The cats here are numerous and fascinating for someone interested in heredity. About two years ago, Peter and Julie found two abandoned kittens. They were smaller than the palm of their hand and, they were identical ginger twin sisters. They adopted them and fed them. The two cats grew and a few months later they unexpectedly became pregnant, and they both gave birth, one month apart from each other. The surprise, when the second litter came out, was it was the same as the first one! The two twin mothers therefore must have mated with the same male...
Each litter had two ginger, one tabby, and one tortoiseshell. One of them also had a fifth kitten, a pink one. Thus the kittens of the second litter were named according to the name that had been already their corresponding cousins; there is Pretty Boy and Little Pretty Boy (who was given away), Thomas and Little Thomas, Monkey and Little Monkey, Tabby and Emily (Emily breaks the rule and is not named Little Tabby, because she squints, thus was named according to a wwooferin who was here at the time, and who said that she also squinted as a child), and the pink cat is Pinky or Mister Pink.
The corresponding cousins are very but not exactly similar physically (less so than would be identical twins). Peter claims that also they are not only more similar physically but also in their character, such as in their propensity to lick or bite or wanting to be pet. What a wonderful case study for the heredity of character!
I am told that when outside, the cats chase and eat mice. I know them however mostly as either begging to come inside, or sleeping on the couch in a tight bunch of up to five (I don't know why, but a greater number than five doesn't seem to work; when a sixth comes in, one of the already present five is kicked out - or leaves) or jumping on tables and counters to scavenge for some bit of food, at the risk of being thrown out - which risk is actually quite low with Peter, who is a total softy with the cats, and with all the animals in general I guess). The two mothers, which probably had a period of starvation as kittens, are the worse scavengers. But the kids did inherit the habit at least partially. These cats wish that they could eat just about constantly.
When the goats are milked, the cats are given the first few draws of milk which are taken separately as they are more likely to contain bacteria. The cats know this very well, and for some reason are totally crazy about this milk (much more so than the cat food they otherwise get), and as soon as they see someone leave the house with the milking buckets, they start standing by the house door as one whole crying and begging pack. When the person later comes back and leaves the house with the milk for the cats (watered down, and distributed in the 'cats house', where is the old bread oven), the cats go totally wild. Seeing them in such a state, you could imagine, as Julie says, that they would just eat you, if they would find you dead.
