Bodacious The Cat Shepherd

It's not every day you get to meet celebrities but recently, I finally made my acquaintance with a fabulous feline, who is a veritable star within the Facebook and Twitter communities. With several thousand followers and his own website, Bodacious the Cat Shepherd is, well, a cat who, along with his human, oversees a flock of the wonderful rare breed Zwartbles sheep in beautiful rural Ireland.

I first got to know about Bodacious when some years ago, I linked with his human on Twitter, but that is a story for another blog post. Instantly, his character appealed. What with that 'take me seriously or else' look, this fluffy cat had a way of captivating his audience whilst giving the low-down on the daily sheepy activities. Forget the A-list celebs social media tantrums - this is a C-list celeb who has also been known to tweet a strop or two when he hasn't had his daily fresh egg.

It was a beautiful early autumn day when I visited the Kilkenny farm, and whilst I was initially greeted by some wonderful canines, I wondered when Bodacious might deign to put in an appearance for this English human. We had probably wandered the farm for around an hour and a half before his human said "There he is" pointing to a corner of the farmyard from the far side of the field we were in. Suddenly a little flutter of excitement ran through me (Yes! I know, for a cat!) As we walked over, he put on the typical 'look-at-meee' greeting...for his human, it certainly wasn't for me!

Knowing that I was keen to capture a few shots of this big little star, his human paid a quick visit to the hen house and returned with a handful of fresh eggs.

Oh yes! His eggs and didn't he make it known he wanted...

Up on his hind legs with a loud meeow - give me!

However, it wasn't yet time for his treat, as there was a photo shoot to do first. And for once he wasn't going to be the centre of attention as this photo shoot was to be for his human. I'm not sure if he appreciated me engaging with his human for this time, when really, all he wanted was his egg.

The photo shoot completed, his human invited me back to the cosy farmhouse kitchen for a welcome bowl of soup, heated up by the Aga. On one of the counter tops, and looking even more cosy was Bodacious's fellow feline Marley, snuggled into a special cat-sized Zwartbles blanket. She looked really happy and content and quietly rested whilst we enjoyed the soup and a chat.

However, we had not long finished when Bodacious hopped up onto the kitchen chair and gave me the kind of hard stare as if to say "You are distracting my human from giving me my egg"

Oh dear!!
It still wasn't time for his treat as now it was time to go and feed the Zwartbles rams in the orchard.

Here, we met Ovenmitt, the third feline resident, along with Bear, a lovely and very lively young dog. It was a case of hey guys, time for a family portrait...if you would just stay still for a moment please Bear!

Ovenmitt is quite used to having his picture taken and even has a trick...

Feed time over and we made our way back to the kitchen where Marley was still resting in her Zwartbles blanket.

Sadly, it was time for me to leave and I had had a purrfectly wonderful afternoon with Bodacious the Cat Shepherd, his human and all the wonderful animals that lived in this beautiful corner of Ireland. I was delighted to come away with lovely memories, and a bag of my favourite Worcester Permain apples picked fresh from the tree - delicious!

And finally, his patience would be rewarded. Bodacious could have his delicious egg.

My thanks to Suzanna for her hospitality and a wonderful afternoon.

National Nest Box Week

With a brief respite from the appalling weather this weekend, many of us managed to get back out into our soggy gardens, albeit for just a few pleasant hours. Prompted by a friend who mentioned he had cleaned out the nest boxes in his garden, it reminded me I really ought to get around to re-installing a special nest box which had been sitting on a shelf for the past five years. It had been brought from a relatives home when they moved as it was too special to leave behind. I may have mentioned this box before as it is no ordinary nest box. This is a box with a birds-eye view - well, sort of. This box has an internal camera fitted and so any bird taking up residence isn't allowed to be camera-shy.

It was possibly the logistics of the cable run which delayed the setting up of this potentially absorbing piece of kit. However, after five years of thinking about it, the route indoors has become quite obvious and with just enough cable to spare, the connectors are now ready to be plugged into a monitor, situated in the warmth of the house. With a few minor adjustments to the set up, we should be up and running to watch out for the first couple to take up residence - hopefully very soon.

I have written about this today as we are currently in the middle of National Bird Box Week which began on Valentines Day, the day when it is traditionally said the birds start pairing. Certainly it is around now that the blue tits start investigating suitable nest sites and so I hope we may be able to follow a family of blue tits if they choose this as their new home. If these little beauties don't like what is on offer, then maybe another year we will open up the front of the box, which will be an invite to another garden favourite, the robin. It is surprising how birds can be quite choosy when it comes to setting up home. Just a couple of years ago, a blue tit decided to take up residence in this upturned water hopper - not a good move when rain can come straight in through the front door! Needless to say, the nest was abandoned before too long, probably helped along by a visit from the local feline patrol, who sadly are the usual avian bailiffs in our garden.

Whatever, if I do get any interest in this 'CBB' studio nest box I will be certain to keep you updated. In the meantime, it isn't too late for you to go and put up a nest box or two!

