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Discretion and cat valor: The feral among us - Date with fate post 79
This entry was posted on 11/30/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
In 1996 Heide and I moved to an old farm house in rural Green County, Wisconsin. Many cats, some friendly, some feral, passed by from time to time to check out our potential for a tid-bit of food. After a couple years, a small calico became a frequent flyer on our porch. She was a feral and could not be approached, but of course she was relentless in her persistence to pester us for food. It soon became evident for her reason - she was a prolific baby-machine. We suspect she even rounded up neighborhood orphans to join her liters. I've read about that phenomena of a mother cat taking on orphan kittens. As you can guess, once she became comfortable that we were a decent couple, she soon brought her latest kitties with her. It became a nightly ritual to see her and her latest babies around the back porch.
One cold winter, she brought a late batch of kitties to the front door. They all huddled around some empty flower pots to protect themselves from the sleet and cold December rain. I sighed when I saw the weather and opened the door to set out a bowl of chow. To my surprise, she marched her three kitties (one male, two females) in the door.
I've heard of this feral compromise before. To save her kitties, she risked capture. We let her have an extra bathroom in the large old house. The whole winter we were not allowed to touch her or her kitties. Yet, they all obediently used the liter box I provided for them.
In the spring, I rounded up the three kitties and got them fixed. The boy kitty later died of an allergy. But the two girls (one a miniature calico version of the mamma, the other a tiny orange tiger) eventually became marvelous additions to our family.
Becoming fatigued by caring for all her kitties, taking advantage of her being in the extra bathroom, I tricked her into a carry case and marched her down to the vet to be spayed. When they asked for a name, we just said, "well, call her Momma Kitty." She just about ripped the vet clinic to pieces I guess. The whole crew was glad when I came to pick her up.
After she (and the vet) recovered, Heide and I discussed what we should do with Mamma Kitty. It was obvious her heart was to be back up by her farm. So, one Saturday, I opened the door to the old house and offered her her freedom. She hesitated, but slowly walked out and headed up the hill to the old shed a quarter mile away we suspected she called home. I watcher her with the binoculars as she stopped and looked back and then disappeared into the old shed.
As the weeks passed she never came to the porch for food. In the mean time we noticed a greater wave of coyote howling that year. Heide and I never said it, but we both knew the perils of a feral cat up against a pack of coyotes. One night the howling and presence was particularly loud and close. At the time there was an old male cat that we let live in our barn. He was not a feral - he was a friendly old guy that lost his house privileges because in his old age, just like some old people he became incontinent. I always checked the door on the barn before I went to bed to make sure he was all safe and sound inside. When I opened the back door of the house to go out to the barn, the coyotes howling just down the hill sent a chill up my spine. When I went to step out, there stood Momma Kitty. She hesitated only a second and hopped in the doorway. She went to the extra bathroom and jumped up on the old dresser and took her old station back.
For most of her life she never let us touch her. But, she never hovered around the door to get out. When we moved to another town and a different house to be city dwellers, she seemed to understand the commotion of the move and allowed me to put her in the carry box (just that once) so we could get her to the new house. Sometimes she slept on the end of the bed just out of reach. At supper time she would sit on the chair at the end of the table just out of reach. She bid us good bye when we would leave and she waited at the door for us to return.
But, we were never able to touch her until she got quite old. Heide's mom began to spend summers with us. Mamma Kitty took up residence on the edge of mother-in-law's sofa. Day after day, Heide's Mom worked at keeping her hand near Momma Kitty if on the sofa watching television. When in the kitchen she bribed Momma Kitty with tid-bits of food. Finally, she could pet the old cat's tail, then a bit on the back coat. And finally, as long as Momma Kitty was on the sofa or the edge of a bed we could pet her.
But, Momma Kitty would give us a look, "Don't get any ideas about picking me up; their are rules here humans."
She was truly the feral among us.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Sergeant First Class Lance Scott Cornett, 33, London, Kentucky (family connections in Pulaski, Wisconsin), died on Friday, February 3, 2006 near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was killed when his unit engaged in a firefight with enemy forces. Sergeant First Class Cornett was assigned to Special Operations Team, Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs notes Cornett's mother, Karen McMullen, resides in Pulaski, Wisconsin. The Web site iraqwarheroes.com quoting from a military press release indicates Lance Cornett was born on July 11, 1972, in San Diego, California. He graduated from Laurel County High School in London, Kentucky, in 1991. He entered the Army that same year of 1991. Some of Cornett's specialized training includes the Air Assault Course; the Basic Airborne Course; the Sniper Course; the Sapper Leader Course; the Ranger Course; the Pathfinder Course; the Static Line Jumpmaster Course; the Basic and the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Courses; the Special Forces Diving Supervisor Course; and, the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Course.
Some of Sergeant First Class Cornett's military awards and decorations include two Bronze Star Medals with Valor Device; the Joint Service Commendation Medal; three Army Commendation Medals; nine Army Achievement Medals; the Joint Meritorious Unit Award; four Army Good Conduct Medals; the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Bronze Service Star; the Iraqi Campaign Medal; the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal; the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon with numeral three; the Army Service Ribbon; the Ranger Tab; the Sapper Tab; the Combat Infantryman’s Badge; the Expert Infantryman's Badge; the Pathfinder Badge; the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge; the Master Parachutist Badge; the Air Assault Badge; and, the Special Operations Diver Badge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the Purple Heart, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
At the time of his death Sergeant First Class Lance Cornett was survived by his wife Sandra Cornett; daughter Brandy Rudy and her husband Sergeant Benjamin Rudy; grandchildren Logan Scott Rudy and Taylor Nicole Rudy; his son Christopher Hart; his daughter Brianna Cornett; his father Rhudell Cornett; his mother Karen McMullen; his sister Cristal Chestnut and her husband Jimmy; and, his grandmother Mary Lou Egan.
Sergeant First Class Lance S. Cornett is the 99th military service person that has been identified by Cool Dadio Media as having Wisconsin connections and that has died in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
103,746 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,486 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1845 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
970 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,224 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
14,837 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
36 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
150 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
22 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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