I'm Not good at keeping a blog....heh heh, now to the cats of Creekside

I'm not very good at keeping a blog, because I've never done one before with consistency, so my apologies for the gap.

on the other hand, i'm a photographer, and so i take lots and LOTS of photos, and one of my biggest issues is trying to sort them out so i can keep them organized and easier to find. Over the past week I've been working on sorting them out, and of course have been organizing lots of photos I've taken from the barns.

Of some of the most common photos i taken, is of the animals at the barns, and of the most photogenic are the cats. I've gotten lots of photos of the cats, with their squirrely tendencies and the fact that they all seem to love me, so i'm dedicating this blog post to the cats of the barns.

At Creekside Equicenter, we've got...

Sno, Midge and Twitch

 Scarlet and Boots

 These cats have been here for so long, that they've gotten to the routine to eat all on one side of the path of food i lay out in the morning for them. Considering we have some 15 cats, with one or two more that I know live here but to come to the main barn area, the fact that they all line up to eat is pretty awesome. However, when i'm holding the food and am about to lay it down, they tend to just mob me and try their best to trip me by twining around my legs and meowing at me for the food i hold. They love me, who wouldn't? haha!

 This is Spongebob, one of the toms. He's actually the most laid-back tom i've ever encountered. The poor guy also has some serious thickness inside his ears from what i suspect is callous build-up from scratching at ear mites, a problem i'm trying to help cure him and several of the others cats of, but it's not easy. Luckily, the cats are all fairly forgiving, and they still let me pet them even after the horror of putting drops in their ears.

 This is Tank, perhaps the friendliest of all the cats. He doesn't care what you do to him really, within reason. I can hold him upside-down, dance with him, pretty much whatever and he doesn't care. I was told that as a kitten he was handled a lot, so that explains his lack of concern for being held and played with. I love this shot because you can just barely make out parts of his form and yet you can still see him.

 The cats love the feed room, as there are so many places for them to curl up and sleep. Sugar is one of the smallest, and so can fit on this tiny bucket lid with ease. Sugar is about the size of a half-grown kitten, and is a very squirrely cat, who loves to sit on stall doors and watch as we clean, or to just perch and observe. She doesn't live being held too much, but she loves to be pet.

Scarlet and Sugar taking advantage of the sun. Scarlet is unique in that she has a face of perpetual irritation. She's a 'fold'; in other words, her ears are folded. Considering she's a barn cat, and the only one with these unique ears, she probably came from her own litter and came here. Not all these cats came from the same litter, but they get along for the most part, especially when it means snoozing in the sunlight.

Tank and Sno love to play with each other, i find them doing it almost every day i clean. Sno was actually found and rescued by my employer's daughter when she was but a kitten. I love her coat, as it's so unique. A very marbled coloring. She also tends to be very congested, which makes me wonder if she has allergies, which i can only imagine is real tough to have when one is a cat!

 I occasionally like to call Tank the 'vampire cat' as he has a bit of an overbite that allows his upper incisors to stick out. I think it makes him that much more adorable.

 Sno has stopped playing with Tank as he has decided to scale the side of a bag of sawdust chips in play, while Spongebob watches on a hay-bale.

This is Oscylot. He's a feral who wandered in one day, and who i've been working hard on befriending. I named him for his coat coloring, and how it reminds me of an actual Ocelot. He's still wary, but i've managed to gain his trust and even pet him. Unfortunatly, more recently, i haven't seen him in a few weeks. Hope he's doing all right

Sno sleeping in the hay, on of the cats' favorite places.

Tank taking advantage of a bunch of empty feed bags that haven't been thrown away. it's amazing how cats can turn even trash as a place to take a nap.

 This is Twitch. She was once known as Twix, and then suddenly she gained this weird nerve issue that causes her to walk around with her head cocked sideways. She gets around fine, but more than anything she likes to lay on my stuff and sleep while i work. Even when i have to leave and move her from my stuff, she's right there again to try and regain her spot. She's a sweetheart who loves to be held and petted, and i've been told this is partly due to the fact that as a kitten she was carried around by the students and kids who take lessons at the barn.

Tank loves to follow around at times, at loves to get in the way, such as jumping into the wheelbarrow i use for moveing around hay bales and watching me as if to say 'what? i'm not trying to be in the way!'

