Mini Scaredy, the feral kitten, starts to grow up

 

This morning Mini Scaredy stayed nestled on top of my blankets all morning. Which is unusual. Usually she eats her breakfast and then splits.

When I woke up from my nap around noon I figured out why. Owl the burly feral tom, was standing there 2 feet away from me. Which is unusual. Usually he keeps a respectful distance. And he didn’t run away when I sat up. Like he usually does. Instead Owl held his ground. Alternating between looking at me and looking at Mini Scaredy, with a distinctive hungry leer.

You could see the whole scenario in that picture. 8-month old Mini Scaredy, the Belle of the Ball, was freaked out about the eminent prospect of losing her virginity to Owl. She had even burrowed down into my blankets, like she was in a hole, with a protective wall of blankets around her. You could tell she was freaked out about the whole thing. Probably wondering what it was all about and why Owl was ardently pursuing her in the first place. So she wasn’t about to leave the relative safety of my bedding.

But even there, Owl kept making tentative little steps in that direction. Like he was going to jump right on top of her then and there. You could see that his sex drive was even stronger than his feral fear of me.

It was also the first time I ever got a look at Owl up close. He’s a battered old war horse. And he kept blinking his eyes at me in this inscrutable manner.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I couldn’t spend all day at my campsite defending Mini Scaredy’s honor. I needed to get some coffee.

And sure enough, as soon as I stood up to pack up my campsite, Mini Scaredy went running down the hill. With Owl in hot pursuit. And as I was leaving I could see them off in the bushes, facing off. No doubt going through some serious negotiations.

The next morning, Mini Scaredy was in a particularly chipper mood. So I guess the tryst worked out OK.

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