The upper end of our neighborhood has rental properties where it is sadly common for people to move out & leave their unfixed pets behind to fend for themselves. Some years ago, a friend peered over our deck & cried out with delight, "Look at the kittens coming from under your neighbor's shed!" Even the most grizzled of our bunch was taken in by the new lives venturing forth on trembling legs. Over the next few weeks, we enjoyed watching the babies grow stronger & move out on their own. IN ONE SEASON a few kittens became a ferral population of over 20. They were no longer cute, nor was the situation. After a time, things grew strange. Neighborhood pets began disappearing, one violently ripped from a carrier on it's own back porch. Then came the morning neighbors discovered the metal fender of their brand new car had been chewed up in an attempt to get to a litter of kittens. Teeth marks & paw prints revealed the identity of the culprit: coyote. Nine, beloved pets were lost before he had cleared out the ferrals & moved on.
The cycle has started up again. Last winter we counted 7 adult cats making regular trips through our yard & within weeks their numbers were around 30. I love cats, but these are wild animals covered in parasites, carrying disease in oozing eyes & noses. Many wear battle scars from their fights for daily survival....all avoidable had 1 or 2 owners had taken responsibilty for their pet. Cat rescue associations were swamped & their waiting lists years long. I began trapping them taking them to our local shelter. These 5, the 3rd of many litters born here, were the first I took in. Neighborhood kids came with me that trip & we arrived at the shelter early on just some random day of the week. As we waited the 6 minutes for the shelter to open, the kids counted a staggering number of cats, kittens & canines already in line...
The shelter was teeming with broken-hearted animals wearing penitent eyes. The 4 of us stayed for hours giving & receiving love. During our time there I kept an eye on the 1st building where a steady stream of traps, boxes & carriers arrived full & left empty. That week I got 11 felines "off the streets". )I even trapped a possum who was delighted to return to his forest home). The men at the shelter,who are used to taking trapped animals out of cages called me "The Cat Lady" & said our cats are particularly mean. One day the kids brought me an amazingly sweet, little cat who didn't stand a chance with the ferrals in our hood. They begged me to take him to the shelter so he could find his forever home... that turned out to be OUR home & Maxie-kitty who now happily resides indoors, has richly blessed us.
In the dark of recent nights, the clamour of multiple coyotes grows ever nearer our home & I have to leash our puppy at night. Where once the joyous, peaceful song of birds abounded, we hear cries of alarm. The angry fights & pained screams of territorial cats pierce the tension-filled forest. The cat population has decimated the smaller wildlife. Squirrels no longer play freely nor do the hawks nest here. They rarely even soar overhead.
An incredibly sweet, little female was recently abandoned. Everyone in the neighborhood loves her... but not enough to give her medical care or a place in their family. One day, when she made her way into my yard, I reminded her to keep safe from the coyotes. Before I could think twice she & I were on our way to the shelter. She was already pregnant & will be fostered until she is ready to go on line for adoption.
I borrowed a trap & ultimately caught the primary, breeding momma. Uncertain of her manner around people, my heart weighed heavily as I took her in. Most of the ones I've trapped have screamed & fought as caged, wild animals will do. This one was oddly calm. I pray the neighbors have accustomed her enough to people that she too might find a home. If the original owners had gotten her spayed, or taken her into the shelter, or had found her a home, I wouldn't be in this position. It was a hard thing to do.... It hurt & angered me.... I thought of these babies, who never should have been born. I thought of the myriad of silent eyes in cages at the shelter as I signed her over...
The next morning, Momma Wren began to sing again...
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