Home Wildlife Preserve

I've heard from my friend Hannah* about the feral kittens they rescued from the barn on their new property.

The other day, she and her four-year-old daughter Letitia* took the fluffy pinky-yellow one to the nursing home where her mother lives to show her the new kitten. It got loose and it took six people to catch it. But other than that, it was perfectly sweet: bright-eyed, willing to be held, and purring like a blender on "puree."

This is not what I read on the feral kittens websites. They all say, Go slow. Wrap them in a towel to keep them calm while you pet them. One person handling the kittens at a time. No sudden moves or loud noises. No small children within ten miles. I keep my mouth shut about the feral kitten websites. If they're doing all right while breaking all the "rules," more power to them. I'm interested the kittens' welfare, but it ain't my house, it ain't my family, and they ain't my kittens.

But then she told me that they'd decided to just let them run loose in the basement. Um, well, I suggested, they might not want to do that . . . "I read something on line that said if you do that, they'll just be indoor feral cats. They need to be around people to get tamed."

Hannah said she'd keep that in mind, but her husband Steve* thought the basement was a good idea. Keeps the kittens out of the way while they're packing upstairs.

No luck yet capturing the gray kitten, she told me.

"Are you sure it wasn't the calico you got already and just looked gray in its hidey-hole in the barn?"

"No, we're pretty sure there's a third one."

If there is, time is running out. I can't go help look: too much that simply has to be done the next couple of days.