Ole and Lena

No, this isn't a corny joke about the Norwegian couple with their side kick, Sven. After the untimely death of Morris, we needed a couple of farm cats to keep the place from being overrun with vermin. I was at the vets office and asked if they had any cats up for adoption, I wanted a pair of young, neutered cats, hopefully a male and female about the same age.

Brooke piped up and said she had a male cat, Ole, about 1 1/2 years old, looking for a home. He was living in her dad's shop because their other farm cats beat him up. They also had a pretty little grey striped female with a white bib and 4 white socks. I told Steve to spay her and I'd pick both cats up in a week, after we were back from WI.

I got both cats and put them in Leo's shop to get acquainted with each other and me, Lena is the little social butterfly, Ole went into hiding. After a week of no Ole, I put the game camera out there to make sure he didn't escape through the 2 X 3" hole I did find. I was very relieved to see him come out at night to eat and the next day I found where he was hiding and hauled his sorry butt out.

 He was a big teddy bear, we sat in the chair and he loved all over me. I put Ole down and he promptly went into hiding again. He would not come out. Everyday I'd drag him out of whatever hiding place he chose, we'd have a lovefest, then Ole would go back into hiding.

Darn cat!

After two weeks, I decided enough was enough and opened the big door to the shop and let the cats out. Well, I let Lena out, the little social butterfly immediately took over the farm, nothing fazes her and she set up housekeeping in Bruce's old shop. She has quite a vocabulary so it's easy to find her, just stop and listen.

Ole, as was expected, disappeared, I did see him once up in the old forge shop but he was freaked out and ran from me. After that, neither of us saw hide nor hair of him but I couldn't believe he was gone.

Harvest started, either Bruce or I made sure Lena was fed everyday and occasionally I would check some of the buildings for any sign of Ole but came up empty. Then, just last week, we drove in the driveway and a yellow cat looked up from the food bowl, took one look at us and bolted into the brush on the back side of the garage.

It took me a few moments to realize we had just had an Ole sighting!!! I brought out the trusty game camera and set it up by the food bowl and left it overnight.

The next morning when I downloaded the SD card, bingo! Ole, caught on tape!

Lena spends a lot of time at the food bowl, she is licking her lips after snacking on a particularly tasty morsel.

Upon further inspection, I found we had other visitors to the food bowl, this was a partial shop of a disappointed raccoon who found the bowl empty.

Ole again, visiting under the cover or darkness.

Lena checking to see if the food fairy visited and filled the bowl.

Lena keeps a sharp eye out for any intruders who might be after her food.

Like this possum out for an early morning stroll.

Lena patiently waiting for Bruce to come and replenish the cat chow.

I was surprised at how fast the cat food disappeared and now I know, Ole is alive and well and either he will tame down and come to accept us or he will remain aloof and grudgingly come to the food bowl.

Either way, he has the run of the place and hopefully is busy hunting in his free time and that is what we wanted.

Long live Ole and Lena, the king and queen of the farm.