Lions, & tigers, &....KITTENS, OH MY!

Hello Internet Friends! I think this post will be the most unique & undoubtedly the cutest you'll ever see on this blog. 

For a few months now, a cat has been chilling on our back porch. She comes & goes, of course, as most feral cats do, but I've caught her more than once enjoying an afternoon nap on our porch swing. She allows little to no interaction - she stares with HUUUUGE green eyes at the slightest sound of humanity nearby & flees far too quickly when we come outside for us to even think about coming over to her. My biggest victory with her so far has been the little paw prints of dirt that I saw leading up to the bowl of warm milk I'd sat out for her on a cold morning.

But this week, we noticed another victory that had occurred quite clandestinely! Kittens. Yes, kittens! When my dad pulled out the lawnmower and started it up this past weekend it startled one of the four little guys enough to get him to crawl out from under one of the other 2 lawnmowers my dad's got stowed away back there. (He's got a big manly lawn tool problem.) And with that first little one's bravery the rest followed and soon they were crawling all over the porch, dangerously close to escaping & dangerously tiny. I'm talking, they fit perfectly in the palm of my hand!

So we scooped them up and put them in a little box, hoping that mama would be chill with it. And...she was! Not only did she seem to have no problem with it, but the next morning she was in the box with them! We set up a bowl of cat food & water for her and she hung out! She even stayed there when we came onto the porch to sneak a peek! Alright, alright...she definitely hissed a few times, but eventually she got cool enough with us to hop on top of the table & grab some chow while we were outside with her! Talk about a 180 from her pre-mom self!  My mom was even able to pick up one of the kittens without any sort of reaction from her.

Mama keeping watch. 

Tragedy of tragedy, this morning mommy & babies were nowhere to be found - the box was empty. We were beyond bummed, but the internet has assured us that feral moms, and even some domesticated moms, move their kittens numerous times while they're young to ensure safety from predators, like the daddies, and privacy. The food is still out for her, so we're hoping she'll keep coming around but if not, we enjoyed her little family while we got to see them! :)

Yes...we named them! LOL 

It was such a cool experience, but definitely a sneeze-inducer for me & my mom who are both allergic to cats! HAHA! I couldn't be out on the porch for more than 10 minutes without dissolving into sneezes & watery, itchy eyes. Regardless, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of a striped tail.