This is Nightmare, the most wary and rough-looking tomcat at the barn. He's wary because, as i've been told, in any instance that he's been grabbed it's been for vet reasons, so he relates people with shots and being picked at. I am slowly working on getting his trust, but it's not been easy. At the time i took this shot, he still ran from me, very fast.

here is Tank again, once more helping me with hay-distribution

This is Magnus, the largest tomcat who lives at the barn. The name he's called by everyone else is 'Fatso' apparently due to the fact that whenever he comes across food he stuffs his face as fast as he can. I call him Magnus from a character in a novel i've read, the character being a very strong warrior type who happened to have golden eyes, which Magnus has. Besides, i've held this cat (he's a very friendly and needy of attention when i'm around) and there is no fat whatsoever on him. This tomcat is all muscle, and considering how many fights he gets into, it's understandable why he's so strong. But Magnus is no Fatso, he's strong. He's also, notably, the only orange cat at the barn.

fairly often i find cats watching me from the few windows, mostly from the feed room. 

here is another shot of the cats eating breakfast, from left to right is Spongebob, Sno, Maggie, Midge and Boots

this is an extended shot of the one above, and from left to right is Spongebob, Sno, Maggie, Midge, Boots, Sugar, Baby, Tank, and sneaking behind is Nightmare. He always eats on the far end, as far from me as possible

here is a close-up of Twitch, making use of my bags as a bed. It's amazing how cats can sleep anywhere!

i caught Sno and Tank playing again, and had to stay and take some shots. They never truly hurt each other, but then again, if they DID hurt each other, it wouldn't be playing!

The cats are fascinated with new things too. This is Tank exploring my car, thinking i'm not watching

At this point Tank has realized i'm watching him, and is trying to look innocent, but i already know what he was doing, there's no hiding now!

The cats tend to follow me when i leave, as if to walk me out. Bella is the cat further in the background, and watching as Scarlet chews at the grass, which animals only tend to do when they have a stomach ache.

here is one of the few instances i was able to catch Nightmare in the open. Sleeping on an old cat bed and hidden between the tall stack of hay, a few tack tubs, the back wall, and a basketball hoop (which i still have no idea why is in the barn)

This is PJ. He's the tabby version of Tank in many ways, and he absolutely loves me more than anyone else. He greets me in the mornings, follows me around, and is right there if i happen to sit down. However, when he's not crawling on me, i know him to be the most active hunter of all the barn cats. When i get to work, he goes wandering off into the fields to stalk and hunt and maybe even adventure.

This is a shot i got of our shadows, and although PJ and Boots are the only two cats actually seen, it's obvious just how many are surrounding me!

here is a closer shot of Oscylot. This being taken after a few more weeks in which I've been gaining his trust. He's a very lean cat, fairly skinny. I hope he's eating enough, considering just how un-fleshed out he is.

Oscylot is a tomcat, as he is a feral who doesn't actually stay, and because he's not familiar, the majority of the cats don't really like him. 

This is PJ, bringing me the fruit of his labors, a field mouse

i love the natural light, so the shot above was done that way, but i did use the flash once so i could actually get a clear shot of what it was PJ actually had caught

it's so nice when a cat loves you enough to bring you presents, too bad it's not the kind of gift we're hoping to be given

This is the sight that greets me upon opening the doors to the barn every morning: a mob of cats waiting to be fed. Technically, the correct term for a group of cats is a glaring, or a clouder. I think i perfer 'glaring' considering how they all stare at me the moment i walk in.

This is a shot i got of Oscylot stalking about the outdoor arena. He doesn't stick to the barn a whole lot, but again, he's far more feral than the other cats, so i can only assume he barn hops a lot more.

This is Dusty. He's one of the oldest cats to live at Creekside, and is more of a pet than 'just' a barn-cat. My employer cares for him personally because he hangs close to the house more often than the barn. He's got siamese markings, but is obviously a mix of some sort. It's a notable fact that the fur of a Siamese cat will change color, although it's actually their skin that alters. Much like a snow hare, in warm temperatures, the fur stays one color, and in colder temps, it changes. For a Siamese, in warm climates their coat stays that creamy white, but if a siamese cat were to be left in a cold environment for a fairly long time, such as a few days, their coat will darken like Dusty's looks. Although Dusty's coat isn't dark because of this climate shift, it's still interesting to know these little facts, which was how i realized he was part siamese.

