I thought I had the perfect setup for summer — until the birds came. And the stray cat. And the squirrel.

Since last fall, I have been giving my cats, Tate and Dory, the occasional pleasure of being on the deck with me for a few minutes. My sister helped me gate the entry points so this would be possible.

It wasn’t always relaxing for me, this 10- to 15-minute a day outing, because I had so stand watch so they didn’t jump to the rails and take off. This spring, however, my handymen graciously put up 8-foot lattice pieces and a taller gate to enclose the area. We still needed to paint but our cooler, wetter spring delayed that. Still, on a nice day we went out to our “playpen” to enjoy the sunshine and breezes. It was relaxing and felt heavenly. I thought the new walls solved all my fears of kitties escaping — or anything bothering us from outside.

Then a bird began building a nest in a cranny on the overhang of the back door. I knew what was coming. The cats saw the busy bird and it revved them up. I had an offer to remove the nest but remembered counsel not to interfere with wildlife and thought maybe eggs were present by then.

We continued our outings, carefully, with me standing watch. One day the cheeping started. I actually think Tate and Dory heard it first with their sonic ears. Now when we go out, me with the broom encouraging cats to the far side of the deck, I pray the time to fly will be SOON! I also don’t want to be out there when it happens. There’s still risk.

This is hardly the relaxing haven I pictured for me or for my felines. They have regular access to the more protective caged catio, which is great, usually, but Dory often sleeps in the entry, blocking Tate. He stands at the door and incessantly whines to go out like a dog till I relent, but I can only take the stress a few minutes.

Before the birds hatched and made noise, we had another incident as I leisurely read the paper. Suddenly a ruckus broke out. I thought mama bird had flown in or out, but caught sight of a black and white cat that wanders our neighborhood.

As I shooed it away, Tate and Dory got all aggressive with each other! The encounter triggered something wild in them. There was hissing (Tate), growling (Dora), telling tail action in the fight stance and a few serious swipes that were definitely not play. It took effort and the broom to break it up and guide them to the back door. I’m finding brooms can be good motivators like the hog sticks and boards my husband used to use to head livestock in the preferred direction.

After the cats settled down and could be near each other, I glanced out the back window only to see a squirrel had dropped down from the roof—on our side of the fencing. I’d seen one go from front yard power lines to my roof but didn’t know how it got down. Soon, it shimmied through a lattice square. Even my domesticated fur balls would make short work of the visit if they were out there during the intrusion, I’m afraid.

Needless to say, our outings have become stressful for me. I think a covered and screened porch is in our future. It’s not just for the pleasure and protection of my spoiled cats. I’ve always loved sunporches and it might just fit my dreams of a leisurely summer haven.

In the meantime, I have to figure out how another cat must’ve made its way onto the deck during the night. Using the picnic table and catio top to stair-step it to the overhang’s roof peak is

the only way I can figure it could’ve made it to our hall window to taunt my roommates who woke me up with their growling and hissing while staring out the screen!

Also, a remedy to cut down on flies and bees coming into the house from our front porch catio entrance. I have to see if my friend’s option of carpet strips might work there, too. We have already remediated for skunks under the front porch, bats in the house and I’m not sure what all. An area wildlife specialist was able to help with those.

But I guess when you live in the ‘wilds’ of a country setting, even on the fringes of the Village of Portville, there are always going to be challenges with the other lifeforms who share our properties.

(Contact contributor Deb Wuethrich at deborahmarcein@gmail.com)