Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22552 – 865
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Greetings Dearly Beloved, Beloved, and Liked-a-whole-lot, Fans, Friends, fiends, foes, foundlings, and assorted nice people who stop by.
Welcome to day 3 of my daily posting challenge which is called NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month. So far, so good. It can get a little difficult what with life getting in the way so frequently sometimes. I like doing this, though. I have a couple of ideas planned for this month, but time constraints prevent me at the moment. I did find this little memory tucked away in my draft folder and decided you might like to hear about my uncle’s barn cat.
First, in the event you might not be aware of what a barn cat is, let me tell you. Barn cats are kind of halfway between house cats and feral cats. They live in the straw in the barn or up in the haymow and don’t particularly like being picked up or held but tolerate being petted sometimes. They will purr at you if you give them a few squirts of milk from a cow. Like everything and everyone else on the farm, they have a job to do. Some are very serious to the point of being pretentious (cats are cats) and some like to have fun. My uncle could squirt milk from a cow’s teat right into the cat’s mouth. It was an amazing site to me.
Another thing was to watch the mighty hunter in action. One time she (the barn cat didn’t have a name, just Cat) jumped up on the back of one of the cows in her stanchion while she was being milked. The cows didn’t really mind and their wide backs made a great platform for watching all the goings on on the floor. She sat up there and kneaded her needle sharp claws in the cow’s hide. Their thick skin doesn’t mind it and it seemed to help the cat concentrate on a mouse running on the floor. No-nonsense now you could watch her eyes lead the target as every muscle in her body tensed and…POUNCE!
The cat landed on that mouse and knocked it silly. Then she just stood there as the mouse regained its senses and thought it would run away. Hah! “Where ya going, little mousie? I want you to stay and play.” You see the cartoons of cats stepping on the mouse’s tail to keep them from getting away? Yup. This was really something to see. I watched as the cat would let the mouse think it was getting away and then pounce or grab or step on it. I don’t remember if Cat wore it out to death or just dealt it a final death blow and then proceeded to tear it apart and eat some of it. Whenever I hear someone use phrases like, “He was playing cat and mouse with him,” I think of Cat.
Comments
26 responses to “NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month – Day 3 – My Uncle’s Barn Cat”
A hunting cat is pretty entertaining to watch, though I imagine pretty horrifying if you’re a mouse.
Very true.
A beautiful love story. Please follow my Blog and send me money.
😂😂😂😂I have the same comment several times in my spam folder. Funny it didn’t automatically get you.🤔
It was a test!
Well, I do check my spam folder once or twice a week because I have had real people’s comments wind up there by accident.
My grandfather had a few barn cats throughout the years he farmed. I think they were all tabbies.
Interesting. I don’t remember all of them but this one was definitely a tabby.
Good story! Yet, umm, spell check … third paragraph, last sentence, fifth word. Yes, I have OCD. ☺️
? Didn’t find it.
3rd paragraph, last sentence: “It was an amazing site to me.” Shouldn’t that be: “It was an amazing sight to me.” Unless the definition site has changed!? 🤪
Arrrggghhhh!!!!! I read it two or three times and missed it. This is why writers need editors.
Thank you. I appreciate the help. I think I will let it be for now because it is clarified here.
My current cat catches the mice, brings them inside, and the dog immediately stops all mouse play with one bite! A good story, Herb!
That’s funny. And thank you.
That is one handsome cat – and this was a great post – really interesting.
A year ago my wife decided to bring a barn cat home. Said cat is ok most of the time, but just as I was sitting here reading some blog posts she jumped up and gashed my ear with her claw just to show me who’s boss.
I believe it. They are really something.
Fun times
It was.
Barn Cat. That is also a name. A superhero name!
I like it! Look, in the hayloft, it’s a lion! A puma! No, it’s Barn Cat! Definitely has some panache.
My grand father had cats No one knew ho many because he never fed them They stayed as long as the mice Rats and moles heald out then moved on. I think There was a tribe that spent time on three or four farms.
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Believe in Laughter
That could very well be. I know my uncle fed the one cat a little bit and that was it.
They take of them selves 🙀🙀
That’s the problem with the world – too many cats, not enough barns.
We need barns, for sure!