Long Cold Car Sit

I sat in my freezing car five hours tonight, after any remaining campus cats. I caught only one, a black male who went straight to the food bowls, which were empty, then to the dumpster, smelled the trap, and went in.

I was after two tabbies I saw when I drove in, slightly late. I'd been after the other two cats I was to take up. One is a tame stray the woman had in her house. She sleeps all day, was just getting up when I arrived about 3:00 p.m. and she still chastised me, saying the cat had kept her awake and why didn't I call her to come get her earlier. (She feeds the cat outside)

I wanted to walk out. Seems uninclined to put out effort herself, even when she's asking for help with these cats.

I had to help find the cat who was hiding in the trashed out apartment. I just want that situation done with for good.

Then I went to Heatherdale and set a trap for the in heat stray. I love those Heatherdale folks, trailer to trailer, I love them. Usually if my car is seen, several different people will come out to chat. Anyhow, when I couldn't net her (too slow) and couldn't trap (too many other cats interfering) I went home to grab the drop trap. By the time I got back, she'd gone in the trap I'd left set.

I'd taken the tame big Maine Coon male from campus over to Heartland. They were going to do a five day stray hold on him, but then we saw, when we took him out of my trap, a small circular splotch on his huge head. Looked like ringworm. They don't want or need that there. So he rode around with me, for a couple hours. I had to deliver food to the three homeless campers. I did the usual, dumped if off along the trailhead, then parked my car, then walked back to the trail and carried the three 18 lb bags in.

Wasn't easy. Trail was flooded and the water in places was iced over, but my feet would crack through into water. I finally put plastic grocery bags over my shoes and tied them to keep them dry and that worked fine.

Richard was the only one of the three there. I tossed a bag in Pete's tent and tucked one into a storage container at Stacy's.

I had hoped this evening to catch any remnants of the just off campus colony. I wagged my finger as I left at the hole into which the short hair tabby had disappeared an hour earlier and said, "RT, I'll be back for you." I named him RT, for Remaining Tabby.

Then I realized there are two at least remaining tabbies.

At one point, sitting in my car, teeth chattering, I used an emergency candle stuffed into the top of an empty pop can to heat tuna up, to make for better bait. I punched my pocket knife blade through the side of the tuna can to hold it over the candle flame. It warmed up quickly and smelled really good. That's what caught the black one quick, the warm bait wafting out into the cold night air.

So I gave up finally and it was 25 degrees out when I gave up. Now I need to catch some zzzzz's.