Tale of the Cats 2 (podcast)

After a week (or two) of trying to trap the feral cats, I got a little frustrated.

Sure, we caught the mom cat...but we had to let her go, because the weather was not going to be friendly that evening. And as my wife said, "Would you want your kids out by themselves for three days?"

 Luckily, the mom cat came back the next night - and brought the tabby kitten with her.
We were relieved. We did not know at the time that it would be the last time we would see the kittens (May 9, 2012).

 I read more about catching cats. Part of the equation is giving the cages some "darkness" in the back, so the caught cats can move away from the front of the cage and "hide." I was so proud of myself for setting the cages "appropriately."

Of course, then we caught nothing that day. Feeling exasperated, I left the cages as they were overnight. What a mistake. In the morning...

Curses! A raccoon!

Stunned, I tried to set it free, but it lunged at me when I went to pull out the back panel. I called the ASPCA, but by the time the woman arrived, the raccoon had freed itself.

 

We tried again the next day and viola! Caught the mom cat (for the second time).

The mom cat also brought along two gentlemen callers. Here is one of them (who we only saw twice - both times when the mom cat was in a cage). The other, a large orange tabby, was photo-shy. In the below photo, you can (almost) see him through the bushes on the left. This photo was taken AFTER the mom cat was removed by the ASPCA and the two males sat around yowling. Why? Because she was in heat - and they were ready to duel to see who could knock her up again!

Finally, the second cat we caught. Originally thought to be a male, it turned out to be a female with milk. Meaning it was weaning new kittens. Upon release, she ran frantically back to her brood (we hope). And the game continues with Mother Nature.

Here is a video of the mom cat in the cage (second time).

And then the two gentlemen callers showed up...

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Tale of the Cats (podcast)

In early April, our next door neighbor put in PVC fencing around his property.

The next evening when I came home from work, I wanted to check on how it affected the side of our house. As I walked down past our driveway to the back of our house, a black cat with orange markings stepped through the (new) fencing, followed by two VERY small kittens. And that started our ongoing experience with feral cats.

Here's a shot of the mother cat (and a kitten).

Here is the mother cat and two of the kittens, emerging from behind our neighbor's house at the back of our yard.

C'mon - a tabby kitten waits for me to bring down food.

The mother cat has a bite to eat, not knowing that her next meal is going to land her...

...in a cage (although we let her go, since it was going to thunderstorm and be terribly cold that evening).

Here is the video of the cat in the cage.
I wanted this to be a standalone episode. And indeed it does stand alone. Until the next part, for next week, when I hope to conclude the saga (and have the cats all taken care of).

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