Category: Manx stories

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Day 5 at the farm …

Nico’s introduction to sheep and trees

My, what a busy life Nico has. He has now been introduced to the great outdoors and it’s all about ‘oooooh what are those BIG things’ and ‘how high can I climb’!

First it was the introduction to the sheep. He was very curious but decided that his side of the fence was the best option.

Next it was learning to climb trees; ‘ooo love this, tiz fun’, and for the next 20 minutes it was up and down, higher and higher.

A bit about Manx; these cats are very good at climbing even though they do not have a tail. These are not cats that have had their tails removed, they are born with a specific gene. To compensate for no tail they have extremely powerful back legs, long than the front legs which enables jumping, climbing and balance.

And sheep introduced to cows …

The neighbours dairy cows were put onto our paddock to help eat the long grasses. The cows are most interested in the sheep (but as they have 2 sheep in their own paddocks across the road, are not concerned about them).

Our mob on the other hand are …..’ ‘Maa baa, what are those BIG things, wez don’t like them’.

So a lot is happening here at present, watch this space for more antics from sheep and kittens. See you again soon.

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Day 3 with Nico …

We are adjusting to life with our kitten, Nico and he has bonded quite nicely with Leigh and me. His favourite place is either on the computer desk with me or on Leigh’s computer desk.

We took him go outside for the first time on Sunday as it was such a beautiful day, weather wise. He only explored to the extent of where we were standing and would chase leaves, do lots of sniffing and walking through the ‘jungle’ (the garden has lots of tall plants as you know).

After an hour though, it was nap time – ‘tiz very tiring being a kitten’. We will not open the cat door yet but he seems content to go outside when we do and come back inside when we have chores to do.

I am very impressed on how quickly he is learning ‘our routine’. Sleeps all night under our bed and is very quiet, gets up only when the first person rises. Follows either one of us around most of the day and naps nearby whatever we are doing.

The other ‘learning’ is to push the boundaries; “I can walk on the table, I can jump onto the bench” all no-no’s in this house – with a ‘no’ and distraction to something more interesting such as a ‘ball’ to chase, he is learning quickly.

It will be interesting to introduce him to the sheep but that will be much later. Well time for me to return to chores while ‘Nico’ has a nap. See you again soon.