The Barn Cats

I made a promise to one of my sisters years ago. I told her when the day came that Chris and I bought a farm we would have a barn cat that belongs to her, and we'd name it Tumbleweed.

When we were in the process of buying the farm, we knew that there were two black barn cats hanging around the property. We talked with the previous owners about letting the cats stay when they moved out, and they decided to leave one behind. The other was more of a family cat that would spend time outdoors when the weather was nice. The cat we inherited is named Boots, because of the white on his paws. They told us he was a jumpy, unfriendly cat, but we've found the opposite to be true. He'll hang out with us on the deck, let the kids pet him, and meow to us in a hoarse gravely voice. We like Boots.

About a week after we moved in though, I knew it was time to find Tumbleweed. I looked for kittens in the swap sheet and on Craig's List. Let me tell you, if you're forthcoming and let people know that you're planning on letting a cat (or kitten) live outside, nine times out of ten they won't give you the one they're trying to get rid of. It was baffling to me, but that's the way it went.

Finally, I found an older lady who has literally given a couple dozen feral cats the run of her property. As you might expect, she frequently has kittens to give away. I had only intended to take one kitten, but we ended up with two. The brown striped kitten became Tumbleweed, naturally. The girls named the black kitten Kevin, which seems like an odd name, until you know that Despicable Me was the movie of the moment in our house this summer. He just didn't look like a "Gru" or "Dr. Nefario", so Kevin it was.

We were quite happy with our three barn cats. The kittens were fun, and Boots was taking care of the rodents outside. Then, one day, we spotted a fourth cat. We're pretty sure she didn't come with the farm, because the previous owners never mentioned her. I suspect that she's Boots' girlfriend from another farm, and he decided to move her in for the winter. She's a calico cat, and I honestly have no clue if she's really a female. Chris called her Snickers when we first saw her, and it stuck. She's super jumpy, and won't let any of us get anywhere near her. I'm still not sure why she let me get close enough to take a picture of her for this post.

From left to right: Kevin, Tumbleweed, Boots

Snickers