Rough Life, Dude!

When one has a barn full of hay, grain & horses, rodents are usually a factor. Hey, it's a cushy gig for a mouse...horses aren't always tidy with their grain, grainbins get left open, hay lofts full of nice soft nesting areas, it's warm, it's dry and the livin' is easy! But, as much as we don't begrudge the mice their place on the farm, we really can't have them eating their way into grain bins and pooping & peeing everywhere. On this farm, we try very hard not to kill things and won't out out traps or baits or anything like that...so, we need barn cats. We have 3: Elvis, Delta & Skittles. They live a very spartan and austere existence...as you can see:

Skittles, roughing it in my office. Poor Guy!

Elvis, supervising my work.

The other cat, Delta, is outside actually doing her job...but she comes into the office a lot, too!

When I tried to adopt our barn cats from one local shelter, I was soundly rejected. "Oh, our cats are never placed in homes that would keep them in a barn!" "Our cats are meant to be pets!" I did try to reassure them that our barn cats are loved and well-tended, fully vetted and spend a lot of time in the part of the barn that houses my offices but they would have none of it!

Finally, I tried a shelter that's pretty far afield from here and after much discussion they agreed to let me adopt 2 cats, and so came Elvis & Delta. Skittles joined the team later on....he was found as a kitten, having been abandoned (maybe lost??) on a playground.

I think they're pretty happy with their situation!