# Kitty? Or Raccoon?



## Stacykins (Aug 18, 2009)

"Mr. Raccoon, Mr. Raccoon, won't you play with me somehow?" - Pom Poko

Anyway, some of the cat food I set out was nibbled on! I set it out at 5am (early mornings for me, lol!), and I just got back from class. I am excited. I do hope it was a cat, and not an early morning snacking raccoon. I am thinking of setting the trap on Tuesday night to see if it was indeed a cat! Either the cat was always here and never noticed, or it is a newcomer. I just hope I don't catch a raccoon! 

On a note, if I DO catch a raccoon or possum, what do I do?! Let it out wearing some thick gloves and a stick at hand? Or contact animal control?


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## Stacykins (Aug 18, 2009)

Figured out that it was a kitty! Why? I caught it in the trap this morn. I saw it running away when I came back from working out. So I grabbed the trap from the basement, set it up with a small dish of sardines, and left to take a shower. When I was done and peeked outside, the door was shut and I had one mad kitty. 

The kitty is a grey/blue grey and white. Can't tell the sex yet. But the kitty is in the basement covered up in the trap with a bit of water. The day feels like it'll be pretty warm, and I wasn't expecting the cat to take the bait so quickly. So the basement is cool and quiet, and far from Darius.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Wow! You're catching them like mad! _You sure you aren't a Pied Piper_? :wink


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## Stacykins (Aug 18, 2009)

It is because there is a yard/kitty equilibrium. If one kitty goes, it is soon replaced by another! The average tends to be two cats with no less than one at any time!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

So basically ... every time you trap one and take it away, it creates a vacuum that must be filled and the nearest cat is sucked into the time-space-continuem that is your yard?


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Good job Stacykins! 

Word of advice. I would never contact animal control. Or any type of company that advertises to _"remove" _wild life from your home. Its a death sentance. They take them away and kill them. Plus most wild animals cant survive out of their known area so it is a death sentance to relocate most of them. Animal control will immediately kill any feral cat.


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## Stacykins (Aug 18, 2009)

I definitely know animal control is bad news for cats. I guess if I ever catch a raccoon or possum, I'll just be extra careful and let it out. I am sure with 99% of wild animals, they'd rather run and hide. Thankfully, if animal control ever picks up any of my TNR cats, they'll be returned. That is the #1 reason the humane society microchips them. 

Jamie, the blue and white cat, was just let him out this morning. I think he was too nervous for the humane society to try and evaluate him. Thankfully they told me the gender, I couldn't tell when I first trapped him! He was also FeLV and FIV negative (sooo happy!). I got an identification photo of him before I let him go. He ran off immediately, but an hour later I saw him creeping back into the yard. I guess the draw of food is too great. 

The kitty vacuum is definitely a great way to describe the situation! I was equating it with passive diffusion, perhaps because I am a nursing student it comes up a lot! Either way, there will always be kitties here, I think.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I think they marked your yard, Stacykins, the way bums mark homes that will give them food! :lol: You have a good heart.


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## Stacykins (Aug 18, 2009)

The yard equilibrium has returned to two cats! Why? I saw the newest addition about an hour ago. I was just sitting on the back porch (my quiet space) and I saw some movement in the bushes at a side of the yard. I sat still, thinking it was Jamie, the blue and white stray. Nope! It was a GORGEOUS meezer type kitty. Shorthair with a white blaze on the forehead. Much smaller than Jamie, too. After a few minutes of stalking the yard, she hopped the fence (7 foot solid wood fence, mind) and disappeared.

Well, I just peeked out the window where I can see the kitty food, and Jamie was eating. And guess who was sitting about twenty feet away wait until he was done? This new kitty. However, when Jamie realized he wasn't alone, he turned very territorial. Chased her around the yard a few times, cornered her all arched up. She hopped on top of the fence and taunted him. Jamie cannot jump even half the fence (it was kinda funny watching him try). She then left. I hope she comes back to eat. I can't trap her this week at all due to a sucky schedule, maybe next week. But I can keep her belly filled in the meantime. 

I don't know the gender, but I am calling this kitty a her until I know for sure. So beautiful and dainty. If the kitty is a he, he is very feminine! Any name suggestions? I couldn't get a picture, I hope to soon, she was just so pretty!










Edited to add a picture of Jamie, before he was re released after TNR. Not a good photo, but it was the best I could get


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Jaimie is a handsome boy, even if he's not an Olympic qualitly jumper!

Cats' ability to jump is amazing, isn't it? They look at the place they want to land like a spot bowler, and just leap! They don't have to look again. I have seen one of my cats miss, and she was definitely embarrassed!  Such athletic animals!


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