A Rural Buffet
Earlier today I noticed that three of my cats, who had been lolling on the deck, were heads-up and staring at the slope across the creek to the east of the house. I didn't see anything, and they settled back down for their naps so I didn't think any more about it. When I went outside a few minutes ago I saw a flurry of movement in that direction and thought at first that it was a small flock of wild turkeys, until a couple of them flapped away and I realized that they were vultures. I got out the binoculars and could see that they had been feeding on a deer carcass. Not good. It's within sight of the house and apt to draw a bigger scavenger. So, I pulled on my leather gloves and walked up to take a look at it. I didn't get TOO close, and I stayed upwind. It's a small deer; not a fawn but one of the yearlings, and the birds have made good inroads on it. I was going to drag it further up the hill, but I think they'll have it pretty well stripped by sunset. They're reasonably efficient.

My other two cats spend their nights in the studio, which is in a separate small building. I think it was the original structure on the property, and it has some very strange construction details. (For one thing, the builders shingled it by starting at the top and shoving subsequent rows of shingles under the ones that were already in place. They didn't seem to have a good grasp of the concept.) I'd been thinking about moving said felines to the downstairs, because it's warmer down there in the winter. So, I moved all of their gear this afternoon. They won't like it, but then they don't like anything that smacks of change. Cats are very conservative.