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It's been a dull week when it's come to trapping; with the weather being cold, the kittens have been bunkered in and not taking the bait.
So, I figured that I would tell one of my past tales that I recently told a group of friends.  It's funny...From a certain point of view.
This happened about three years ago at the former Sunrise Drive In, I've had a lot of adventures there.  So, one night I set out to do some feeding but I also had plans to meet up with some friends afterward for a formal gathering. 
I was dressed in dark slacks and a dress shirt with some dress shoes and set out for the site.  The feeding station was located in the far back of the drive way where there was no light and a lot of dirt and mud so it's understandable that I would wear rubber gloves and shoe covers, the type that a doctor wears over his sneakers at a hospital.
Now, with that image in mind, I went to the back of the drive in and fed the kitties with a flashlight and shovel.  Wait, why would you bring a shovel, you may ask.  The shovel was for some large rocks that were partially submerged in the hardened dirt and I needed them for a landscape project that I was working on.
I dug up some of the rocks and placed them into the trunk of the car I was driving.  I couldn't help but giggle as I thought about if a cop were to drive back there and see me dressed up as I was with a shovel covered with mud. 
Shortly later I had arrived at the second feeding site with my gloves and shoe covers still on.  I got out of the car and saw that there were a couple teen-aged guys who thought they were tough while waiting for mommy to come and get them. 
I never feed a cat station while people are around (I've stated this before but one more time doesn't hurt).  I'm standing outside of my car and my phone rings, I answer it while facing the two guys and I can see that they were sizing me up for one reason or another.
I had been on the phone for a good twenty minutes and by the time the call ended, these guys were still standing there with the Neanderthal expressions. 
I could hear them talking about me every other sentence but couldn't fully understand everything.  What I did understand was, "I wonder if he has a body in the trunk."
At this point I was getting impatient since I was anxious to get to my little friend gathering.  So, I did what I thought would get these guys away from my cats.
i got the shovel from the trunk of the car and leaned it against the car.  I then folded my arms and leaned myself next to the shovel.  With a smirk and my head cocked, I stared at the guys who were beside themselves and ghostly white.
The two of them mumbled while looking at me and then walked away, quickly, I might add.
I fed the cats knowing that they were safe and secluded for another night.  To say the least, I removed the rubber gloves and show covers and was looking in the rear view constantly for potential police activity. 
When I told the story later that night, one of my friends nearly spat wine from her nose.

Shortly after posting about HoBo the found dog, I found out that he was micro chipped and his owners were located.  Bad news is that HoBo didn't leave all intact.  The only way that his owners were allowed to take him home was to have him neutered. 
From what I understand, they didn't have a problem with that and appreciated the fact that he was found. 
I asked how far he had wandered off but that information is private.  I wish I could've met the owners just to see their smiles but I didn't do all this to receive accolades.
I'll be attempting to catch the other two kittens later this week so I don't have any recent adventures to talk about unless witnessing a car accident is something. 
Read you later.

The following night after the incident with the kitten in the wall, I was out on Antelope attempting to trap a pregnant mommy cat.  I wanted to take the night off but the traffic behind this building is worrisome since drivers come speeding through the parking lot. 
The cat never appeared after an hour of waiting.  I decided that I would actually wrap it up and try to get some early sleep.
Yeah, right.
As I was closing the trunk of the car, I noticed there was something large moving in the distance near a chain link fence.  It was a dog. 
I couldn't just ignore him.  See, when I see a stray like that I think of the worse case scenario and make it worse in my head.  There is a rail yard and the freeway not too far from this area and I was afraid that he wold get clipped and suffer in a ditch somewhere.
 I approached the dog who was a Pit mix (I'm not familiar with dog breeds) and he was eating some food that a was tossed.  I thought that he would be aggressive since I didn't know how long he had been loose. 
"Here, boy," I called.
He greeted me as if I was a long lost friend. 
It was around 11pm and we didn't know what to do with this guy and couldn't just leave him there.  I called animal control since I don't have the proper room for a dog such as this.  We told control that we would meet them in Fair Oaks.
the dog that we called, HoBo, jumped into the car and during the drive he sat like a kitten would.  For those who have cats, you know what I am talking about.
Animal Control took him and informed us that they would hold him for several days and gave us a case number. 
We are trying to find the owner and hope that he belongs to someone who cares where he is.
I guess everything happens for a reason.

