No Photo Torti

Well, now I've added her photo so my post title is just so wrong!

I was sure I could catch five at the Carson colony last night.

However, the lady who transported the 14 cats to Portland yesterday got back with them late, due to traffic.  I should have factored that in to trapping plans.  I'd scored four to five more appointments today at the FCCO, if I could fill them.  I had to be here when she got back to unload the cats and set them up for the night.

She brought back an empty trap.  One of the elderly males didn't make it, crashed instantly with anesthesia, which usually indicates a heart problem.

Another, the black and white with URI, had lice and they tested him, expecting him to be positive for FIV or Felk, but he was negative, so they treated him for the URI and the lice (Frontline kills fleas AND lice) and he looks a whole lot better this morning.

By the time I got the cats set up here, to recuperate the night, and headed to Crabtree with two of the young ones they keep inside or have, to keep them from getting pregnant (they were in heat), it was after dark and raining.  If cats can recuperate at their own home safely, I return them night of surgery, so they can recuperate in familiar surroundings.  

I then went to the backlot behind the gas station to try to catch four or five cats.  But....alas, there's this car parked along the curb, guy and a girl inside, right along the fenceline where the cats come under.  They were parked in front of a big rig, overnighting there, giving me nowhere to trap discreetly where I'd have half a chance cats would smell the bait and go into a trap.  I was not happy.    

I couldn't very well march alongside that car, not knowing who they were or why they were there in the dark, although I suspected homeless car campers, but the only cats I saw were coming out right by their car.    I nonetheless set up one trap and finally saw a torti emerge from the dark, shy and suspicious but smelling the trap bait and she went right into the trap.  

The rain began in earnest.  There's nowhere to set a trap out of the rain there.  And no other cats in sight.  Why would there be, in pouring rain.

I moved my car farther from the car with the couple and not long after, the couple's car lights came on and it pulled right over beside my car.  The guy had his window down, and seemed friendly so I got out to talk to him.  Yes, they're homeless, he has five kids, showed me photos, they're with grandparents and he asked what I do with the cats after I trap them.  I explained about getting them fixed and he said his mom has a female really needs fixed, that they just gave away her most recent litter.  I gave him my nonprofit facebook page and told him to message me from that to arrange help with the cat.  They then went to park a couple hundred feet away, so as not to interfer.  I thought that was sweet.

There were  a couple other cars parked around the back lot by then who I assumed also were homeless car campers.

I left about 11, with the one torti I'd caught since the rain showed no signs of let up.   But not before a red car showed up, and a familiar face emerged.  I got out.  Romey!, I said, in greeting.  I was happy to see him.  I've only met him once briefly before.  

I call  him the red car feeder, as he also feeds across the backlot, across the junkyard and berry vines, at the nearby ditch colony.   He is feeding these cats too.  I was concerned they were not being fed although I figured they may be making the trek to eat at the ditch colony at night.  I had started feeding them.

He explained that he worked nearby and originally the cats that form this colony and the ditch colony had been shop cats.  Who bred into the two colonies.    I told him I was happy they are being fed, but that they need fixed, the familiar speel that I gave him when I met him at the ditch colony.  He agreed.   Seven will be fixed from there as of today, at least.  I'm hoping KKR will  have unused spots for a few more of these cats to be fixed soon.  I already have rather a feel for who is who there.  There may be about 12 more to catch, maybe not quite that many. I've only been there twice, so how would I really know.  It's a very large area they roam.   Difficult intercepts to catch for fixing.

I sent the torti off with Karen this morning.   She was willing to take her to the FCCO and wait through the day until she's done.   That's two days in a row with people offering to transport and I am elated, relieved to find the willing help.

Today I will return the rest of the cats to Crabtree.  I probably will not even clean the traps or do the cage laundry until tomorrow because I need to catch up on sleep.  I'm going back to bed now in fact.  I only got up briefly to hand off the torti to Karen, along with gas money.   

Gas money is a big thing now.  When I texted a friend last night, while over behind the gas station watching traps, she said, not knowing why I was there although if you know me, its not hard to guess, joking, you going to knock off some gas?  Ha, I replied, all that liquid gold just sitting there in a big huge old underground tank.  Gas is now liquid gold.

I got my front lawn mowed yesterday, at least, before the rains  started.