Tuesday, September 18, 2018

The Boy from the Park



A big black boy had suddenly arrived in the county park two to three months ago.  He startled me in the woods, he was so huge, big yellow eyes following my every move.

He was very hungry so I fed him.   He'd eat all the food and want more.  He'd get so hungry if I didn't feed him, he'd be out trying to hunt the ground squirrels and he's not a good hunter.

He kind of stand outs.

I trapped him Sunday night, on a whim.  And with a reservation that needed filled.  I didn't want to go back to the trailer park and deal with all that goes on there.  I was too tired.

This big guy was so heavy in the trap, trying to carry him out of the woods in it nearly broke my back I think.

He was easy to trap, took all of three minutes.  He's always starved.

He has a faded black collar on, but it has no id.  He had no chip, the clinic said, but is already neutered and I think I know him somehow from somewhere else at another time.

He's in a holding cage today and although he's shy and will hiss if approached too fast, I can easily hand feed him.

The other five cats I took to the spay neuter clinic, besides him, were Stormy, another kitten from the trailer park.  He turned out to be a boy and he's now with Kathi, of MV.

Stormy, a trailer park boy kitten, fixed yesterday.
Two more Sweet Home kittens from trailer parks also were fixed.  There's a woman up there from one trailer park now trying to get a lid on the populations at a couple others too.  So we meet at the county park and pass off cats.  I take them to be fixed, then she picks them up afterwards.  This week it was a buff tux boy, Franklin, and a tiny tabby girl, Rexy.

Franklin, fixed Monday

Rexy from Sweet Home, fixed Monday
Then another Albany trapper had two girls needing done--Alex, a tabby, and Neko, who is all black.

This is Alex, a girl, trapped by Ashley somewhere in Albany.

Neko, another black girl, from Albany, whom Ashley needed fixed.
I also took the three black girls I netted/trapped inside the Riverside Drive trailer to Heartland, to get updated on everything, which was a very wonderful thing to be able to do for them.  They are leaving this evening for a barn type home north of Salem.  I hope they do ok.

I had friends come up from Springfield Sunday to loan me cages to help with the trailer park cats.  I was able to zip tie one of their cages to my cage to create quite a playground for them, so they'll be comfortable at least during their confinement period.  It was a huge help.
The cage in the foreground needed a floor, so I cut an old osb piece I used to use to extend the plywood lining the back of my car, up across the area of the passenger seat, after removing the seat, so I could stretch out to sleep when camping. I covered it in some vinyl someone gave me.  I added a shelf and even a scratch ramp.

They also brought me some really good coffee, that carries a jolt, unlike the coffee I had been drinking, some old beans I'd grind, maybe ten years old, I found in a cupboard a week ago, when I realized I was out of coffee.  The ground beans, with hot water poured through the grind, produced a  tasteless and watery liquid.  The coffee they brought me is neither of those things and I like it maybe too much.  They brought me some Bandon cheese too.  I used to live down there, grew up going to the Bandon cheese factory.  Grandma would buy us curds on the one day a week they'd put them out for sale.

It was great to see them.  I had not seen them in 14 years.  They knew when we last saw one another, but I never kept track of the years.  A long time, I knew that.  And they look exactly the same to me.  How can that be, I think.

My friend is a big time cat lover and has gotten so many cats fixed and safe over the years while dealing with all sorts of other things.  We have not seen each other for years and years, but we do text often.

After I take the girls to their home this evening, I'll just have Rocky the park boy.  All the shelters are still full of kittens. I couldn't believe the number of kittens at Heartland. They have this awesome threesome of siblings, two black, one black tux, that have such great personalities.  I can only hope they get homes soon.  It would be wonderful if someone adopted all three.

Here is one of the black girls leaving tonight.



As of now, I've removed 13 cats from that trailer park.  Six went to my barn cat placement friend.  1 kitten went to Kathi.  Three kittens are with Stacy and then the three girls are with me, but leaving this evening.  I got three other adult females fixed who had to return because they were lactating.  That's not a bad start there I'd say.


5 comments:

  1. Wow! You're amazing. So glad you got some nice gifts. ~hugs~ Take care!

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  2. Thank you as always for giving the cats a chance. And all too often a second chance after their previous 'owners' have let them down.
    Glad to hear that you not only met up with friends, but got some treats too.

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    Replies
    1. The treats are delicious! I love unexpected treats!

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  3. If I lived closer, I would take the big black boy. Some how he's tugging at my heart. However, maybe there's a family out there who's missing him. I hope it works out for him and all the others.

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    Replies
    1. Oh I wish you could take him. He is absolutely fabulous!

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