Ten More

 Now at 62 caught at the Shedd colony.  That's a lot of cats.  

At least two of the original 13 cats fixed last fall, trapped by the colony caretaker daughter, have died, however.  Both deaths were related to chronic diarrhea.   Five of the 62 were kittens I caught.  Two went into the Kitten Caboose program, one was euthanized and the final two, Mischief and Delilah, were adopted by the daughter of the colony caretaker.

I'd hoped to catch all those left unfixed out there for this time around.  But...there turned out to be more still needing fixed than the spots the colony caretaker daughter had at the FCCO.

At night, thinking about all those cats, I feel like I'm walking in a fog, out in the grasslands there, and that I've stumbled into a secret zone, where all the free roaming cats from miles upon miles around, converge in some big annual feline gathering.  They know I'll be there too and expect what's coming--the tuna, the catnip, the anesthesia and spays, neuters.  

I caught six more unfixed ones the first day I trapped for these appointments; two the second day and two more yesterday.

Day before yesterday I lucked out and caught both Limpy and Dirty Tail.  I had gone out late afternoon and spent three hours out there.

I went again yesterday morning, but the wind was howling and cold and it poured off and on.   As the colony caretaker headed to her pickup, to go into town, a big black tux I'd not seen before was entering the trap at the barn, operated by a remote control.  I pointed him out to her and asked if she knew that cat and she said he'd been around.  So I sprung the trap with the remote.

BnB I call  him and he's tame.  She called her nearest neighbors but he's not theirs and I eventually went over to the other nearest neighbors and there are only a couple houses even remotely close.  They were not home.  Their relatives live farther on down the road, however, so I went down there and that farmer said it was neither their cat nor their relatives.  So where in the world did he come from.   The daughter and the caretaker decided he'd go along to the clinic and hopefully they could find a shelter placement for him later.  

Anyhow, I left after catching BnB and went home because it was crazy windy, rainy and freezing.   I went back late afternoon again.  Hail. Rain.  Wind.   But finally caught Half Moon just as darkness was approaching which meant I had ten cats.  Still three out there I know of needing fixed and how many more, I wonder.

The cats are gone from the garage now.  Caretaker daughter and husband picked them up and off they went to Portland to the FCCO.  Thank god for that clinic, even if it is far away.

Big Enough, a boy

Dirty Tail.  R.I.P.  He was euthanized.  He had chronic constant diarrhea and tested positive for Feline Leukemia.

Mentor, a boy

Limpy, a boy.  His limp is caused by a paw injury, which was treated at the clinic.  He also got a long lasting antibiotic injection.

Youngblood, a little boy

BnB, an already neutered tame boy.  Colony caretakers daughter will try to find a shelter to take him.  We'd talked to all the neighbors to see if he belonged, but nowhere nearby claimed him.

Bluegrass, a girl of course

Half Moon, a young male

Hayseed, a girl

Mutesy, a girl

When I arrived late afternoon, to try again, the big eagle was in their yard on the ground and I thought it was a dead cat beside it, that it was eating.

I drove on down the driveway, parked, then walked around, to see what cat might have been killed, not thinking the eagle was still there, but it was, and flew off.

It was not a dead cat, but a pile of four dead nutria.  They'd been shot.  Eagles love nutria.  I got some gloves and carried one by the tail across the road to an open area, holding it up high, so the eagle, now perched atop a tree, could see what I was doing, and go eat it there.

What animal and bird drama I get mixed up in sometimes.