    It was another busy week.  In my previous post I have talked about one of my feeding sites where the mommy cat has recently had a litter that are a month old. 
    At first we thought that there might have been just one or two since over we had never seen more than two in the past couple of weeks.  After laying out wet food and sitting for several hours, we discovered that there were five kittens.  All of them beautiful. 
    On Wednesday night we set out the trap and waited.  Long story short, after waiting for a couple of hours and several kittens going in and out of the trap, it went off and caught three of the five.  My girlfriend and I were very pleased.  of course, mommy cat came at me when I went to leave her the regular food for the night.  A person has to appreciate the protective nature of a mother cat over her kids.  I had nightmares about her for a couple nights after.
    The night became more interesting when we got home to transfer the kittens into a cage.  My girlfriend asked if the bars on the cage were narrow enough to keep the kittens in.  I, of course, said that it would be fine.  No sooner when the third kitten was in that the first one slipped out through the bars and ran into the corner of the garage.  Luckily I had the the entrances closed so there was no escape. 
    I told my girlfriend to keep on an eye on the are where the kitten went while I arranged the large carrier.  Once the other two were secured, I went for the loose baby and discovered that he wasn't there in the corner.  He just vanished.  I started moving items away from the entire left side of the garage thinking that he had moved and was hiding.  He wasn't to be found.  I went outside thinking that somehow he had slipped out through a unknown hole or something.  Again, there was nothing. 
    Now I'm filled with anger and fear and just want to slap myself silly and scream at the lost guy, telling him that I just wanted to help him and he is only making it worse on himself.  Two things are wrong with that, a cat doesn't understand and I was starting to sound like my mother.
    Finally, I took a closer look at the corner that he had last been sight in and I find that there was a small hole on the dry wall on part of the garage wall.  Was he in there?  I couldn't tell and if he was then how deep was he?
    I almost took a hammer to the wall and attempted to make more holes but that would have awoken the entire block at 1 am.  I then reached for the hole and pulled it apart to make the hole bigger.  Within moments I saw a tail, I was hoping that it was the kitten or one hairy rat.
    I got hold of the tail and then the hind legs and after some struggle the loose guy was back in with his siblings.
    At this point is was 1:30 in the morning and we were both spent.  I promised myself that I would get to bed earlier then following night.
    Well, that never happened as you will see in the next post.


   

    My computer was getting repaired over the past week and that is why I haven't been able to post my recent activities.  I would have to say that with my Space Bar being broke, it was a good thing since I was incredibly upset that one of the cats at my sites is pregnant again.
    First off, I know that it isn't the fault of the cat.  This is her third litter and I've always caught her babies and they are then adopted out.  My anger comes from the fact that she had been caught about a year ago but was released because there was still one of her babies hiding beneath a storage unit.  The kitten was within arms reach and the trapper was told to take the mommy cat and get her fixed etc.  For some reason the trapper thought it would be a good idea to place the mommy cat in the trap, in back of another trap in attempt to trap the kitten.  This is an old method that I suppose has worked for some but never for me.  What is worse is that the trapper had left the mommy cat in the trap for TWELVE HOURS.  I don't know if it was over night or during a sunny day, it doesn't matter to me.  When I heard of this tale, I wanted to scream at the trapper (who I have yet to meet).  This mommy cat is now afraid of the trap whenever I place it out.  I've been trying to catch her for the past year and am trying again this weekend.
    I understand good intentions but only if they are true intentions.  Leaving the feline in the trap for that many hours and unsupervised was incredibly amateur in my opinion.  The location of the cat is in an area where stray dogs and bored teenagers walk through.  Use your imagination to what could've happened.