When spots to sleep aren't as easier to find because of things being shifted around, the cats will do their best to make use of what they got. In this case, someone left a sweatshirt on a bench, so Baby, Sno, and Maggie all piled together to make the most of it.

Sugar found herself a prime spot to sleep, by climbing up a ladder and getting on a ledge normally not reachable

Creekside hosts shows now and then, of the hunter/jumper type, so fake flowers are used to decorate jumps. In the off season, we store the flowers away in tubs, this one in particular is being put to another use by a sleepy Maggie.

Outside the barn is a lovely porch area, with vines wrapper around two of the posts, to the point it's made a lovely spot to hide and sleep. Sno is currently using it in this photo, if you can pick her out

there's not a whole lot of landscaping at the barn, but there are a lot of day-lilys lining the outside. Although no longer blooming, the cats still make use of their long stems such as Tank is in this photo

here's another shot of Sno hiding among the vines, no doubt wondering what i am doing peering in at her

although PJ is the most active hunter, all the cats are hunters, and tend to show-off their skills at times. in this shot, i caught Bella stalking a gray tree frog who decided to hop from his safe spot to the ground. I rescued him from the cat, only after i took this shot though

This is Tequila. I only see her in the mornings, although now and then i'll see her in the afternoon walking by a field or pasture. She's distinctly different than the other tabby-cats by having a fairly wide dark stripe down her back. Before i knew she was a regular at the barn, i called her 'Meowsy', because i would see her from afar and all she would do was meow at me, venture close, then run away from me.

Maggie making use of the flower box again, and wondering what i am doing disturbing her sleep

cats love boxes, especially empty ones. In this shot, i caught Duckie making use of a recently emptied box

Cats are very curious, and love to hide and watch. Sno is proving that you can hide behind pretty much anything, even a shovel

This is Bella, and if look close enough, my shoe is visible. Bella is one of the few cats who follows me around when i go through the horse pastures. If i stop and give her attention, she tends to flop to the ground and starts rolling and purring loudly and happily. At this point she expects me to bend down and give her a good stroke down her side and a scratch on the head

Not all the cats feel safe around the horses, and for good reason. There is more than one horse that does not like the cats, but add me to the pasture and suddenly they feel so much safer. This pasture we're walking through is where the eldest horses are, and they tend not to mind the cats. Bella and Scarlet were following me around on this day

often the cats will just sit around and make use of whatever light they can find. I love this shot because to me, Sno and Spongebob somewhat resemble bookends, with their tails curled around their paws, and their light coat coloring 

this is Nightmare staring at me as i sit on the ground and attempt to appear nonthreatening. He wasn't totally sold on the idea, but he didn't run away from me this time, instead he just stared at me, fairly hard

after about twenty minutes of me doing nothing to him, Nightmare decided to actually lay down by the barn door in the sun. It's the most relaxed he's ever been around me, despite the fact he's a good 10 feet away

Tank is a very 'clutchy' cat, and likes to wrap his front paws around things to hold on. Here is a good example of that stellar grip of his as he lays beneath a rocking bench out on the porch

all cats are alert, and are ambush predators, so finding a moment where they're trying to be subtle isn't too hard. in this case, Boots was warily watching me clean water buckets

This is what happens after a cleaning spree, cats find new perches. I had just finished cleaning and rearranging this shelf. I stepped out to get my camera to take a shot of my work, only to come back and find Spongebob sitting on the shelf, oh so happy to find a new perch

light can be so amazing, and i love hard contrasts, so when i walked by the feed room and noticed all these shadows, i had to take a shot

Duckie is not looking to happy that i'm bothering her with my flash, but it was also possibly her annoyance of me due to the fact that i had just put medicine in her ears

This is Bella looking quite pleased with herself, i don't know why, but that slit-eyed look cats have is just so full of character

Not all the cats are interested in hunting, but Tank proves he's quite up to the challenge. This mouse he caught was from staring at a stall wall for over an hour. Well, persistence pays off!

at least Tank didn't bring me this mouse. In fact, he didn't even eat it! it got taken by one of the other cats and eaten.