Feral Rescue Afraid of Open Windows

This past fall I took in a tiny young feral mother from a rescue, her kittens had all been adopted out, honestly she was basically a kitten herself, probably born early that spring and knocked up as soon as she was able. Teaspoon has gotten all of her shots and is spayed and etc; she's settling in pretty well, timid but affectionate with her humans and especially with our big housecat, Hambone. They're both indoor cats; Hambone gets out for "walks" on a leash sometimes but Teaspoon won't be taken outside for a few years, if ever; I know Hambone won't go far and can't live without us (he got out once for a few hours without us noticing, we found him on the lawn by the front steps looking forlorn), but I won't risk Teaspoon escaping a leash and vanishing.

I've noticed this spring, as it is warming up enough to start opening windows during the days, that when the windows are open she hides. If just one window is open she hides at the opposite end of the house, if all of the windows are open she crams herself under the bed. She'll stay hidden away until the windows close. We have sturdy screens on our windows, I'm not at all concerned about jailbreaks; what I am concerned about is that come summer, we'll have the windows open all  of the time because AC triggers my asthma (worse than cats and without the added benefit of furry snuggles). I don't want her to be stressed all summer and hide for the next several months. Any idea what might be causing this and what I can do to address it?

tl;dr Otherwise happy feral cat hides when windows are open. How to overcome?

Hello @Citoyenne and welcome to TCS!

I honestly don't have an answer to this as it's obviously usually the other way around!  It seems she has had a pretty awful time of it and the great outdoors is far from great in her eyes.  Things do change, of course and time is a healer. Let's see what others have to say.

I just wanted to welcome you and thank you for giving this girl such a wonderful home.  

When I brought a feral cat inside my home, he too was very afraid of the outside sounds.  I believe that it reminds him of his life outside and the fear he felt.  He has now been inside my house for almost 3 years.  He is a wonderful cat, yet still skittish of other humans and still afraid of certain noises.  With the temperatures warming we too have had our doors and windows open.  The sounds of mowers, trimmers and other construction sounds has sent him into hiding.  This seems to happen each change of the season.  Yet he does get used to it.  It just takes some time. 

I would just allow her to hide.  It is where she feels safe.  I try not to make a big deal out of it.  I just allow my boy to hide and know that he will come out when he feels safe.

One of our cats, who has been inside since he was six months old, hides when the windows are first opened and especially when the lawns are being cut.  He eventually comes out.  I think the onslaught of new sounds and smells is what bothers him at first.

I agree with ShadowsRescue - let her call the shots.  She come out when she feels comfortable.

Thank you everyone, I hope that she does become used to it as well. It gives me hope that this is not unheard of but that everykitty seems to settle out.

Sorry for the delay in responding!

Thanks for coming back.  Sometimes we never hear from new comers.  All will be easier as you and Teaspoon get to know one another.  Love that name, BTW!