Miracle

We currently have kittens (that are up for adoption!) from the feral colony at our house. There was a small miracle involved with them over the past two days. The kittens have been making it a habit to get underneath our car and actually climb up onto the frame and body. We don't leave very often, so it hasn't been too much of an issue. I would crank the car up and they'd scatter or I'd shake the car and they'd bolt into the woods. They did this up until yesterday.

Yesterday, we went out in the morning, after taking all the precautions, and as we were going down the road a kitten fell out from under the car into the middle of the spillway at the lake! We turned around as fast as we could and came back. A family had already picked up the kitten and thought that we'd thrown it out! I explained what happened and they were relieved.

Yesterday afternoon we left again, doing all of the precautions and then some. We almost got to the Peake Road neighborhood exit and a kitten fell out from under the car! She ran off into the woods. I turned around as fast as I could and we went after her. It is a tabby kitten so it's really hard to see and she's feral, so she wants nothing to do with us. We searched frantically for three hours and only caught sight of her once. She bolted as soon as I got close and we didn't find her again.

We went home and got our Have-A-Heart trap and set it with food and water. After that, we went to our neighborhood security and told them what happened and let them know to please let us know if they heard anything. The woods the kitten was in butts up against an assisted living facility, so we went in there and let them know what was going on as well. By this time it was getting dark, so we went back home.

This morning, we went and checked the trap. No kitten in sight. We went back home and fretted and worried. When I took my lunch break, we went back to check it again and refresh the food and water in the trap. The trap hadn't been sprung so I refreshed the food and water and moved it. While I was doing that, something odd happened.

I heard a bird behind me. I looked around and it was close to me, closer than birds usually get. It started making a noise like a cat and spreading out its wings and tail feathers and flapping them around. She kept making that noise and putting on a display until I heard a little "mew". I knew that wasn't a bird, so I started calling the kitten and heading in that direction. I saw her just as she sprinted toward a deep, narrow ditch. She balled herself up into a little niche behind a tree that was growing out of the ditch and almost disappeared. If I hadn't seen her go in there I'd have never found her. I can't get over that bird showing me where that kitten was!

I jumped down in the ditch and scooped up the hissing and spitting little kitten. Ami came over and held her while I climbed out of the ditch. We rushed her back to the car and took her home to her mama as fast as we could. We gave her some water and put her down. She ran as fast as she could to her litter mates and mama. We keep checking on her and she's out there playing with her siblings now.

It was a miracle that we found that kitten. We had resigned ourselves to never knowing what happened and always carrying that with us. The fact that we found her renews my faith that prayers are sometimes answered. We've decided to call her Miracle.