Caught!

Last night I set the trap again, for the Circle K mom. 

I did not think I would catch her, but why not try?

The weather was perfect for it, heavy fog, no rain.

I've been feeding her and who knows who else in that trap, tied open so it can't spring, back of the store, for almost two months.

I have caught other cats, one whom I knew.  I'd caught him to be fixed six years ago and had not seen him since!  He was not skinny!  I caught a fat possum.  Twice.  Same one I think, the way he gave me the look, half embarrassed the second time.

Last night, I scored!!!  I caught the gray mom cat.  It better be her anyway.

She's had two litters just this summer, both of whom ended up trying to scrounge food in the Circle K dumpster.  They're really nice there, try to help the animals, usually call me.  The first three kittens I caught that first litter, seen in the parking lot, were Twinkie, now with a friend of mine, Sitka and Wrangel.  My kitten taming friend in Lake Oswego took on the two girls and amazingly tamed them down and found them great homes.

Then came the next litter.  A post on craigslist alerted me they were there.  A zillion people wanted to help them, which was really wonderful in many ways.  I caught all four in the end and Animal Rescue and Care Fund took them.  I caught two adult males there also.  I thought the gray male was going to be the mom, since she is gray.  But nope, he was a he.  Both boys went off to live in the gorge.  The clinic who fixed them aged them both at just under a year.  I was told by people who knew when they were born that they are brothers and that the gray mom is their sister.  That was before the fire up there that destroyed so much of what everyone loves in the gorge, but it didn't get the boys. 

After that, I tried and tried to catch the mom.   I felt the pressure, knowing she'd have more litters if I didn't.  I left a trap back there, and fed in it every other day.  Yes, I'm a persistent cuss.  I don't know what giving up means.  Never understood that concept well.

Last night was my lucky night.  I got her. 

She'll be fixed Monday at Heartland instead of Copper, the girl kitten.  Kittens are easier to hold onto, to wait for fixing, than an adult feral female.

I'm happy!