Got hay?

Yes, we do.  The hay mowers have been here for the past two days to cut down the nearly thigh-high grasses. They will let the hay sit there for a day or so to dry out and then they'll be back with the baling machines.

As a result of the cut hay, we have vultures circling our property, searching for mice and heaven-only-knows-what-else was hiding in that tall grass for the past few months. (I sincerely hope there wasn't a mama rabbit and her baby bunnies out there.)  I've learned not to look out over the property from the third floor windows after the hay is cut down, for that very reason. Plus, I don't want to see those huge birds fighting over their afternoon snack. ("No! That's my mouse! I saw it first!")

The orange cat turned up his nose at the bowl of Meow Mix yesterday, which makes me think that he's been catching mice as they run out of the pastures to escape the huge tractors and mowers. That cat will always be a wild cat, I think, preferring to eat a fresh-caught mouse rather than a packaged cat food product from a bag.

Orange Cat.  He's been nicer lately, letting us pet him, and he follows me from one end of the yard to the other, meowing all the way. He's still the most vocal cat I've ever heard, but he has quit meowing loudly every time he comes up on the porch. I think he has learned that if he announces his presence, Gatsby will get his whiskers in a knot and pounce on that orange cat.

Still, I don't trust that orange cat. We can't get him into a crate to get him shots at the vet... he isn't fixed and heaven only knows how many female cats he's "caught" since he's been here.  One day, he's going to show up on our porch with his kitty-mama and their kittens.  I guess I haven't changed my mind, no matter how much that cat's manners have improved.... I do not want that orange cat.