The Touchstone Kitty Cafe has recently been invaded by chickens - yes
chickens. I mentioned a while back that Sammy spotted a rooster
through the window, and was fascinated at the BIG bird. There have
been no rooster sightings for quite a while - I think the owner
corraled him and has been keeping him at home because he still sounds
off every morning.

Now it's a hen and her chicks that are frequent visitors. They don't
seem to care for cat food, or at least I've never seen them eating
any. They do visit the three-day water bottle I keep on the patio for
visitors, and scratch around in the flowerbeds and under the bushes
looking for tasty bugs. Of course my three don't know what to make of
these feathered creatures, so I find them glued to the windows
whenever the hen brings her chicks by.

The funny thing is that Frank, the big blue eyed white neighbor cat
who has been guarding the food bowls and chasing off the other cats,
is terrified of these birds. As soon as he hears the hen clucking to
the chicks he takes off running. At least two of the other neighbor
cats the opportunity to come and eat while Frank is hiding from the
big bad chickens. They ignore the chickens and the chickens pretty
much ignore them, though they make sure to keep their distance.