One little, two little, three little kitties...

For some reason, this house has become a magnet for stray cats. We don't live in the country, or near a farm. We live in town. 

Last year, our first stray appeared. 




I love cats, and would much rather have a cat than a dog. Hubby believes that all animals belong outside, so I try not to get attached to animals because I know they will not become inside pets.




But, guess who is the first one to start feeding the strays. Yep. Hubby. 


I just called it, "Kitty" (see how creative I am?), but Amazing Daughter decided it needed a much better name. So, she came up with "Sal". We agreed that Sal was a good name, because it would work for a male or female. 


Sal came around every morning, for several months. But, then winter came, and she stopped coming around. I decided that Sal was a "she" with no confirmation. 

This summer, a new stray appeared. A black and white, which was promptly named, Sachajahwea. I don't know if that's the proper spelling, but I'm too lazy to look it up, so we'll just say that it is. We later shortened her name to Sahshe. I have also determined her to be a girl, without confirmation. Shashe has a little limp, but she never lets me get closer than 10 feet

Soon, Shashe started bringing a friend. Her friend is all black, except for a tiny white patch on his neck. Yes, I have determined that he is a he without any confirmation. He is very spooky looking, so we call him "Spooky-Dude" with a hat tip to Glenn Beck's nickname for George Soros.

Spooky-Dude is even more skittish than Shashe. One step toward him, and he has high-tailed it down into the woods.

Now, it's really saying something to say that he "high-tails" anywhere, because, he has no tail.

 

Spooky-Dude lived up to his name. Either that, or I was going crazy. Spooky-Dude would appear, tail-less. Only a little stub. But, then, another time, he had half of a tail. This little stunt of his was not good for my self-esteem. I already feel like I'm on the fast track to "Forgetful-ville", not to mention, "Crazyland."  I would ask Hubby and Amazing Daughter, "Didn't Spooky-Dude have half of a tail the last time? Now, all he has is a stub." Being the wonderful people that they are, they did nothing - NOTHING - to calm my fears of becoming Crazy Woman. 


"What are you talking about?" they said, mockingly. 


"I'm SURE he had more of a tail the last time." 


This scenerio continued for several weeks. Was I going crazy? I feared I was.


But, then, one morning, the answer to my fears appeared.

(The photo isn't that good because I had to take it through the screened window - I didn't want to risk them running away before I had proof!!)

What are the odds???? Two black cats with the same white spot, and no tails?? Boy, did I breathe a sigh of relief when I saw them both together!
For the record, Spooky-Dude is in the front, with a two-inch "tail", and Spooky-Stub is in the back.


We also had another black and white animal appear, but it wasn't a cat. I had opened the garage door, intending to feed the misfit strays, but got distracted. 
A few minutes later when I returned to feed the critters, Hubby accidently hit the panic button for the car, and the horn started blaring. Out of the garage ran a skunk!!!! Whew! Was that ever a close call!!!

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