Precious Patches

Everyone who knows me knows that I love animals. Except for a few short periods there have always been one or more animals living with me/us. Lately I have not been able to think of something to post about so I decided to share stories of some of the animals that have been the most memorable.

For many years we were fostering animals for the local humane society and taking in those that found their way to our home one way or another. Where we lived during those years and still live, at first was mostly wooded area and people would dump cats and dogs so a lot of them found their way to our home.

This is Patches she was attached to me and was a very sweet cat. She would sometimes sit on my husband’s lap until I sat down then she would come running and jump in my lap. She could be in another room sleeping and somehow know when I sat down. She would sit in my lap, turn facing me, stretch her body up my chest so that her head touched my chin and sleep that way until I needed to get up.

My husband read the bible and the newspaper once or twice every day until dementia robbed him of those pleasures. Patches always read with him.

Bible reading

Patches got along with every child and every animal that we had through out her lifetime. She was a sweetheart, and I will never stop missing her.

Newspaper reading.
Crossword puzzle working

Every morning after breakfast while my husband read the newspaper, I worked the crossword puzzle. Patches would be there with me overseeing. When I finished the puzzle, she would go back to the newspaper and sit with my husband until he was finished reading, and it was TV time for him.

Liver and kidney failure took her. She was an adult when she came to us, so we had no idea her age. She was with us for several years.

Precious Patches was one of a kind, so gentle and sweet.

Night visitors

Since moving here in 1972 these little critters have been regular visitors to our yard. They don’t bother about anything or cause damage. They do eat ticks, so we have happily coexisted with them all these years.

Two years ago, I heard a noise on the front porch that I had not heard before. I went to the door, opened it and saw this cute little raccoon eating from one of the bird feeders.

She was no more than three feet from me. I told her she should not be eating from the bird feeder and should go on her way. Every time I would say something she would turn and look at me and then go back to eating. After she got her fill, she slowly walked off the porch and out into the night.

I moved the bird feeder after that night and now have all the feeders’ squirrel and raccoon proofed.

There had been no raccoons in my yard since that night that I knew of. But a little past 8:30 p.m. a night last week I heard and saw one on the porch. They can do damage and can be aggressive at times, so I really prefer that they stay out in the woods. There are some in a neighbor’s shed, a mama, and her babies so they are multiplying.

A few of the neighbors are searching for someone that can capture and relocate them. When they are in a place better suited for them, it will be good for them and the people living here, especially since this area is more populated with people now than in years past.

When I was a little girl, we lived in the country. My dad brought home a raccoon and he was our pet until we moved from there. I loved that little raccoon and enjoyed the time we had with him.

Now that I am an adult and more educated about wild animals, I do not believe we should have them as pets. It is illegal in some places, and I am thankful for that. I think it should be illegal everywhere.

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