This may not be a fair analysis as I have not heavily researched the subject but is based on personal experience. Few years back I had two stray female cats temporarily living in the house and one was obviously quite pregnant so I contacted a cat rescue group. The end result was good she took the cats and they went to a foster home. Yes they have them for cats too. The methodology however. She came by late afternoon with two big cages in the back of her SUV and clearly wanted to follow the protocols of official cat rescue techniques which involves putting a bowl of food in the cages and as they say on detective stakeout shows we wait. Order Chinese? I was like how long is this gonna take I wanna watch Wheel of Fortune give me the cages. Somewhat hesitant she gave in and within ten minutes or less I handed her the cages with the cats inside and thank you and have a good night. FF to now and I have another situation with a tomcat that I've been feeding and has battle wounds on his face from territorial cat fights and so I texted the cat lady again who responded to my first text but hasn't replied to my followup texts. I realize these people are incredibly busy and serve large geographic areas but how hard is it to hit an emoji? Then I'm sitting on the porch with my fine cigar and observed a neighbor trying to get what looked like a female cat off the road and then feeding it and trying to get the cat out of harm's way so clearly our neighborhood has a cat problem as do many other neighborhoods so where are the cat people? Calling Jackson Galaxy!
In north small town Idaho there is a high population of ferals. The common hideout is a barn on the property. Behind us, the people have a horse and the barn has hosted generations of ferals. The horse lady got good at trapping (TNR-Trap, Neuter, release) and right now the big gray and white one is the sole inhabitant. A lot of the vets are associated with HelpingHands and offer cheaper TNR.
ReplyDeleteA few years back, the barn group eliminated the rabbit population, but I'm thinking a barn would be good hunting for mice. I guess a lot of feral cats get handouts from people (kind of like feeding the squirrels. One Summer I put out a bit of tuna (Tuna-the natural prey of the cat?) and had a mom and her litter hanging around. At night
they sleot on a lounge cushion on the back deck - big pile of cats, took a picture. Probably not in Yonkers, but here their natural enemy the coyote will take one now and then. Note to self: check with Jackson Galaxy on the relationship.
The feral cat mystique. A more romanticized way of saying stray.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely have coyotes in Westchester County. The Eastern Coyote bigger than its Western counterpart and said to be 1/4 wolf.
ReplyDeleteIn flicking TV channels I came across "Pitbulls and Parolees''. Some lady matches them and they bond I guess- not sure, I can only watch for a minute or so and get bored. Now, I'm no entrepreneur, but do have a half open mind (or open half mind, take your pick) and it occurred to me that Z-Man might save feraldom and make himself some cash. It is your new TV series called "Felons and Ferals" Grab it before Jackson Metalface does.....
ReplyDeleteTNR = sterile strays without a home like a homeless person who has gotten temporary medical attention. "We're gonna let you off on the corner. Good luck."
ReplyDeleteThey wander into your home. How do you think I got half my cats?
ReplyDeleteEver had an Eastern Coyote wander in?
ReplyDeleteNot yet. No Sasquatch either.
ReplyDeleteWanted to post an image yesterday. Should take no more than three minutes. Couldn't do it with the Blogger app. Reviews of Blogger say the same thing. Spent an hour last night trying to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteYou already gave the Golden Finger award to Gates and Jobs. Hereby presenting the Golden Finger award to Google.
Sounds like a challenge. I tried it. No luck. It may be in Sec 49 (B) in the 48 page "How to easily post an image". Something about requiring a quantum computer array. Is there a Polonium Fist Award?
ReplyDeleteThis is not my first rodeo. I used to post images. Must be one of them software system upgrade updates.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Cloud. Every thing goes to the Cloud. I think there is a big section of the cloud called "BBs" Mistakes"
ReplyDeleteI have everything in the Cloud. Must be Chinese interference.
