Relentless Hot

 The heat wave continues but today is allegedly the last day near 100 degrees.  Seems like its been going on forever and I guess is Oregon's longest heat wave.   The heat does not bother me greatly except I can't get a lot done, not during daylight hours anyway.  I move like a tortoise in the heat.   I sleep in the afternoons when its just too hot to be doing anything.

Today's heat may bring thunderstorms, which strikes fear in the form of wildfire threat.  But maybe they will be wet thunderstorms, not dry, and come with plenty of rain to squash any fires lightning starts.

I took this photo of my outside thermometer last night at 7:45 p.m.

Nonetheless, my neighbors moving sale went incredibly well and they sold almost everything they had for sale in the last two days, including their kitchen table and couches and chairs.   They're leaving in under two weeks for good.   

They said a couple in their 60's  maybe bought their house with cash and they're hoping they didn't buy it to use for a rental.   We shall see what happens.  Two houses down other side of me, that house was bought by a couple and now houses college students.  However, the blue devil monster pickup hasn't been at the college student place all summer and I am hoping it is gone for good. That pickup sounds like a freight train.  (Spoke too soon on that.  Heard loud belching farting roaring and just knew.  Sure enough, that extremely loud truck that wakes me up when it roars and vibrates by, is back.  Hate that thing)

I got given a spot Monday, for the Crabtree colony, then two more spots were given me by the clinic.   I thought "Great, the Crabtree folks can pretty much get the rest of the cats in their colony."  But they've only caught one more, the adult unfixed male, last night.  I realize in the heat, its astounding they caught even one.  He's the last adult there needing fixed, as far as I know.  There are still three teens, however, needing caught and fixed.

Hercules banged his face trying to get out of the drop trap and already tore the newspaper up in the trap.  He was caught late last night.

  He was not an easy catch and rumbled around under the drop trap.  She called me in a panic over him being so aggressive, bouncing the trap up and down, lunging at the sides.  I drove out as fast as I could to transfer him out of it to a live trap.  He was banged up and has earmites, I can tell, which may have made him lose much of his ability to hear.  This can cause traumatic fear, when trapped.  

I put him immediately into my cool bathroom, and doped him good with catnip.  He ate a large plate of food I put in within minutes, so he maybe was just hungry.

Giving him food and catnip quickly is more a goodwill gesture than anything else.  Trapped cats often think they're going to be killed.  When they receive food from their captor, this fear is diminished.

I watch the series "Alone" on the history channel.   Contestants are dropped alone in the wilderness, this year in Labrador.  They then survive as long as they can with only a few survival tools and weapons (no guns) for hunting.  Basically its who can out starve the rest.  Watching these experts at survival and hunting generally last less than a month, with the best lasting two months and lose over a pound a day doing so, is dismal to think about how the rest of us might fare, if dumped into such a situation through some disaster. 

Anyhow, some of them act so strange when they kill an animal, like a squirrel or something.   You are the enemy when you put an arrow through a grouse.  Don't comfort the animal you have just mortally wounded.  That is terrifying to the bird or animal.   What makes a person think that after they've inflicted mortal painful injury on something, that same animal or bird would desire gibberish comfort from their tormenter?

Little Dragon in the cat yard

Yesterday I found a hole in the cat run wire out above the driveway.   I began a cat count then and the only cat I could not find was the usual escape subject--Phantom.   She's hard to find though, in the maze of the cat yard and runs and numerous hiding places.   I'll look again today.  She would be the one who would go for that tiny hole, 8 feet off the ground, the only one who would even notice it.  The sun sail had been attached to the wire, via a bungee hook, and pulled out a wire staple.  That's what caused the hole to form.

Last Thanksgiving I helped some folks who discovered kittens in their barn.   We trapped four kittens and two adult females.  One of the females was already fixed and chipped and had been missing a year so she went home.  Three of the four kittens tamed enough to get homes, too.  But the mom and one kitten returned to the barn.  Now they've got the pair a cat tree.  How cute is that?

Rogue in the cat yard.  I took this yesterday and discovered I have a photo of him in the cat yard from a year ago July.  

Here is Rogue last July in the cat yard.  Rogue is quite an elderly cat.   He has only two colony mates surviving of the nine originals--Haley and Alexi.  The most recent to die of his relatives was Misty, who died a few weeks ago, rather suddenly.

Lastly, here is Tweetie, also a very very old gal, originally from Columbus Greens trailer park.   Her sister Button is also still alive.   I am amazed that they are still alive, Rogue too.

Tweetie and her sister Button almost never come inside the house but remain in the cat yard and the garage room just off the cat yard.  Both have beautiful green eyes and remain wild.  A Wilsonville vet is responsible for the unbearably extreme eartips.

Comet is still alive too.  I have no idea why.   He's so old and a stick figure really of his former self.  I give him sub cu fluids about every three days and he eats and drinks still and seems to try to trip me in the kitchen, yowling over his desire for chicken, as he weaves between my feet.  He thinks he needs it daily and I just can't cook chicken in this heat.  Sorry old boy.

I wonder if next week I'll think its too cold.  Starting tomorrow, the temps are to drop into the mid to low 80's, then even to upper 70's.   Will I whine then, I wonder to myself, or just be happy its not 100 degrees anymore.  I"m thinking the latter.