Maybe its a Siamese!! (fox)

Something about this fox family is very interesting.  The little guy on the left has black points: feet, legs and ears.  In the middle, we have one with a little bit of black on its feet and ears.  On the right is a fox that is blond, with no black points at all.  Someone somewhere knows about red fox color patterns, but

it sure isn't us.  Until now, we thought they were all the same!

.....and don't have any cats for lunch!!

You are looking at one of three little foxes living in the yard at Fox Farm with their mother.  We thought there were only two kits, but three were out playing today. In 2010, a family of five, four kits and a vixen lived under a building for a couple months.   This mother might be the one we called Chicken Fox back when she was a baby.

Foxes are great at controlling mice and gophers around the farm, but they also like partridge, pheasants and grouse.

Welcome home, Fox family. 

Eat all the rodents you want, but take it easy on the birds, please..... 

Now you see it....now you don't!!

You wouldn't believe how much work it is babysitting one Ghost Kitty.  Poor Socks is totally worn out!  The worst thing about Ghost Kitties is that they disappear at the drop of a hat.  Sometimes they're right in front of your nose, and you still can't find them.  Socks thinks he left the painful little retch in the shop.

Don't look now, Socks, but there's a Ghost Kitty right behind you!

Babysitting should be fun!

In order to keep Socks away from the Nissan, so we could go to town, he was sent to the shop.

He found the nice, comfy saddle blanket he loves so much and seemed quite happy until we said:

"How about you babysit the youngest ghost kitty for a while."

His eyes tell the rest of the story.

He just thinks its his!

The other day, we were driving down the driveway when someone yelled -

"Hey!!  There's a cat on the roof of your truck!"

We stopped, turned around and drove back to the shop, and there he was.  He jumped onto the hood and looked in the window.   He gets a little grumpy when someone drives his Nissan.

Is that cat contagious?

Sitting on the peak of a doghouse roof can't be real comfortable, but Tipster seems to like it.

He's been a little under the weather lately, what with the sniffles and all. 

Guess we'd better find him a shot of penicillin before all of the cats catch it.

Sure hope he doesn't give it to the babies. 

One is too many....

Magpie (bad black and white bird)

Dive bombing people who enter Barn Cat Mansion, eating dog food and stealing kittens is all this squawky bird is good for.

Cats eat birds, but they don't eat magpies. 

The only birds noisier than magpies are ravens and crows.  Magpies nest in our yard and the eggs are about to hatch and that means more magpies.

There must be something good to say about magpies......just can't think of anything!

Foiled again!

Stop the truck!  Grab the camera!  Take off the lens cap and turn it on!  Oops, turn the display so you can see what you're taking a picture of.

Focus....
Shoot.....

VOILA!  By the time you do all of this, your subject is running away!
Elk running away from the shooter.......again!

The life of Riley.....

Sunshine, green grass, and a mouse hiding in the firewood;  life just couldn't be any better for

Tiny Orange Tom.

"Happy go lucky" best describes this quiet little tom cat.  While Pinkerton and Casper scrap about everything from "soup to nuts", TOT enjoys life the way a Barn Cat Mansion cat should. 

Horse Whisperer...

Last weekend, we forgot about cats for a while and concentrated on training some colts.  This was the scene Saturday morning at Sid Cook's Colt Starting Clinic.  About 23 riders learned the concept of training to create a partnership between horse and rider.
  
Calm, assertive energy

is key and it helps also to have patience.