ReplyDeleteThe way this blog was originally set up for me many years ago I was using a Yahoo email account under Google. Had to go to Blogger permissions and actually invite MYSELF as an author then granted the invited me administrator privileges and then removed my old account and can now access my photos library. Keep it simple. Like having too many credit cards.
ReplyDeleteMore spam ads - 15 weeks training and I can become a lineman for the power company. WTF - been retired for over 20 years. Advice?
ReplyDeleteTell the power company boss you can't go over 20 hours a week. SS rules.
ReplyDeleteI'm having trouble finding catnip in the stores of late. Did Jackson Galaxy say it's bad or something?
ReplyDeleteI get it at the pet store. The Christian Brothers of felines. Apparently, even lions, tigers, leopards lynx and bobcats react the same way. Not sure - maybe you could walk through the big cat section of the zoo tossing the stuff around?
ReplyDeleteValerian root too has the same effect. Keep your sleep aids under lock and key.
ReplyDeleteBlogger, Chrome, G-Mail - Google is a huge part of the commercial internet, enigmatic, useful and a bit of a puzzle to use. Considering
ReplyDeletethe number of complaints I have and hear, I find it an anomaly of
Capitalism that last year Google earned $92 Billion. Wife lost all
her e-mails: should she sue?
Article in Sunday paper- Bite-Size Steak. A local favorite, which seems confined to about a 50 sq mi radius. Travelers and tourists are quite taken with the concept. Cut sirloin in 1-1/2 " sections, marinate in spices, cover with pancake dough and deep fry. Big seller here, often as 'Bite-size and Shrimp'. Since i have trouble even with Cup-O-Soup, I refer to the professional chef. NYC, the food Paris of the western hemisphere, always innovating. Imagine Z-Man's Old West Bite-Size Sirloin. Start with a small shop, advertise, hire away a few Hooter's waitresses, expand with franchises up to Boston and over to Philly and retire in a couple of years to rescue feral cats. Too
ReplyDeletedaring? Start with a street cart and hula dancer. Dunno, I'm not a pro in that area.
There's a lot of food shows on TV here. Sandwiches you can't fit in your mouth etc. Should you make sure your estate is in order before eating the stuff?
ReplyDeleteDon't understand those French chef things - a tiny dab of horse rump
ReplyDeletewith a sauce atop and a sprig. $95 plus tip.
Wouldn't fill up a truck driver.
ReplyDeleteOr third grader.
ReplyDeleteBack to Cat Rescue -
ReplyDeleteThe Humane Society of the United States estimates the following:
Number of brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the US: 3,500
Number of rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in North America: 10,000
Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year: 6-8 million (down from 13 million in 1973)
Our old cat, who was found in a box in the Walmart parking lot, knows three words: Dish, Kitty nibbles and treat. He still doesn't know NO. Why would people in Florida own a Siberian Husky?
I've often wondered how do vets deal with the ferals?
ReplyDeleteThe trapping process must be frustratingly time-consuming at times. There are other issues. The wrong cat goes in or a neighbor's cat goes in. Are there any cat lawsuits?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what a feral cat trap looks like. Hopefully not like one of those many toothed bear traps.
ReplyDeleteTo my limited understanding gleaned from dealing with that cat rescue lady a few years back one method is a large rectangular cage like you would even put a small dog in and they don't want anybody to feed the target cat. They want the feral/stray good and hungry so they go in after the bowl of food then they close the lid on top and the lady I dealt with uses twist ties now because she told me she's had cats that popped the lid open. Then right away they put a large towel or blanket over the cage and so this is supposed to calm the cat down during transport.
ReplyDeleteCertainly questions. Since they want the target cat hungry do they canvass the neighborhood and tell people to not put out food for any strays? Also seems to me they'd get only one shot at trapping the cat as if the cat escapes before they close the lid the cat is gonna get wise to this. I myself would probably not be a good team member of such a group as Z-man would opt more for the take the bull by the horns approach if too much failed time has elapsed. Thick winter gloves, long sleeves with a heavy fabric etc. and so put the critter in the cage I want to go home to dinner already!
