Ollie has her shelter back

Yesterday morning I was happy to see Ollie come out of her usual sleeping shelter and again today.

About 6 weeks ago I noticed Spirit was not sleeping in his shelter and I'm pretty sure it is because the raccoon had moved in.  Spirit has been known to use a few different shelters so I never worried about him and he is now using one of the new shelters.  There are only two cats but I have 6 sleeping shelters.

Today I placed a few twigs in front of Spirit's old shelter and if they're moved when I return I'll know the raccoon is sleeping in there.  Hmmmmmmm.......or maybe the possum is in there!

Entrance to Spirit's former shelter with twigs
in opening

Spirit's shelter right foreground
Ollie looking on

Tonight when I returned to feed the cats their dinner the twigs had been pushed out so the raccoon had come out of the shelter sometime during the day.  While Ollie and Spirit were eating we all heard a noise from above and there was the raccoon hanging over the edge of the roof.  He stayed up there long enough for the cats to finish dinner and allow me to pack up before he started coming down the tree.

Grrrrrrr....those raccoons

When I arrived to feed Ollie and Spirit their dinner last night I discovered a raccoon had moved into Ollie's sleeping shelter sometime during the day!

Ollie

Ollie came from the lumberyard when I called the cats which surprised me.  A few minutes later I saw a little raccoon poke his head out of Ollie's shelter.  There are lots of sleeping shelters but Ollie only uses the same shelter she has been using since I built them back in 2008.

Green pine boughs (upper picture) marks entrance to
Ollie's sleeping shelter.  Black boxes are new shelters.
Burlap covers Ollie's feeding shelter

This morning I was relieved to see Ollie come out of Spirit's former sleeping shelter (not pictured)when I arrived to feed breakfast.  It is much too cold for the cats and shelters are so necessary right now.  Before I left, Ollie went back into Spirit's shelter with a full tummy.

I also got a whiff of skunk this morning while feeding.  I could hear men working in the lumberyard and was wondering if they may have disturbed a skunk.  If it's not one thing it's another ..........

Miss Lini McSweety

A few days ago I told the story of Winston, who turned out not to be so feral.  Well it seems there is another kitty in this same colony who is not so feral either.  

Today Lini again came over to me while I was preparing food for her and the other kitties in this colony. She was rubbing against my legs urging me to hurry up she wanted her brekky.  She jumped into the van to get a few nibbles and I was able to pet her.  She sure is a pretty little tortie.

Winston

Winston is a black tom that made an appearance recently at another colony I'm helping out at.  He seemed quite relaxed when I came near but then I had bowls of food which he wanted.  I was happy to see him the next couple of days and each time he would come closer and closer.  He even allowed me to pet him while he was eating and he didn't flinch.

About the 4th day he came right over to the van and helped himself to the food as I was preparing it.  At this point I thought he might be easy to trap so he could be neutered.  The following day Robin and I met at the colony.  While Robin was setting the trap Winston strolled over as if to ask, "whatcha doin'?"  Within two minutes Winston was in the trap.  Wow that was easy.

Winston has now been neutered and an abscess that we didn't know about on his cheek has been looked after.  He is enjoying his recovery with Michelle.  And it turns out that Winston is not feral at all.  He's quite the sweetheart climbing into laps and purring.  Sure makes me wonder how he came to be living outside but his future looks a whole lot better.