I waited almost a week before checking. As of Saturday afternoon, the kittens were still in the nest. Their eyes were barely open and they're huddled in a pile, keeping warm.* When my shadow fell over them, a couple of the wiggled around and looked up. Could that big shadow be Mama? Sorry, babies. I'm sure she's not far away.
There are a couple of saplings with branches that must be moved aside to see the nest. I moved the branches back into place and let the kittens be. My neighbor wants to foster them (she has bottle-raised kittens before) but they're still too tiny.
I wish we could catch their mother, Copper, too. Kittens are best off with their own mother, who will keep them warm, fed and clean with the sureness of instinct. She is exceedingly wary of people, so wary that I don't know if even the kittens would be enough of a lure. My neighbor has far more cat-magnetism than do I and she might be able to entice Copper.
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* Kittens can't control their own body temperature until they're a month old. They need to be kept warm, in a place 85 - 90°F. Outdoor daytime in an Indiana August is just about perfect, but without Mama in the nest, kittens will huddle for warmth even then.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
1 comment:
Mom had a kitten nest in her basement window. She rescued the kittens, Mama hung around searching for a while. After it was too late we read that you should use the kittens as bait to trap Mama to be fixed and released. (Apologies if I've posted this before--not nagging, just don't remember hitting send)
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