Because I just willingly got myself eaten up by mosquitoes. You're probably wondering why and thinking I must be completely nuts. When errands were finally done, and all was in the house and put up, it was late but I had to keep my promise to feed the strays. I think I'm probably the only real food they can depend upon. So I chop up a couple more vienna weiners, find a somewhat dried up hot dog in the fridge as well, and top off with a bit of kibble and cold gravy from last Sunday (it was still okay, but no plans for it, so it's cat food now).
Dump all the stuff into the tray from last night's TV dinner and head out. The bushes by the house rattle as I head for the door. Tinkerbell and Raffles (Momma Cat and kitten, yeah, I named them) were waiting. Raffles kind of hung off at the edge of the bushes, somewhat wary. Then again, she was born and has been raised feral, so humans to her are scary things. This scary human brings good stuff, though, so she's halfway willing to give me a bit of trust. Tinkerbell on the other hand, came reasonably close - she's obviously been dumped here by someone, and I could strangle them for dumping such a lovely cat - black and tan tortishell. Raffles, on closer inspection without being in the shadows so much, is tri-color tortie, with the bottom half all white.
So I put down the tray, talking all the while about how they're getting "the good stuff" and how yummy it is to them, how much they like it, etc. Called kitty, kitty a few times as I put it down, backed off a couple steps. Close enough to pet Tinkerbell if she would let me but far enough she could feel safe about running if she wanted to. She came close, warily watching me the whole time while trying to also keep an eye on the food. Just in case it suddenly grew legs and ran off, you know. Then she dived in and mostly ignored me. Looked up a few times, licking her muzzle, then back into the food. Raffles was more careful.
She took a sneak up after I backed off a few more steps, then when I moved just a tiny bit, very slowly, she ran off a few feet, came back while carefully watching me, and took a bite. I made the mistake of moving again, shifting my weight, and off she went again ... only to not run as far this time and turn around and come right back. So I stood there, in the heat and sunshine and got skeeter bit so as not to scare them while they ate. And I talked. I sweet-talked. Told them how pretty they were (and they are - Tinkerbell has gorgeous medium green eyes like my Smudge, and Raffles has darker green eyes). Told them how I was sorry I'd have to scare them down the road with the trap and vet and all, but then they wouldn't have to worry about anything after, because they'd have a fur-ever home and all the food and water they wanted, without having to scrounge for it or hunt again.
So this is extremely major progress in only a few days time. WELL worth the mosquito bites and all the itching and dousing myself with calamine.
KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST
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