they are all my babies...
Posted on 09/15/2008 4:52:13 PM PDT by BGHater
The natural explanation is that animals have emotions and emotional needs, very similar to humans. Snowy is probably female, or perhaps a neutered male, and has maternal/nurturing instincts. Snowy is well-fed and has no need to seek food, but her (his) need to nurture isn’t being sufficiently met. Along comes a little orphaned chick emanating major “I need nurturing” vibes, and noticing that the cat is about size of missing-mommy, and voila!, a match made in heaven.
My favorite story in this genre was after the Asian tsunami, a baby hippo who’d lost its mother latched onto a giant tortoise, which apparently looked more like missing-mommy than any other living creature in sight. In one photo of the pair, the hippo is clearly attempting to nurse from the tortoise. The tortoise seemed to be tolerating the whole affair rather well, but I don’t think tortoises have a nurturing instinct, so either it must have had some other unfathomable motive or else it just had figured out that it couldn’t outrun the hippo and that the hippo wasn’t doing any harm and accepted the situation. I think tortoises have an instinct to just accept situations, and of course just close if the situation seems scary.
Oops, looks like my ‘puter got the hiccups!
So that is what happens when a hen sits on baby kittens.
Indeed it is a good photo, took me a minute to figure it out.
Years ago, I went to buy Geese from a lady who was well known for her animal knowledge, Laura was in the barn teaching a 4-H troop how to skin a sheep and asked me to to to the house and get a special knife that she had forgotten to bring.
Of course, I was willing to do so.
As I walked away, she called out “and if that Bantie hen is sitting on the kittens again, please chase her off and move the kittens, she is in the planter by the door.”
I thought “yes, I am a little green, but what is she up to? a hen with baby kittens?”
At her back door, there was a planter, in it was a Bantie hen, I bravely [they can peck hard enough to bruise your hands] picked the hen up.
She had 5 or 6 tiny kittens under her.
Laura later told me that she has fought that hen for years, as she thinks she should sit on kittens or any thing that she can cover.
We keep old hens that are good setting hens, to hatch and raise other eggs, such as Guinea Hens, Ducks and whatever you want more of and don’t want to fire up the incubator for.
they are all my babies...
LOL, Cats and Chicks.
The real danger is the chicks will peck at the cats eyes.
Strange, they do not feel fear, until someone teaches them to do so.
Last year, a feral cat got in my house, it took me 8 months to catch her.
Traps did no good, she figured that sooner or later I would need to sleep and then she would get to the food.
I tried starving her, then after a few days, she laid funny and I saw she had kittens nursing, hidden in an empty box in the family room.
When she brought them into this part of the house, I managed to catch 2 of them, the Blue one, I never managed to lay a finger on.
We were doing fine, and then I caught her teaching them how to attack me.
I knew that she had a bad habit of bringing blood on my legs and hands if she didn’t like what I was doing, such as eating and not fixing her a share of it first.
She taught her kittens how to claw my legs. and to not allow me to touch them, to run like crazy.
I may not have gotten any loving from them, but did get an education.
I think that cat is just biding her time...
LOL
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