Glad He Didn't Have a Gun

Yesterday I got a phone call from a fellow that I had taken in cats for. He said that 2 new kittens had shown up at his place, that needed to be trapped and fixed. He thinks that the cats must be coming from one of two neighbors houses. That these folks have a puppy mill and that he has had problems with them in the past. He also mentioned that a boyfriend of the one gal had borrowed some traps from the Coalition and had taken in some cats for spay/neuter. It sounds like a case where someone started a TNR job and didn't complete it. Recently I got involved in another similar situation, where the colony caregivers started the job catching a few cats at a time, until they got down to the last few cats, then I got called in to finish up the job. Now it is quite a challenge to catch 1 or 2 cats out of+/- 30 cats that have watched all the others get caught, and are trap wary. I wouldn't mind spending hours catching the last 2 cats if I had gotten paid to catch the previous 28. But to spend hours and hours for one cat...not going to happen. (I say that, but what did I do but spend hours catching the main mama cat). My advice to future trappers if you have a big colony like that, set it up so that you are able to trap the majority of the cats in one go, then while those cats are having surgery and recovering, go ahead and catch the remaining cats. Get the job done then move on to the next job. Catch all the cats. TNR fails when you leave behind a female or that male cat who by some miracle has kittens the next spring. Also, follow up several months later with the colony caregiver to see if you missed any cats or if any new ones have shown up. You can then teach them how to target trap, using a plastic water bottle to hold the trap door open and a string to pull when the cat you want, goes into the trap. Or use a drop trap and let them sit there for hours while you are out trapping another colony.

OK, back to the story, having gotten the addresses I decided to take a ride out there and check out the situation. It was a pretty day for a drive, sunny and cool. I have had good luck in the past when I have gone knocking on doors, most people welcome the offer of help. The first house was a bit daunting with a big sign on the door announcing that trespassers would be shot. There were plenty of chickens, cats and dogs. I was greeted by a big friendly lab. I thought I heard someone inside but nobody answered the door, and I didn't want to press my luck. I have a tendency to knock on a door then step back and try to make myself look small and non threatening. At the second house an older lady was just coming out of the door. I explained I was with the Blanco County Cat Coalition and someone had mentioned that she may need help getting some cats fixed, she wanted to know who, I told her that a neighbor had had 2 kittens show up on his property and had thought maybe that they came from over here. She said that she would have to ask her son about it. She then went inside, while she was inside I saw at least ten cats who scattered when I looked over the porch rail, at least half were calico or torty's (meaning females). She came out and told me her son had said no, and that they only have one litter of kittens a year, except last year they had 2 litters but only 2 kittens survived because a neighbor's dog had come by and killed the other kittens. Well what could I say, except that I would leave my phone number in case they changed their minds. Also that if they did get the cats fixed and started running low on cats I would be happy to bring them more. She walked with me out to the car and while I writing down my phone number, out of the house comes her son. I was then told in no uncertain terms what he thought of people that didn’t mind their own damn business. And that on his own property he can have as many or as few animals as he pleased. I had to agree, but felt it necessary to point out it becomes other peoples business when his animals start showing up on other peoples property. He said then those people should shoot those animals, that is what he does. After he went back in, his Mom confided in me that his bark is worse than his bite, and that he doesn't even like to give animals shots, because he doesn't like to hurt them. I replied “well he may like animals but I am not so sure how much he likes people, so I will now back away slowly and be on my way.” Looking back on the interaction I can see that these folks were already defensive, that having so many dogs they have been questioned in the past about how they take care of them. The shame is that the cats will be left as is to continue breeding, and dying.

Another Trapper Would Understand

When trapping cats you have to adjust to their schedule, that means you are setting traps just before dusk and dawn. I usually trap at night, which causes me to have a somewhat broken schedule. I may sleep in the afternoon then stay up late trapping. Catch a few hours sleep then get up really, really early to be on the road by 5am to be able to get to the Humane Society by 6am. To be first in line.  It is important to be one of the first ones there, as first in, is first out. So if you are lucky you will beat Austin's afternoon traffic. Needless to say that by about 7:30 am I am tired, so it has been my habit to borrow a few old blankets to make a pallet in my car to sleep on. A slight misunderstanding arose when a worker saw me take the blankets. Thinking that I was stealing them. Later when questioned I explained that I was only borrowing them for the day to sleep on.  I explained that when I put 15 cats in 15 traps into my small car there is not much room for blankets, thus my borrowing for the day habit. This brought a round of laughter, and a bit of head shaking. Is it strange that I should park in a church parking lot and burrow under a pile of blankets for a few hours? Another trapper would understand!

Don't you just hate it when.......!

 

Three nights of trapping, three nights and was I able to catch that BIG Black Tom, No! He would not go into a trap. I thought that maybe a bigger trap might be more appealing to him, but no. He sniffed around at the entrance  but would not go in. Rotten cat, I Will get him, I have another plan.......
But until then here are pictures of the two girls I was able to catch.

What Is a feral cat?

 

A feral cat is a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild, or the descendants of such an animal. Feral cats are not socialized to people and therefore are not adoptable. They don't belong indoors and are wary of people. However as members of the domesticated cat species, they are protected under anti-cruelty laws.