Photo 52 Challenge - JJ Coming In From the Cold...
JJ is a feral cat that adopted us!. He knows what it is to have to fend for himself out in the wild.
The Story of How JJ Came to Us
At one time we had five cats that were all indoor cats and we had a cat door for them to come and go as they please.
Most of the time we keep the door shut in the evening to keep the cats safe from the night prowlers of owls, coyotes and such. But if it's a warm summer evening and all the cats aren't in at bedtime we leave the cat door open.
Low and behold we awoke one morning to have a new addition to our cat family, the cat we were to name JJ (short for Junior Jake.)
All the other cats had accepted him so we did too. And you know, it wasn't long before he turned from that wild cat to a complete cuddle cat!
Summer he loves to be out most of the day but come winter, when the temperature drops well below freezing, he doesn't care to go out much at all!
Every once in a while though, he kind of forgets how cold it is and will want to go out. I'll open the door and mostly he just sticks his nose out and turns around to come right back in. He knows he has it good and he doesn't want to chance loosing it and being left out in the cold!
Lately we had some milder weather and JJ would go out for a bit. One day he snuck out when we were getting wood and he was left out for a number of hours, which freaked him out. He gave my husband supreme heck when he let him in! After that it was quite some time before he would even go near the door!
With a week of nice weather he gradually began coming out for short bits with me. This morning he came out into the courtyard with me as I was heading to the studio.
JJ Coming Outside to Check Things Out
JJ Looking Out Into the Pile of Snow
He came out, looked at all the snow and felt the cold on his tender toosies and went straight back to the door! I coaxed him to come to me, trying to get some photographs but I didn't have long, he was getting quite concerned and would meow and head back to the door, pleading to be let in!
JJ Looking Longingly at the Door Wanting In
A Little Coaxing Bought JJ Close to Me to Check Out Snowy Scene
Snowy Winter Scene JJ Was Looking At
I didn't want to traumatize him so I opened the door and he headed straight to the wood heater where he feels safe and warm!
JJ Safe and Warm by the Wood Heater
Winters are hard on cats here but luckily JJ has what we call the outdoor indoors and enjoys basking under the grow lights in our sun room or watching the winter scenes through the window.
JJ Sacked Out Under Grow Lights
He has one spot looking out the window at the bird feeder that we call his cat T.V.
It's a good thing he doesn't want to go out in the winter for we can then feed the birds, giving them some much needed fuel to survive the cold winter days (when JJ goes out he uses the bird feeder as his private hunting stand!)
Here are a couple of visitors that came looking for food -
Male Pine Grosbeak
Side View Male Pine Grosbeak
It's the male grosbeaks that have the bright plumage while the female's coloring is more subdued.
Female Pine Grosbeak
Female Pine Grosbeak Head Cocked Listening
One more view of the female Grosbeak all puffed up -
Female Pine Grosbeak Puffed Up in the Cold
This is my entry for this week in the #Photo52 Challenge with the theme Cold. Come join in - find out more here
I've choosen the collage of JJ photos in the cold as my entry to the challenge if acceptable or photo of JJ looking longingly at the door if not.
All the images of JJ were taken with my Canon PowerShot A495
The images of the grosbeaks were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX 60 HS
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I understand your cat's opinion. I would also prefer lying on a warm floor to walking barefoot in the snow.
Those are some nice looking birds. I can never get good photos of those guys. No zoom on my camera and they are too skittish to let me walk right up to them.
JJ is a lucky cat to have found your home and been made welcome. ❤️ So many strays are left to fend for themselves in the cold.
Lovely shots of the Grosbeak.
We've always had indoor/outdoor cats but now ours is so old (19 on Valentine's day) she hasn't been out since the cellar hole was dug last summer. She's not very steady on her legs, and I was afraid she'd fall in. Once the stairwell in the addition is safe, we can let her out there.
Loved the front shot of the grosbeak! That's a super photo!
That's a really neat story about how JJ came to you! I think it's a scientific consensus now that cats domesticated themselves (i.e., "Hey, it's warm with these people and they feed us") and that sort of seems what happened with JJ too!
My four month old kitten was intently... and I mean intently... watching some birds yesterday. If I had let him outside (I don't; my cats are indoor cats) I am positive he would have been up the tree to find that interloper and give him what for.
Thank you for entering!
Animals know when something good is on offer, they feel the vibes in a home and adopt you pretty smartly. Lovely big fluffy cat, purr-fectly at home.
Male and female Grosbeak birds are very pretty with red or golden plumage, snow still looks lovely from this side LOL.
Your Pine Grosbeaks are so beautiful and must be so much tougher than the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks that visit me. My Grosbeaks all go south for the winter.
JJ is delightful! He is waiting for you to open the right door.... the one that leads into summer!
That's what I was thinking that JJ wants me to change the seasons! I wish!
I didn't realize there were grosbeaks that migrated - funny how they are the same species but very different!
Ha! He knows that there used to be a door that led out to summer! He will keep searching for it.
I am always so happy to see the Grosbeaks come back in the spring. I wish mine were as tough as yours!
@porters, your cat reminds me so much of my cat, Angel. She does the same thing. (And she is also a tabby.) She is outside a lot during the summer and goes a little nutty when it's cold and snowy outside in the winter, and sometimes goes out anyway. If it's a pleasant day she might sit in the sun for a while, but if the temperature is well below freezing she comes right back in.
Did you ever find out where your cat came from? He must have abandoned another home, or maybe he was abandoned. I'm glad he has a nice home with you!
p.s. I found this post in the PHC Caturday space and upvoted before I realized it's two weeks old. :-) So then I decided to go ahead and comment anyway. I love your bird photos! Wow.