Look what I found this afternoon

Look what I found this afternoon.

So here is the story. They are born "wild cats" or kittens born to a "feral cat".  We live on a farm that has 2 acres.  We had just put our chickens out in their new chicken coop this weekend, today was their second day out in the coop.  They still are a little nervous and need to be coaxed out of the coop.  So around 12:30pm, my daughter and I went out to coax the chickens out. I was just hanging around with the chickens after I got them all out when my daughter and I both heard this loud, tiny yowling.  I knew immediately what it was, but the way it was crying it sounded like it was in distress, so we followed the cries. Sure enough, I found one black kitten tangled up in some overgrown pricker bushes near one of the old sheds that are on the property.  I ran and got my boyfriends gloves, and then went back to where the kitten was.  I was actually half expecting the mom to have heard the cries and be there retrieving her baby, but she wasn't there.  I put on the gloves and started to push through the bushes.  I had to stomp down a bunch to get to the kitten (did it really have to be right smack in the middle of the pricker bushes).  This kitten was smart.  As soon as she/he saw me, instead of trying to get away, (s)he came toward me and once I was close enough to it, it climbed right onto my glove, and up my arm! Perched itself on my shoulder!  As I made my way out, I heard another cry.  Sure enough, there was another identical looking kitten in a very worn down trailer that was covered in the pricker bushes.

 Oy.
I took kitten #1 and put it in a box with a fleece blanket (the one in the pictures), I then made my way back into the brushes to retrieve the second kitten.  This one wasn't as sure of me as its sibling. I don't know if it purposely went down into the trailer (which is covered with old plywood, and scrap metal along with some junk), or if it had slipped down, but I had to dig into the trailer to get it.  Once I located it, it climbed up on my arm as the first one had done.  With both kittens safely away from the prickers, I set the box near the area I found them.  I was hoping that the mother would come back and take them to a new, safer spot. Every few hours (2 or 3 hours) I went out and checked the box.  The kittens were there each time.  4 hours later, I got a call from my bf on his last break from work.  I told him what happened and what I had done with them.  I told him that they couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 weeks old, and then without giving him a chance to respond I told him that if they were still in the box, with no indication of mom having returned, at the time I was putting the chickens in their coop (around 8:30pm) I was bringing them in the house for the night.  To my surprise, he didn't object (he is severally allergic to cats--as am I).  He then told me that he would ask if anyone he worked with would be interested in adopting them from us (for free of course).  If not, he told me he would leave me the car on Wednesday to take them to a rescue.  

So at 8:40pm I went out and put my chickens in their coop then made my way over to the pricker area with the box.  My heart sank as I looked inside and saw the two kittens still in there.  8 hours after I had initially finding them, and they were still in the box with no indication that mom had been back to that area.  I gathered up the box and brought them inside.  They have eaten a few times since being inside (about 15ml each), but one doesn't seem very keen on eating...at least not from a infant syringe.  They are really sweet little kittens.  One loves to play with my daughter and will follow her wherever she goes (this is the one I'd want to keep if we could). They are doing much better in the house than I think they would have had I left them outside to see if mom came back for them--I just couldn't stand the idea of leaving them out there to fend for themselves knowing there are owls and hawks that live in the nearby trees. They definitely would not have made it out there alone.  As far as the mom goes...not sure what happened to her.  She could have been hit by a car, hurt, or just abandoned them (contrary to belief--a mother cat will not abandon her babies if they have been handled by humans---it's a myth--same with birds). Then there is the possibly that our dog, Jake, has scare her off so much that she just never came back.  My bf contradicted himself after I told him it could be this possibility saying that Jake has never gone after any cats.  Not true.  He mentioned to me just 2 days ago, that Jake had gone after a cat (the one I believe is the mother), and I had seen him go after this same cat a few weeks before.  But since this last chase off...neither of us have seen her around, and then I found the kittens.