ReplyDeleteI would think a cat would be very suspicious of a trap. That's where the term 'fraidy cat' came from. Barn feral and our old Maine Coon had it out in the driveway one night. Fur all over the asphalt.
ReplyDeleteAs a rescuer I would make liberal use of catnip Jackson Galaxy be damned.
ReplyDeleteYou are the consummate cat whisperer. Stand aside Jackson Nebula.
ReplyDeleteMy sister lives in an apartment and is having trouble with a cat who won't use the box consistently. What says Mr. Quasar?
ReplyDeleteGot the same problem. Let me know the cure.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking stress/anxiety. Israel/Gaza, property tax, price of Fancy Feast......
ReplyDeleteThe main cat you see in the picture to this post is a 100% perfect litter boxer. He can give lessons.
ReplyDeleteAre those yours? the white faced one in the doorway looks like ours.
ReplyDeleteHe is fascinated by boxes and if one is just the right size he makes a
den out of it. Most cats seemed attracted to simple cardboard boxes: wonder if a dish of Fancy Feast would attract a feral, then while it is fancy feasting, you shut the lids and duct tape it. Would that require the usual body armor, face mask, leather mittens and
athletic supporter?
They're completely mine. Official pets all six of them. Spayed/neutered with yearly shots. Two vets. Never went to a shelter. The one in the foreground just showed up one day. Very friendly. The others the mother cat in the yard next door had kittens. Some time went by and being in a cold winter season we eventually took them in and made vet appointments. My sister got the mother cat spayed and she stayed here awhile and then took off. Probably living someplace else. She taught her litter how to hunt and kill squirrels and some of them carry on the tradition on occasion. We also took one from her second litter a male tuxedo. We also have a senior tuxedo not related. They keep me busy.
ReplyDeleteYes if you buy a pair of new shoes or sneakers they love the empty shoebox.
ReplyDeleteCurious - do they share a litter box, or each have their own. It's like that lady from Yonkers that was visiting Laredo TX. Went to the restroom and stood there pondering the sign. STEERS- HEIFERS. Cowboy wanders by and she hollers, "Hey which am I?"
ReplyDeleteTwo litter boxes. One upstairs one downstairs. Somebody is using them because I scoop 'em out everyday. They also go out a lot. Never a mess on the rug.
ReplyDeleteA pair of ear rings and some tattoos and Z-Man Galaxy on TV.
ReplyDelete& maybe a Bob Ross perm.
ReplyDeleteGot a local squirrel, young guy. Named him Zits after the newspaper comic kid. He stands peering in off the kitchen deck. I pour a few peanuts out, he backs off until I go in and then feasts. He also enjoys harrasing our cat through the glass door. Oldest girl has some sort of heeler hound that is a bark-aholic and has more holes in the yard than a gold rush. But they claim humans are the most
ReplyDeletedangerous species.
I would when I was growing up feed the squirrels peanuts and would gradually place them closer to me until one day one took one off of my sneaker. Mildly approachable but then I went to other hobbies.
ReplyDeleteYou ever considered opening a Yonkers wildlife zoo?
ReplyDeleteGot some garter snakes and salamanders in my backyard. Must be an aquifer somewhere.
ReplyDeleteOh my. You must be in the Yonkers wilderness. Salamanders make me
ReplyDeletethink of Newt Gingrich.
All I need now is a metal detector. Find some Indian head pennies in the backyard.
ReplyDeleteOdds are you will find some part of a Boeing aircraft.
ReplyDeleteGo on Antiques Roadshow with it?
ReplyDeleteStuff in yard- a few years back, the Mrs. was digging up her flower bed
ReplyDeletealong side the house and stared unearthing teddy bears. Sort of a mass burial. WTF?
A teddy bear serial killer. Call Columbo.
ReplyDeleteSister's eldest cat recently passed so I buried the cat in my back yard. Digging and hit one brick after the other. I have a fertile imagination. Underground wine vault? Someday my ship will come in.
