Denizens of Oak Crest Farm Pictures
Oak Crest Farm is 50 acres of oak covered hills and blue stem/bermuda meadows located on the West side of the Arbuckle National Recreation Area between Davis and Sulphur, Oklahoma. We are 1.5 miles South of Highway 7 on Shepard Lane, which is about half way between Davis and Sulphur. I picked the Oak Crest name because the house is on the crest of a oak covered hill (exactly 1000 feet above sea level) and the name fit better than the area natives' name for the hilltop, which was Copperhead Hill...... :-) Although there are plenty of copperheads on the farm, I haven't encountered any near the house in several years thanks to the cats, particularly the Boss Cat Punkin. We also have water mocassins around the ponds and the creeks, but they are easier to spot, and smell, than the copperheads. Punkin was left on the farm by the previous occupants. She graciously has allowed me to occupy "her" farm. Two calico kittens joined the brood in 2000, Cali and Cozy. Punkin is primarily an outdoor cat while Cali and Cozy don't wander far from the house and stay inside about 80 percent of the time. Their parents were large cats and the two are LARGE. There were five kittens in the litter and they were all LARGE. My friend Maggie Brittin talked me into taking the calicos and I will forever hold her responsible!! ![]() Of the two calicos, Cozy is definitely the largest. When I rebuilt my house, I installed a cat door sized for Punkin. As the calicos grew, it became a tight squeeze and one day Cozy showed up in the living room with a cat door frame piece around her middle. Once we quit laughing, I installed a much larger door to keep the peace........ Cali has always liked to lie around on her back. She grooms that way and sometimes will sleep on her back. Cozy stays on her back only to have her stomach scratched......... I normally am a dog person, not a cat person, especially since I am somewhat allergic to cat dander. I don't have a dog for two reasons:......(1) It is hard to travel for days or weeks at a time (as I did before I retired and I still do occasionally) when you have a dog at home to feed/water/etc. but cats are more independent and are fine, with feeders and water dispensers, for several days......(2) I especially enjoy the various animals and fowl who frequent the farm, as you can see from the pictures below, and a dog would keep them away. I have homemade corn and honey grain feeders out during the fall and winter for deer, squirrels, raccoons, turkey, etc. and bird feeders for our flighty friends. The feeders are located about 50 feet from the back of the house and within full view of the sliding glass door in my bedroom. Most of the pictures below were taken from that door. The following is a USGS aerial shot of the farm. The house is the light blue block......
This site is the responsibility of Jim Coe W5JI (jcoe@w5ji.com)
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