Monday, June 22, 2020

Operation Raffles

Once again, the traps are out behind my work-place. We have spotted four kittens there; they are likely between two and three months old, but that’s just a guess. I will be trying to capture them and have them fixed.

This will be difficult. These ones are much more irregular in their habits than the previous sets of kittens we’ve trapped. They are sometimes not seen for days, and even the food left for them goes untouched. Now and then, we see only one or two of them, not all, and we don’t always see them in the same places. The only advantage I have in this endeavour is that the little ones are too young to be wary of traps, as traps.


I would also like to capture the cat we believe is the mother, though we cannot be certain. I have named her Bauble (hence the name of the operation, after the fictional gentleman-thief), but, to be honest, I don’t know if she is mother to the kittens, if she is not already spayed, or even if she is a she. She (for convenience, I will use the feminine pronoun) appears irregularly, just like the kittens, though more frequently.

And, as a bonus, it would be very gratifying to capture a cat I’ve named Sunrise, a healthy looking tom who shows up now and then for food.


He used to be very frightened of people, but seeing the colony-caretaker bring out tasty sustenance has made him accustomed to the people at my work-place, and, though he keeps an eye on passers-by, he no longer even stops eating when a human walks near. But he too keeps no habitual schedule, and catching him will rely on chance, as it will with the other five.

I will keep everyone apprised of developments but, unfortunately, I don’t expect to be sending any news soon. Unless something in the situation alters, however, the traps will be set almost every weekday. Somecat will slip up eventually, and when he or she does, my trap will be there.

12 comments:

  1. Good luck with the trapping!
    When someone mentions, "someone ought to do something!", it's YOU, John, who is making the difference.
    Good on you.

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    1. There will be a lot of help on this, as always. We will be having the kittens - and adults - fixed, then the little ones, if they are still little by the time I catch them, will be off to a rescue-group for adoption. The adults will go back to the colony. But thank you for your kind thoughts!

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  2. Good luck from us as well! We'll be keeping our fingers and paws crossed for success.

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  3. 984 paws crossed for a successful "trap" for intended !! ☺☺♥♥

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  4. We wish you luck too. We know how tough it is to get those occasional visitors.

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  5. Ahhh...Once again, Kitten Season is here. God bless you, John, for doing such a terrific job with TNR. I wish there were more folks like you who cared enough to help "Community" Cats. Good luck!!

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  6. I hope so much that you can catch them all. It's for them, of course and naturally we all want them to be taken to the Vet for the procedure. Many less kittens to have to suffer in the future if luck is with you.

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  7. Best of luck, and thank you for putting so much time and effort into this.

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  8. Good luck! I hope they all will find themselves in the trap at some point so there will be fewer litters.

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  9. We do hope you get them all and that they will then not add to the crush of wild cats

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