An archeological mystery - maybe proof that Romans were in Yonkers and you are on part of the old Hadrian road to Hoboken? Or we ponder an old Dutch brickyard (van der hoof's blocks)? Hopefully not part of a colonial landfill. I'd invite SUNY to start a dig, maybe a famous Z-Man Exploration Phase 1C: coed is sifting and shouts,
ReplyDelete"Hey I found a cat skeleton" This is the famous old Mrs. Schwepp
Cat House!. Dunno, Z-Man - quite a mystery.
On a more posititive note, you may have found the grave of Jimmy Hoffa and make the front page of the NYT.
ReplyDeleteOur cat seems to love tuna in any shape or form. He is on a vet diet so it is usually a treat. The thing is, i gave him a few pieces of King Oscar
ReplyDeletesmoked kippers - he loved them. Is he a Viking Cat? Should I try the notorious lutefisk?
BTW, my grand daughter bought be a t-shirt that reads "Lutefisk, the piece of cod which passeth all understanding". I've never tried it, but
ReplyDeletethe smell made me semi-nauseous.
Ever have a cat make the paw motions when you present a bowl of cat food? By paw motions I mean the same motions he uses after he goes in the cat box to cover the mess. You spent a lot of time and money selecting his cuisine and his paw motion is his way of telling you he thinks it's crap. Hurts.
ReplyDeleteCanned tuna, mackerel and salmon they love not necessarily in that order.
ReplyDeleteRead someplace that cats will put their paw in their water dish. It seems that in the wild, felines prefer a running stream to a stagnant pond. The domestic cat is trying to make it flow. Since ocean fish are not their natural prey, my theory is that they smell high protein food that is not vegetable. Kats and Kids hate vegetables.
ReplyDeleteThus far in my household the winner is Fancy Feast. I only wish they made bigger cans.
ReplyDeleteWhen I open a can of their 'flaked tuna', cat comes running from a deep nap at the other end of the house. Part bloodhound?
ReplyDeleteDo your cats understand their own names? Which are?
ReplyDeleteThey do respond when called. Sometimes.
ReplyDeleteSparky (the elder statesman), Gus (a lone stray), Gracie Buddy and Sandy from the first litter of Misty the feral mother who we got spayed and lived with us for awhile but then had enough and moved on and finally Alfie from her last litter.
Quite an interesting and no doubt entertaining collection. With a
Deletesort of genealogical chart. Like the Plantagenets, royal and looking for trouble.
Tuna. Fish and shrimp also a fave. Cat upstairs and you can't quietly make a sandwich in the kitchen without the cat coming down.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting and charming collection. With their own genealogical chart - like the Plantagenets - royal and sort of frisky.
ReplyDeleteWow, a double redundant post. Gotta get new material.
DeleteDoes your feline collection have some sort of pecking order, or do they cooperate collectively?
ReplyDeleteSo with this wayward feral who has this horrible wound on his neck I ordered this healing gel for cats online. Small bottle bigger price. He doesn't come by regularly but he came by today. Put my vinyl gloves on with a good dab of the stuff on my finger and put the bowl of Fancy Feast on the porch ledge to lure him. He's onto my strategy now so I put the bowl of food on the ground. He came over then started to go away. I then grabbed him and applied the ointment. Hey I ain't wasting the stuff.
ReplyDeleteFeral cat hangs around our bird bath. Good hunting grounds. He has been staying away this week as a pair of big black Ravens have been coming, slurping and skinny dipping. We call them Edgar and Allan
ReplyDeleteafter the poet Poe (Quoth the Raven nevermore). We like to name our urban wild friends - couple of young sibling squirrels stand looking in the kitchen deck door, stand back as we toss out some peanuts. We call them Zits and Hammy after the newspaper cartoon page.
The other morning thought there was a black cat rummaging in my grassy lawn but both of my tuxedos were in. Skunk.
