South of the Gnat Line welcomes “Whiskers” of Jacobs Farm!

SGL:  Whiskers, we want to extend a great big WELCOME to you!  How are you and thank you so much for allowing SGL to interview you today.

Whiskers:  Why thank you so much for such a warm welcome.  I am so excited to be here and always look forward to reading South of the Gnat Line with all the other farm felines at Jacobs Farm.

SGL:  So Whiskers, please tell us about yourself, your farm, what a typical day at Jacobs Farm is like.

Whiskers:  Well, okay.  Let me see…..  I’m Whiskers; I am a traditional Lighthouse black and white farm cat and the eldest of the female felines at Jacobs Farm.  “The Lady” brought me and my litter mates home one day from the vet – oh I guess it’s been two May’s ago now – maybe three.  Our dear sweet mother was no longer able to care for us – or at least that was what “her Lady” told us on her way to leave us at the vet……(pause – sudden emotion).  (Throat clearing)…um, okay, where was I?  Oh – yes, anyway, I live on a 36 acre farm along a dirt road and I along with several other farm felines take great pride in working the farm to keep vermin, rabbits, frogs and on occasion, snakes all kept at bay from our beloved masters’ farm.

SGL:  Do you have any children?

Whiskers:  Oh my, yes, I do indeed.  I’ve had two litters of kittens and am the proud momma of a total of 8 children.  My oldest, Oscar, is such a handsome young man now.  He, too, is a lighthouse black and white – the only one like me.  I’ve had 3 daughters and 5 sons.  Some have moved  away to their own families, I’ve lost some to the creatures beyond the woods and the rest continue to live and work beside me at the farm along the dirt road.  I also have nieces and nephews, too.  I’ve been blessed with a large family – both feline and human.

SGL:  And your nine lives, Whiskers?  Where do they stand these days?

Whiskers:  I must say that I’m having to pay close attention to what remains of my nine lives.  You see, I’ve already had some misfortunate circumstances and have lost a few of my nine lives.

SGL:  Do you mind elaborating on this, Whiskers?

Whiskers:  Well, okay.  Let’s see – I seem to remember losing the first of my nine lives when I was very, very young – still a kitten.  I made the mistake of chasing a mouse into the dog pen – the wrong dog pen.  But I managed to keep that mangy mongrel at bay by hiding under his dog house and slicing his nose every time he stuck it under there.  Then one time, I was napping on the front porch of my master’s house and these flying bee things kept dancing around my head – so I swatted them.  The next thing I knew, they had their whole family and neighborhood after me and stung me all over my face and head.  My poor Lady was so upset when she saw me; she brought me into the house and kept me in her bathroom for a couple of days giving me some cherry juice that made me sleepy.  Finally, I woke up and my face was all normal again.  I think that cherry juice must have been magic.

SGL:  Go on, Whiskers, this is fascinating!

Whiskers:  Then there was the time that the Man shut the garage door and it closed on my tail – trapping me.  My tail has never been the same.  It had been such a long and beautiful black tail.  Now it is, well, it’s just crooked.

I’ve spent a night or two up a tree to escape wild animals running through our woods.  You just can’t take any chances – especially since a pack of coyotes attacked our flock of chickens back last New Year’s Eve.  Oh that was a bad patch of time, it was.

SGL:  Have you ever come face to face with a coyote, Whiskers?

Whiskers:  No.  But my beloved sister, Misty, fell prey to them.  I sorely miss my sister, Misty.  We were inseparable.

Silence.

SGL:  I am so sorry.  Please continue.

Whiskers:  Most recently, I made the mistake of climbing into the Lady’s car one afternoon after the Family had returned from the world.  The car had these great smells – all sorts of food smells.  I just wanted to, well, smell them.

SGL:  What happened?

Whiskers:  After a while, I became sleepy from smelling all the smells.  Before I knew it, someone closed the door to the car and I was trapped inside.

All night.

And most of the next day.

SGL:  How did you survive the heat, Whiskers?

Whiskers:  I had to remain calm.  The worst part was when the Lady was calling me.  I stood at the windows, hoping and praying she would see me inside the car – but she did not.  I thought this may be the end – all at once.  But this particular day took a break from the summer’s heat wave.  Later in the day, the Lady and the Man decided to leave the farm and go into the world and when they opened the car – I was free and spared.

SGL:  So where do things stand in recent weeks at the Farm?

Whiskers:  Well, we’ve had some recent tragedies.  My great grand niece, Priscilla, has been missing since the last big storm.  We just aren’t sure what happened except that she remains missing.  Also, our Godfather, Max, has been on walk-about for a week now.  The Lady is concerned that he may not return.  All I can do is remain loyal to the Farm and live as an example to the rest.

SGL:  Autumn is approaching, Whiskers.  What does this mean for farm cats?

Whiskers:  Well, the mice and other rodents and vermin will begin foraging for winter.  As the weather gets cooler, they try to come in the basement and set up household for the winter – our job is to remain vigilant and keep them away from the main house.  My main post for mousing is up at the chicken house.  The mice burrow underneath the front door as well as tunnel underneath the hay inside in an effort to gather corn and the occasional late egg left in the nesting boxes.  So I stay pretty busy at my post.  With the ever present pack of coyotes, the Lady has been good to bring most of the farm cats in at night.  But I’m an early riser and the Lady isn’t always real happy about that.

SGL:  What do you mean?

Whiskers:  Well, a farm cat’s gotta do what a farm cat’s gotta do.  The Lady keeps her bedroom door closed at night because Simon (the house cat – he is NOT a farm cat) is bad to knock things off of the furniture during the night.  But when I’m ready to go to work early in the morning, I need the Lady to let me out.

SGL:  So what do you do, Whiskers?

Whiskers:  Well, I’ve devised a system to let the Lady know I need out.

SGL:  What’s your system, Whiskers?

Whiskers:  Well, I go to her bedroom door and softly meow.  If that doesn’t work, then I gently tap the door knob.  If that doesn’t wake her then I have to resort to scratching the carpet at the bottom of the door.

SGL:  Does that work?

Whiskers:  Gets her every time.

SGL:  Whiskers, I can not thank you enough for being with us today here at South of the Gnat Line.  I hope you will come back again soon.  Do you think you could bring some of the other Jacobs Farm cats for a follow up interview some time soon?

Whiskers:  I know they would be delighted to join me.  Thank you for having me today.

SGL:  We look forward to it, Whiskers.  Please plan to come back soon and bring some more farm adventure stories with you, too!

‘Til next time ~ See y’all!

And from all of us here at South of the Gnat Line ~ have a great weekend!