Hedgehog

They can't half shift !  Hedgehogs that is. They lift up that little prickly skirt to reveal two pairs of long-distance legs. This one, was like the Mo Farah of the Erinaceus europaeus olympics, and trying to photograph it without the benefit of a dolly track was quite a challenge.

I was reminded that I ought to post about this particular meeting I'd had a couple of weeks ago, when last night, we had another hedgehog encounter. Driving down a narrow dimly lit lane in town, I first spotted an adult hedgehog running alongside the shadow of the wall, closely followed by a hoglet. With hedgehog numbers struggling, it is always exciting to see these endearing creatures, so we turned around, provided spotlights on the running track and sat and watched. Very soon, three teenagers sat down on the lane and joined in as spectators, enjoying what otherwise might have been an overlooked event. Shortly after, the leanest, meanest adjudicator rocks up to inspect in an inimitable feline style - nose first. Of course, the anticipated outcome of this tete a tete was a recoil in shock, and with this, we had a smug giggle and left them all to it.

A cautious sniff and a recoil in shock was the exact same reaction that mutt had given during the daytime encounter in the park the other week.

In fact, I think this little hoglet was more concerned about finding it's way around than being bothered by all things massive on both two and four legs.

First it started tucking-in to the bag of (well I don't need to explain what) which I had temporarily put to one side to free up a camera hand.

Next it took a shine to my denim-clad knee, which I recoiled pretty smartish before it became a distressed denim-clad knee.

Whilst I and several other passing dog walkers were enjoying this close encounter with the little hoglet, everything was telling me that it felt wrong. Why was I seeing this little fella running around during the daytime? Was it big enough to survive on its own, and was it of sufficient body mass to get through the coming winter?

Not having armed myself with thorn-proof gloves or a box (as of course I always would when out on a walk with mutt!!), and being some way from home, there was not much else I could do, apart from shoo away the nosey, slobbering, passing canines in an attempt to protect our prickly friend. Eventually, the hoglet hurried off into the long grass just as Mrs Tiggywinkle, where I hoped it might be offered some respite from the heat of the sun and the attentions of any more dog-walkers.

On my return home, I checked my concerns about daytime sightings on-line, at both Tiggywinkles and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, where my fears were confirmed.

"Hedgehogs are nocturnal so those out in the day are displaying odd behaviour. Even though they appear lively and are rushing around these hedgehogs probably need rescuing. Once out in the day they can be days away from death. Even when rescued they can seem OK for a day or so and then suddenly collapse and die. So if out in the day whether rushing about or curled up asleep they need rescuing."

I was gutted that I was unable to do anything on this occasion and fear this is one more lost hoglet. However, I now know for the future what needs to be done, thanks to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Should anyone else encounter a similar situation, and are unable to care for the hedgehog themselves, help should be at hand by ringing the Society on 01584 890 801 They will provide the name and number of local volunteers as well as any further advice. Tiggywinkles can also be contacted for assistance on 01844 292292 (24 Hour Emergency Line)

I do so hope that the hedgehog population might see a much needed increase in the years to come, so that the teenagers of the future, and indeed, everyone can continue to enjoy the antics of these animals.

In the Beginning

 

Where did I begin with photography?
Well, right here with this picture of a dear old cat called Judy.

One May evening when I was barely twelve years old, my aunt threw down a challenge.
"I wish we could get a picture of my cat lying here on this hedge"
I thought for a while, ran back to my home nearby, and breathlessly asked my dad if I might be able to borrow his camera. Fully expecting a straight refusal, he calmly asked me instead what I was planning to take with it. I had to explain as quickly as I could, concerned that the fickle feline might decide to change her location of repose. Mindful of the urgency, my dad felt it was still important to take a moment for a quick lesson in how to use the Agilux agifold, loaded with a 2 1/4" square roll film.

As he set the basics, he gave me piece of advice which was incomprehensible to me then but has got me out of trouble on more than one occasion since.
"If you don't know what F stop is going to be right, set it on F8 as a good measure"
With the camera opened up, wound on and set at F8, all I needed to do was calculate focus, point and then press the shutter.

On my return to the location, I was relieved to find said cat still doing what they like doing best. So after judging the focus (no auto-focus here) I positioned Judy in the viewfinder, held the camera as still as I could and squeezed the shutter button. In a moment of recklessness, I dared to wind on the film for just one more picture, and that, as they say, was that.

As was the norm back then, it was some months before the results of my photographic initiation were revealed. It was as it was; a cat on a hedge. But no one had warned me about parallax. I had thought that Judy would be beautifully positioned in the middle of the frame, instead, she was down and left a bit. (Actually, a nice bit of rule of thirds!) This was lesson number two, don't trust what you see in the viewfinder unless it is a TTL. (TTL came much, much later for me though) F8 had done what it needed- allowed a reasonable focus on the subject and thrown the background out of focus a little. Here was my first photograph.

So, I began with a cute domestic cat, and never in my wildest dreams then, would I have expected myself to be looking down the lens at some amazing big cats in their natural surroundings, some thirty-five years later.

I feel exceedingly privileged.