 Purred: Tue Aug 26, '08 10:34pm PST |
 | |  | | i live in a co-op in kalamazoo, michigan-it's called new horizon village, thus the name for the kitties i'm concerned about. we're not supposed to feed the ferals-i do anyway -and any traps i set (if i can get ahold of a hav-a-heart) would need to be set in the backyard. if i do manage to get a trap, i will no doubt capture any number of possums, skunks, badger-like creatures, moles, etc...unless somebody can tell me what to bait it with that won't appeal to these creatures...particularly the skunks, who absolutely adore cat food. that's one problem-even assuming i can get my hands on a trap.
the second problem is that my most pressing concern is for this little grey boy in the picture. i've taken to calling him "simon hedges" because he looks like a simon and lives in the hedges in my front yard. problem is that he's in a bad place vis a vis traffic. we're a good piece by kitten-paw from a major road, but people roar by on this cul de sac like their shirts are on fire and their behinds are catching...we're all worried about the children, and some of us are worried about the animals.
if i could get him into my backyard, he'd be safer. i could also set a trap there-can't very well set out a trap in my front yard where it can be seen-we're all pretending the ferals don't exist, remember?
i'm not as concerned about the adult ferals who appear healthy...just wish something could be done, but it would take a massive TNR effort at this point. i have logistical problems just with keeping up with the kitties who hang around my house. this little guy used to have a mom that he hung with...but now appears to be on his own. he shows up just after dusk and before dawn squeaking to be fed...he must think i'm the owner of the kitty cafe, i'm not sure. i do see him during the night at other times, but that is when he vocalizes the most. that crepescular thing? is that when his mom would hunt and then feed him?
he'll sniff my finger, but other than that he's still mr. untouchable. i'm moving his handful of kibble a little closer to me, a little at a time...he will now eat three feet away from me if i'm sitting down and still. his body language has relaxed a good bit. but from the way he leaps back when i move my whole hand toward him instead of extending one finger slowly-no way i can catch this little bugger. maybe if i threw a towel over him? but that would scare the poor baby, and if it didn't work the first time i'd probably never see him again...but like i said, i can't set a trap in the front, or (seriously) risk eviction.
i don't have a great deal of money, and i have a cat of my own that i'd rather not expose to whatever mr. simon hedges might be carrying...but if i could trap him and find him a crate equipped with litter box, hide box, etc the weather is still nice enough that he could stay on the back porch until i could...do whatever i need to do. if i get a job soon, i can afford to vet him along with my own kitten, and we'll just have another illegal cat. hey, what's one more? we're already two over what we're supposed to have because they changed the pet policy midstream...sigh.
i must do something soon. number one: get him to the backyard where he's safer. two: get a hav a hart trap and have a cage ready. three: is more nebulous...
ideas on number one? |  |  | |  |
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my roommate suggested putting something that smells like me under his hedge so he'll get more used to how i smell, that it might make things easier...thoughts?
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