readers finally noticed and asked about my supervisor or more to the point the lack of mentioning her lately. There is no way to sugar coat this she was hit by a vehicle and killed almost two months ago now. It happened during the warm stretch we got back in December while I was working on my Mother's little house. She was helping me measure out and cut the paneling. I remember it vividly because she kept knocking my hat off and jumping on my shoulder while I was working and would then follow me inside and explore. She was being really pushy that day for attention and aggravating Mom when I stopped to give it to her.

I got called into work and when Piglet (what I called her. Her name was actually Penelope) figured out I was leaving she went to the garden and hayfield to hunt which is what she always did when the weather was nice.

When I got back home that afternoon she was laying by the road out front. I covered it up for a few days to keep from upsetting the Mrs.  but when she figured it out I had to come clean.

With all the stray and unwanted cats we get dumped on us the loss of one may not seem like much but this particular cat was special. We have rules around here and I try not to get too attached to the barn cats. If we can't find a home for them they get fixed. The one good thing I can say about the animal rights people is they hand out those $25.00 spay and neuter vouchers like candy. Occasionally a barn cat will disappear.  Not much we can do about it most of them are half feral anyway and would climb the walls if we tried to make them full blown pets. We capture and take em to the vet each year and if one is injured we make sure it gets treated and we feed em and that's about it.

Yet every so often one manages to wiggle it's way in close and becomes a full blown pet. Piglet was at the top of that food chain at least as far as it went with me.

The other rule we have about our pets is only those who have proven they are smart enough to stay away from the road get to come and go as they please. Usually this breaks down to the females get to come and go and the neutered males don't. It also depends on the time of day. The two Males are allowed out after 7PM when there is no traffic but the two females were always allowed to come and go whenever they wished no matter what time of day. For three years now Piglet has never shown one bit of interest in heading towards the road. She rarely left the deck unless she was following me and if she did leave it was only to go to the garden or hayfield. Believe me I used to spy on her too just to see and she never went to the road. She had also graduated up from a barn cat and never showed any interest or was ever seen near the road then either.

This last Fall Piglet did begin to show a focused interest in hunting mice though, much more so than the other cats and I think that is what got her killed because she had hunted out the nearby hayfield and I think the tall grass across the road was too much temptation for her. I can only guess that her lack of experience in dealing with speeding cars, the fact that the cars out there come screaming down the road at 90+ miles an hour and the up tick in traffic due to the lower gas prices sealed her fate that day.

So I have lost my constant feline companion. Pretty much every post I have made for the last few years was done with her perched across my shoulder except when she was raising her kittens. Every evening without fail I would hear her coming from two rooms away her purring was so loud and she would jump up on my shoulder and go to sleep. I still find myself wondering where she is occasionally. Every afternoon if I had been inside the storage or out buildings I would have to go figure out which one she had sneaked into if I didn't see her and every morning she was waiting by the door ready to go work on whatever I was working on that day. I had to be careful if I moved anything heavy, threw a log, backed up a vehicle or whatever to be sure she wasn't in the way and I still find myself checking for her even now.

Anyway I thought since the lack of mention had been noticed it was time to fess up. I seriously doubt I will have another supervisor any time soon it seems to be more of a female trait with the cats around here than a male one and we only have one female cat now. The Queen used to do the job before Piglet but these days she has reached a point of complete laziness and sometimes doesn't even move for weeks I think. She never was very affectionate either always preferred to be roughed up not petted. She used to hunt though and bring me her kills but that stopped some time ago. The Queen actually prefers my son's company anyway she is kinda a true cougar when it comes to males.

I try not to be too sappy and sentimental but Piglet deserves a eulogy on the blog. Hell she pretty much helped write it for the last few years.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!


16 comments:

  1. PP - i really feel for you. you have a very soft heart when it comes to animals and i know how much you loved, and now miss, your supervisor. i dread the day that i lose one of our 3 strays. dread it.

    i think it was Ghandi who said something about being able to judge a man's character and worth by how he treated animals.

    i am sorry for your loss of Piglet. and send much love as always. your friend,
    kymber

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  2. I am so sorry to hear about dear Piglet. Cats, especially, are close to my heart. I still am overwhelmed with sadness, sometimes still when I think about my beloved Maya. It is hard to lose them and I am sad with and for you. Believe me, I know how you feel.

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  3. Always a hole left PP, but at least she had a great life entangled with your own.

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  4. so sorry. every so often we have to bury one but they are all missed. still, there is always a kitten at the door, one way or another God fills the empty space with another little one to care for.

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  5. My supervisor seems to really like to hunt from the side of the road, there must be some advantage to it, maybe they can move around quietly while the mouse is in the roadside grass. I see it often though and in our case it is just our driveway so it is safe. I don't know about you being unsupervised, you better do something about that!

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  6. I know how you feel... We home those we can and take the best care of the rest. I have had several buddies over the years. Rain, snow or nice they would wait for me and follow as I did chores. Ride on my shoulder or lap. Start the UTV or tractor and they would come running.
    Had the sweetest one show up in Fall. He really grabbed my heart. My wife mentioned that I had a new buddy. I told her we had to get him a home - I didn't want to lose him.
    A short but merry life...
    Regards.

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  7. I'm sorry PP, our animals bring so much to our lives.

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  8. Sorry Preppy. We are a big fan of such furry friends here. They enrich our lives in ways that people sometimes cannot do.

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  9. Sorry to hear about this. Animals seek & find their human companions, not the other way around.

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  10. I'm so very sorry. If there is a special place in Heaven for those who are good to animals, your spot awaits you.

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  11. Sorry, man. Due to my super severe allergy to cats, I normally avoid them like the plague. But honestly, I've had several that it really got to me when they up and went missing or got killed.

    ~ Matt

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  12. So sorry my friend. No matter how hard you try they do get to your soft spots. It proves your no Oscar Meyer.

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  13. Thanks everyone. Piglet did leave a legacy behind in that I kept one of her kittens who is now a strapping young lad of three but he has not proven himself ready for unsupervised outdoor activity. Ever since he was big enough to walk and climb though he figured I was fair game to sleep on and cuddle with mom. He is actually sitting here on my desk at my elbow now hoping I will let him out.

    I am still in denial though that the rules we have used for so long failed us. We haven't had a road fatality in years out here. The biggest danger has always been from the neighbor dogs and the main protagonist is getting old enough he isn't a danger any longer.

    Once again thanks for your kind words everyone.

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  14. PP,

    I'm so sorry to hear about "Supervisor".....Piglet.

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