Most of us have farm cats that have crossed our lives. They are the mousers and the companions of many of us throughout the day. Though many of us won?t admit it because we have a tough image to uphold, we have all scratched their heads for a minute when they came to visit us doing repair work under one of the implements. Many farm cats come and go, but a few of them stick in your brain forever. Some of them did more for the farm than was ever expected. Those special ones were almost as good as a hired hand.
Growing up on our farm, we had many farm cats. All of them had names, I always made certain of that. There were interesting names like Lady, Fritz, Mr. T, Squeaky, Cotton, and T-Bone. But the cat that will always stick out in my memory had the simplest name of all, Bill.
AUDIO: Profit Matters 12-31-21
Bill came to us as an adoption from a farmer that was moving to town. Bill came along with another cat named Chester. Chester was an interesting cat and deserves a paragraph all on his own. He rid our farm of a terrible rat problem, that not even poisons were fixing. However, he did it in such a grizzly manner, that it isn?t fit to print. You would actually feel sorry for the rats.
Bill on the other hand was no-nonsense. Bill came in and immediately set to work inspecting and learning the farm inside and out. Bill was always around when something was being done. Many times, just watching in the distance and observing the way things ran. After a few months, we started to realize that Bill was making the rounds every day and keeping the farm, especially the livestock in order.
Bill was the toughest animal on the farm. Quick to let everyone know who ran the show. Many times, Bill?s daily rounds went right past the outside gates of the hog barn. Every so often a pig would stick their nose out and try to bite Bill?s tail. Bill would have none of that, and the offending hog usually had several scratches on their snout to remind them of just who was in charge.
There wasn?t an animal on the farm that didn?t know Bill was in charge. Many of them found out the hard way. We used to have a ram who was over 300 pounds of pure muscle and had one of the nastiest tempers on the farm. One day, while the ram was in the wintering barn, he decided to pick a fight with old Bill. Bill was on the fence of the ram?s pen, bathing. The ram came up and butted Bill off the fence. Bill promptly returned to the spot. The ram did it a second time. Bill returned a second time. As the ram approached the third time, Bill jumped on the ram?s face and proceeded to show that ram who was the meanest and toughest animal on that farm. From then on, when the ram saw Bill, he ran and hid.
It was that no-nonsense attitude that Bill had that got the respect of the other animals. When we moved hogs, Bill was there to give a quick swipe at any hog that wasn?t moving fast enough through the chute. Bill would help round up the ducks each night. Bill also hunted under the chicken coop to protect the chickens from the weasels that used to want to take up residence under the shed. Bill did it all. Bill protected all. Bill ran it all.
Bill was also gentle and had no problem riding in the tractor cab for a few rounds in the field. Bill rode to town during harvest in the pickup truck while we hauled in grain. Everyone at the elevator knew Bill. When you worked on the equipment, there was Bill. Normally Bill watched nearby. But when you started to get frustrated, Bill would be there purring. A pet break was sometimes all you needed to calm down again.
There wasn?t a job that Bill wasn?t there to help with: grinding feed, cleaning barns, baling, bedding livestock, lambing, and even the burial of some of the other animals on the farm that were just too special to simply discard. Everything that happened on that farm was Bill?s business.
There are many stories like that I could tell about Bill. That cat went anywhere it pleased and did anything it wanted. The first day that we brought a new puppy home to be the new farm dog, Bill sniffed it and promptly gave that puppy a small whoopin. Letting that dog know who the boss really was. After that, the dog and Bill got along just splendidly and worked as a team.
The most important thing Bill did for our farm was raise more kittens to be good farm cats. Yes, Bill was a girl cat. We didn?t name her Bill. That was the name she came with, and there was nothing else that it could have ever been. It was just a name that fit. She had many litters of kittens, but no matter how pregnant she was, she made her rounds. And when the kittens were old enough, she brought them along. All her kittens turned out to be good farm cats that kept things in order.
Bill left us a good 15 years ago or more. She served that farm for well over a decade and was still making the rounds on the day she passed. She was dedicated. She may have been one of the best farmers I have ever known. An animal that special only comes around once or twice in a lifetime. Bill will be a cat that I never forget. I am sure by now the good Lord has her in his wake as he walks through paradise. After all, someone has to keep the operation running.