ReplyDeleteThere you go. It is legal to have a pet skunk in 3states- Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa. They are legal as pets in NY, but you have to apply for a permit. Just go to the Driver License place and ask for a permit for Pepe LePew. Would likely perturb Sparky though. And you would have to treat it with Elon Musk.
ReplyDeleteMr. Galaxy must have an opinion.
ReplyDeleteOur old cat is eating well, but losing weight. Why doesn't that work for me? How old you figure Sparky is?
ReplyDeleteWithout going through all the records I'd say at least fifteen. Same. Chow hound but lost a lot of weight.
ReplyDeleteExactly: same here. What does nurse Nancy say? Did I mention that we now have a raven hanging around. About 3 times the size of a crow. Goggled the species and find them extremely intelligent. So much so, that when flying, they will sometimes get bored and do a couple summersaults, then fly UPSIDE DOWN for awhile. Lucky us -
ReplyDeletea few mourning doves, robins and blackbirds and a fun-loiving big
black guy that enjoys the flying backstroke.
Starlings are considered a low rent species. Make pests of themselves.
ReplyDeleteStarlings vs Grackles - both a nuisance in their own way. Starlings are
ReplyDeleteEuropean invaders, like the English Sparrow. Thanks King Chuck.
Jackson Galaxy looks the type that would smoke catnip.
ReplyDeleteCats may like him, but he scares kids.
ReplyDeleteWhen a dog likes you, it wags it tail. When a cat likes you, you just cracked a can of Fancy Feast.
ReplyDeleteWish they came in bigger cans.
ReplyDeleteWith your feline bunch, maybe a 55 gallon drum.
ReplyDeleteJust watched an episode of 'My Cat From Hell. Jackson and his guitar case entered home. Mean scared cat in corner. Jackson put his hand out and got badly scratched. Repeated this several times. I think the feline did carpal tunnel surgery on his guitar pick hand. Or- does Jackson carry a tommy gun in his music case like old Babyface
ReplyDeleteNelson?
I saw that one. Black cat. The girl teasing the cat was at the root of the problem. Does Jackson ever get pissed?
ReplyDeleteWatched a thing on Bat-eared foxes. Cute little things. Give you a high five fist bump to get a treat. Face like a Pomeranian, ears like a mule deer. The Alfred E. Neuman on foxhood.
ReplyDeleteWhat me worry?
ReplyDeleteWe had kids and grandkids this weekend. Cat gets upset - likes peace and quiet. - not total pandemonium. He escaped to the basement. We couldn't find him anywhere down there. 3 hours later, I went down and sat at the computer. Heard a disturbed meow and he was under my chair. Kids noted that cats can hide very well when the want to.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the cats I don't like chaos and noise either. We have a park across the street and many times I'll be sitting on the porch on a fine sunny day enjoying my pipe or cigar and these kids playing in the park will make the most blood curdling screams. Repeatedly. Grunts shouts yells. The other day it sounded like an exorcism was going on. Nerves are shot me and the cats.
ReplyDeleteA bit peculiar - an animal that likes to swat its prey around before the kill prefers sedentary peace and quiet
ReplyDeleteVery inconsistent.
ReplyDeleteThey also don't like the vacuum.
ReplyDeleteAristotle said "Nature abhors a vacuum". Probably an early cat guy.
ReplyDeleteIf Aristotle was a cat lover what's up with Erwin Schrodinger?. Why couldn't it be a rat?
ReplyDeleteProbably a personality disorder. Although they guy who thought up quantum thermodynamics, was was a bit of a rat. While living in Ireland, he had a wife in one bedroom and his mistress in another.
ReplyDelete(Shroedinger's House?) In old age, he was caught several times with
underage females. How about Shroedinger's Duckbill Platypus?
I can imagine him using the superposition argument when his wife caught him cheating. In one reality nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteThe Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - we can know A and B, but not
ReplyDeleteC. Or the Soapy Enigma - All A is A., or maybe Kierkegaard's Either/Or.