June 2019 – “Scratch” the Cat

“Scratch” may be the only animal on the farm whose name I have to put into quotations marks, lest it sound like a command to harm him! My oldest son, Shevi, named him when he was just a newborn kitten. In fact, Shevi got to watch Scratch be born right here at our farm!

We adopted Scratch’s mother, Luna, from my brother, who decided to rehome her because of his kids’ allergies. Our old farm mouser cat had recently died (he was here when we moved to the farm, so he was very old!), and we were hoping to find another good mouser. We decided to see if Luna wanted to be a real Farm Cat.

She’s as black as night! And a very sweet, petite cat. But her size and manner shouldn’t mislead you–she is a very skilled hunter! Cats are fascinating because they will sit so still for so long you can hardly tell they’re really alive, watching a gopher hole until they see their prey pop out. It takes a lot of patience to be a cat!

Luna decided to have babies at our farm, and we were pleased because a farm as big as ours needs a few mouser cats around! Cats like to hunt small mammals like mice and gophers, which are pests on farms and most other places. But for me, the mommy of 5 small kids who just LOVE playing outside, there’s an even more important purpose for keeping a cat: They compete with snakes for food! Snakes eat many of the same kinds of critters, and so cats will tend to use up all the food supply that might attract snakes. And cats catch snakes, too! Farms and cats make a great team!

But not always… Remember how I said that cats are excellent hunters? Well, sometimes they get to be TOO good.

That’s Scratch’s story. He decided one day that he wanted to have a taste of chicken. The only creatures allowed to eat chicken on our farm are the people! But Scratch didn’t know that rule, and he is quite the clever kitty. He figured a way to break into a highly protected brooder house, where around 1000 little baby chickens were busy growing up. Protecting them were two electric fences, plus regular mesh fencing on the window of the house itself, plus a low electric line to deter any predators from trying to climb the outer wall.

But Scratch wanted that chicken, and he found a way in. We still don’t know how he got through all the barriers! But we do know it was him, because we caught him on our game camera that Farmer Matt had set up to take pictures all night.

We asked among our customers if anyone was looking for a nice kitty to adopt and found him a wonderful new home. The new owners even made him his very own collar with his name engraved. I think he’s just as happy there as he was here, even if he doesn’t get to eat chicken anymore!

Scratch belonged to Shevi, who is 9. Shevi was very brave about giving Scratch to new owners. Scratch wouldn’t have been happy caged up. But he couldn’t roam free anymore because he had outsmarted us too many times.  Sometimes as farmers we have to make hard decisions for the good of the farm. Maybe someday we’ll be able to get Shevi a different pet. One that doesn’t like chicken!

Be sure to check out our this month’s Farm Sticker Story, and if you live within our distribution area, get yourself a Farm Fan Club sticker this month!