It's What I Do
It's What I Do
These are some of my tales from various rescue adventures.
Gender: male Member Since: March 18, 2008 Last Signed In: November 18, 2008 Blog Views: 621 Send To A Friend Sign Guestbook Add as a Friend
A sane end for Crazy.
I got Crazy The photos I promised. The cats just know me. Breaking point Still active Ouch! Who would have thought? Long Way Round Black Widow Kitten March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 
RSS 2.0    |
|
|
Hello again.
I'm writing to report that I had an accident in trying to catch a feral cat. Let me start off with last Sunday night where I was out doing a catch in Rancho Murieta and was chasing this very quick cat. He was a gray little guy who blended with everything at night. At once point I thought it was some debris laying around. Yes, he was that still at times. I'm running around with a net and spot him and slowly approach from behind. I was silent like a ninja and was within a couple of feet of him when I stepped on a dried leave and the cat heard me. He takes off and I tell my partner to go after him and I would go around the building and head the feline off. I get to the back of the building and the cat is stone still as my partner closed in while I approached from the other side. The cat decided that we were too close and was ready to bolt toward me. And it did. At this point things went into slow motion in my head because the cat was about to escape me again. Just as he was making his getaway I lunged my body into the air with net in hand. Guess my Halo playing skills paid off because I landed the net opening right in front of the cat and he was caught. I brushed off the dirt and made sure that the cat didn't escape the net. And talk about a biter, his teeth got through my thick leather gloves. I'm telling you, I need kevlar gloves. Now, let's cut to last night in the same area where there was one remaining cat who is crafty like fox. At point I had this white cat within two feet in front of me but it turned around and ran. Several times I walked the large area to see where the white cat (let's call him Fox) had gone. It was now 9:15 at night and the lawn sprinklers were going off in this area. I'm walking around with a net and flashlight when I spot Fox. I tell my partner that she needs to go around the other side of the modular building. Fox sees me and bolts off but does a quick left turn and head under the steps that lead underneath the building. I'm thinking that he is heading toward another opening that would be on the other side. I go running and slip on one of those concrete blocks that you see in parking lots (that's because it was a parking lot). I fall forward, my upper body lands on the cement curb and grass while my lower body is still on the parking lot. So there I am laying face down, face in the mud with a thick stream of sprinkler water showering me. I lift my head up and see the flashlight point in my face and I didn't know where I was for a moment. I felt ok until I tried to move my left arm. I couldn't move it and there was a SURGE of pain shooting from the shoulder into my fingers. The pain was paralizing and I couldn't get up. I called out for my partner twice with no response. It was one of those moments you see in a scary movie where the victim is unable to move with rain pouring down them around them and the flashlight is just out of reach. My partner freaked when she saw me face down and not moving. She helped me up with the water still striking us in the face and backs. I laughed because I found it funny. Fox the cat was nowhere to be seen but I'm he was snickering in the darkness as he controlled the sprinkler system. My shoulder hurt ALL night and at the suggestion of others, I went to the doctor. Turns out that I have a cracked shoulder socket and there is a good chance I will need surgery. I'm laughing sort of because it's my left arm and I am left handed. I'll still feed my sites since I know these cat depend on this food plus the fact that Cash (the cat from previous stories) has new kittens a month old. I'll keep you guys posted. :-)
I believe I have mentioned that there is a cat whom I call Cash because she resides in a bank parking lot. She has had several litters and I've been able to catch all but Cash herself. She terrifies me because she has actually attacked me. I can't blame her since if I gave birth to several kids and then someone came along with food only to take my offspring away for some reason.
Anyway, there was one kitten from the last litter who evaded capture and is now four months old. We tried to net him and chased him through the parking lot but it got away. Well, in the last two weeks whenever I appear with the food, the young cat would start to do the happy dance; where the cat is happy to see you and knows meal time is here. You see that with domesticated cats. I'm talking with the Sheriff that patrols on the property about the cat who I call Kitty Cow (its coloring is that of a cow) and the Sheriff moves on and wishes me luck. I place the food but Cow is more interested in me. I approach it and begin to play with some string and it wants to play too but not get too close. After twenty minutes, Cow actually allows me to pet it. I have never seen this happen with a pure feral feline. Since I didn't have a trap with me, I pet Cow a few times and decided to leave its trust intact with me. The following two nights Cow had disappeared. On the third night Cow showed up and was happy. I begin to pet it and look over at my partner and signal to get the trap ready. I pick up Cow and begin to walk toward the car. Cow became nervous and struggled a little. Just as I got it into the trap and the door was closing, Cow slipped out and ran for the feeding bush. I was devastated because I thought I ruined the trust. My partner urged me to go right back. It paid off because I lured Cow back out with some food, picked it up and placed it in the trap. Man, Cow was loud but once it was home it purred and acted as if it had been housed before. Even as I write this tale, I am amazed how a cat who had NO human contact allowed itself to be approached. I hope you enjoyed this "tail". Yeah, I couldn't resist the pun. Next time I will write about the incredible catch I made on Sunday night.
I know that I've been away for a bit but understand that I have been busy but I hope these new tales are worth it for those that are reading my posts.
I will begin with a few weeks ago. I get a call from mall security around ten at night telling me that there was a kitten in distress on their property. Luckily, I had gotten home when I had wanted to and was still out and about. I figured that this would be an easy catch since the last time that they had called me for a kitten there was minor effort (I closed myself in with a bunch of dumpsters and the lost cat). I was told to meet security in the back of the mall and so I did but farther from the property than I had expected. I will describe this area as best I can here. The kitten was located within some pine bushes that span about 30 feet and APPEAR to be only a foot deep. I was sorely mistaken. Truth be, these bushes were three feet deep and beneath was a maze of roots that formed perfect catacombs for the little brat to run through. So there I am with two other security guards and my partner, trying to "force" the kitten to the edge and catch him. I don't know at what point the flashlights had died but I was now looking for this kitten in street light. Did I mention the gunfire? Yup, while I was flat on the ground, trying to see where the cat went, there was a series of pops and came what seemed to be return fire. What I missed were the fleet of squad cars that arrived in the distance. I thought it was funny if someone drove by and saw only my legs sticking out from this mass of bushes and no movement while police are the distance. I became frustrated and tried to pull these bushes up from their roots just so I could get the kitten. The little guy kept on moving all over and I would only get a glimpse of its tail. It was something out of an Alien movie when the Alien is moving too quickly and all you see is the tail here and there. Finally, I told everyone to back away and I would find the kitten who was screaming non-stop for mommy who was nowhere in sight. He was less than two feet in front of me but still out of reach because of the large roots. I kept on calling him and he could see my hand but ignored me. I got the idea to get a plate of wet food and blow the smell toward him. He smelled it and started to go toward it but once I started to go for him, he turned away. So there I am blowing the smell to him before he went too far. He turned around and I managed to nab him. He was maybe a month old with ears that were too large for his head. I called him Yoda and he is doing fine. It took us three hours to get him. So much for a quick catch. |