Sweetgrass Wildlife

Since we live on country property, I thought I would dedicate this page to the animals that have been on or near the grounds . . . or just passing through.

BUNNIES - So adorable and you can even get close but they wont let you cuddle them. Well, you can actually catch the small ones. They live under the B&B porch, around the woodpile, wherever. Sometimes you see them play the bunny version of leapfrog. I enjoy seeing them in the yard as I serve breakfast on the porch.

DEER - You are more likely to see deer at dawn or dusk. I got lucky this day, just happened to look out my window to see if it was still snowing and caught these youngsters hanging out by the driveway.

COYOTES - I've never seen them but you can sometimes hear them
yapping up a storm late at night. We don't seem to have many in
this area, probably more up in the hills.

HAWKS - We do periodically see hawks here but this is a picture of the one from Reptile Gardens taken in our front yard. He comes over here every now and again looking for a "snack". Isn't he magnificent! Reptile Gardens is across the highway from us, they have much more than reptiles. Check them out at www.reptilegardens.com

MOUNTAIN LIONS - I have NEVER seen them on the property, however, we have occasionally seen their tracks after it has snowed. They have been periodically spotted at the Hart Ranch Golf Course which is only a few miles from here.

TURKEYS - These goofy looking birds won't hurt anyone, they just dig in the dirt and poop. Been told they aren't good eating although I suspect the coyotes and mountain lions disagree. They sleep in the trees at night where it is safe.

Who says turkeys can't fly?

COWS - Not exactly wild but certainly near by. They are moved from field to field during the year although you see very little of them after June. When they are in the field, walk outside and you can hear their content mooing. California cows arent the only happy cows around. As you can see, they are trying to get over to the Sweetgrass side, they know the grass is greener!

OUR CATS - Don't worry if you have allergies, they are NOT allowed in any rooms nor the common area. You will probably only see Big Guy, he's the greeter (and eater, he weights almost 18 pounds).

BIG GUY - That is what his owners named him, they werent very creative (or nice) people and when they moved, they left him behind. I ran into his owner in town one day and shared my opinion but she didnt care. Big Guy used to take off for weeks and months at a time in his quest for the ladies and would come back in pretty bad shape, cuts, gashes, scars and one time, he limped back with his toe nail hanging, OUCH. Anyway, the West River Spay Neuter Coalition helps with the cost of getting cats fixed and we were able to catch him and get that done February 2009. So he is kind of like an oversized cream puff and very sweet. He catches lots of mice and other little rodents. This is one of the ways Sweetgrass has "gone green" - we don't use pesticides or other poisons!

UPDATE: June 2010 - Took Big Guy to the vet to get his teeth cleaned (they looked so bad). Anyway, what he had left had to be pulled as they were starting to damage his liver! He's doing very well and about a month later, he began hunting again. I guess he "gums" his prey or swallows them whole, I dont know, I dont want to know!

March 2011 - Ran into Big Guy's owner who abandoned him. She asked how he was and was thrilled we were taking care of him. She talked about how sweet he was, blah blah blah and ran out into her car and brought back pictures of him from about 9-10 years ago! Who carries pictures from a decade ago in their car?!?!? Anyway, I asked (sometimes I'm not polite), if he was so sweet and wonderful, etc., why did she leave him behind. She said he wasnt her cat!!!!! She even named him, wow. At least I now know he is about 11 years old because she wasnt his owner from about 2001 to 2006.

He has a little "catitude" at times!

Friends of ours found kittens in their barn. "Kahlua" was the runt of the litter and his mother and littermates began rejecting him. He'd sit huddled nearby relying on his own body heat to keep warm and we knew he couldnt survive the winter. We caught him (wasnt easy!) and brought him home hoping he needed a buddy as much as Bailey needed a buddy. This picture was taken two weeks later. Bailey is like Kahlua's older brother, teaching him his bad habits and so on. They are always together, sleeping, snuggling, snooping. In fact, Kahlua is like Bailey's butler. He cleans his face and after Bailey uses the litterbox, he buries his . . . well, you know.

By the way, we found Bailey several years ago, very thin and after feeding him for about 2 weeks, he crawled up on my lap and that's when we discovered he had no claws. He's been in the house ever since. We were unable to find his owners. Bailey's paw pads are pink, most black cats have dark gray or black paw pads.

I adopted Sapphire when she was 3 (I was her 4th owner). She turned 19 March 2011. She's always been the "queen cat" in charge but these days she's content to take beauty naps all day long. She still does little sprints across the room when feeling feisty and sleeps on me or next to me every night.

THE PERILS OF PAULINE -- Lost and Found

We starting seeing little Pauline off and on starting Sept 2007. Was able to feed her from a distance from time to time and finally, she got closer and closer. Got her to come in the house the end of January and saw that her tags had a Louisiana phone number. Called her owners, Cary and Eileen who had visited this area June 2006, which is when Pauline got lost. Anyway, after getting an abcessed canine tooth pulled, we put her on a plane home 2 days later. Her owners actually lost their home in hurricane Katrina (Pauline survived that too) and bought an RV to travel in for awhile. They were reunited Feb 3, 2008! Pauline even remembered her favorite places in their RV.

My mom really missed me

Back home in one of my favorite sleeping spots

UPDATE ON PAULINE!
Now it is April 2009 and her parents sent a new picture of her. Here she is, totally crashed out, soaking up the sun on the RV dashboard. She probably hasnt seen a temperature under 50 degrees since she got home.

ANOTHER UPDATE ON PAULINE!
Well imagine my surprise when my doorbell rang May 27th, 2010 and there stood Pauline's parents! They're RV'ing across the country and came through here. Naturally, Pauline is RV'ing with them. Here's an updated picture of Pauline, definitely bigger than when she first found us several years ago. Although she has less than 9 lives to go, she has a wonderful family who is doing everything they can to be sure she doesnt use up any more lives!

In loving memory of my beloved 4-legged friends . . .

ALL ABOUT TIGER

A friend up the road found Tiger when he was only a couple of weeks old. He could not find his mother or other kittens and didn't think he would survive. I offered to cat sit for him when he had to go out of town. I bottle fed him for 3 weeks. He came by three separate times to get Tiger. The 3rd time I finally told him I could not give him up. Tiger loved people, especially men. He was so affectionate and drooled when he purred. He "read" the paper every day with Lee, my husband. He was a large, heavy cat and I could never figure out how I could wake up in the morning and find him stretched out on me -- he was so gentle. . . . my Tiger was only three

ABOUT OUR SMUDGIE

Smudgie was another wild cat. His mother, Stargate, brought him to us when he was about 8 weeks old, he was the only kitten she had left. She disappeared a week later. He never trusted anyone but us although he was still cautious. He preferred coming into the house by climbing up the posts on the back porch and through the door on the upper deck. He was very loving and affectionate and did a little dance when happy. When he died, his best friend Bailey kept looking out the window and calling for him frequently, even in the middle of the night. He became so depressed that after 3 months he lost his animated personality and barely moved around. Bailey's story is above - he did get his old self back!

Smudgie's bright light was extinguished in barely two years.

Hobbes crossed over the rainbow bridge November 2009, she was 14. When Lee found her, she was a tiny kitten and he "removed" her from some homeless guy walking down the street. She was a very loud purrer and very affectionate. Her best friend was our boxer, never our other cats. She loved sitting in our laps and before getting sick, she'd walk with me whenever I walked to the other buildings on our property.