Family

There is a lot of controversy over whether or not cats should be allowed outside. Of course, cats like to explore, but the outdoors poses risks for cats. At first, we let Catcher and Jitterbug go outside. Jitterbug would readily shy away from any danger. In fact, it was rather embarrassing to watch him cringe as a group of crows taunted him.

On the other hand, Catcher was always willing to defend himself. After a vicious scrap with the neighbor cat Shadow (right), and a hundred dollar vet bill, we decided that Catcher and Jitterbug should stay inside.

There are other dangers in our neighborhood. Fox can often be seen wandering the streets!

Sadly, Shadow is no longer with us. Our neighbors have, however, taken in a couple of new cats. (See below.)

Lucille came for a visit one day this past summer. She is very camera shy. While she readily came closer when Sylvana called her, she ran off when Hans came closer with his camera!

Pete is one of the new cats taken in by our neighbor after Shadow passed on. In this photo, Pete is enjoying himself in the tree in our back yard. Other times, we've found Pete perched on a branch in our hedge.

Stella is the other new cat at our neighbors. Like Pete, she was taken in as a young kitten.