And today, kittens will be kittens (part two) with Calypso’s adventure in the field.

Calypso was one of Flora’s second litter of kittens who were born and raised in the garden.

She was one of the smallest of the litter, but she that didn’t stop her from teaming up with littermate Pippin and exploring the garden while their siblings napped, close to their mother. Of the six kittens, they were the most adventurous but of the two, it was Calypso who was more independent (evident in the following photo, as she slopes off, leaving Pippin locked in combat with mother, Flora).

How Calypso found herself in the field one afternoon remains a mystery. Knowing Calypso, it was more likely that she went on purpose, rather than falling off the wall or out of a tree, but, however it happened, it was teatime when we realised she was missing. A quick look over the wall confirmed that she was safe and sound, and a rescue mission was launched.

A human climbed onto the wall and down into field using a ladder. Armed with a bowl of the most tasty food, the plan was to tempt Calypso to come to the bowl, where she could be scooped up, passed over the wall, and returned to the garden. Easy, we thought – it’s teatime and she’ll be hungry.

But Calypso had other ideas. She may have been reasonably friendly, but she was also feisty and strong-spirited, and she was on a mission to explore the field. She was not going to come close enough to any human to be caught – food could wait.

The trusty plank was fetched (the same one that was used to rescue Little Bang). It was propped up against the wall and dabbed with food. Surely Calypso was hungry by now and would walk up the plank, discovering the food as she went… but no, Calypso was having too much fun. Even the familiar tea-time sounds coming from the garden didn’t tempt her back.

The other method of rescuing cats was by lowering a roll of shade cloth (soft garden netting) into the field which the cat could cling to while we hoisted them up over the wall. But this obviously did not appeal to Calypso, who scorned our efforts.

While Calypso continued to adventure in the field watched by one human, the residents of a wasps’ nest which had been disturbed by the commotion decided that the other human was fair game, and launched a co-ordinated attack, landing three stings close to one human eye. The day was not going according to plan.

Time was passing, and at last Calypso’s tummy was starting to rumble. She approached the bowl at the feet of the human in the field, creating the opportunity to scruff her and pass her swiftly over the wall to the other human. Calypso was deeply unimpressed by the indignity of this, and made her feelings known very actively and noisily. Placed rapidly on the ground, she dashed through the garden gate, back to her family and straight to the food bowls, after which she headed for her mother, Flora, to tell her her story.

The humans retreated to the house to bathe their wounds (and stings). Calypso was a hero in the eyes of her littermates, and no doubt regaled them with her adventures well into the early hours of the morning.