Sunday, June 14, 2009

CAUGHT IN THE ACT


For a couple days, I've been trying to humanely trap a feral cat I'm sure is pregnant. She looks to be pretty far along and though I don't need more cats and don't know how I'll find homes for kittens, I surely don't want her to have them in the woods or under somebody's shed. We don't need feral kittens running all over the neighborhood. If I can catch the cat, help her with kittens, socialize them, then have her spayed, I will rest easier. At the very least, I can take the cat to the animal shelter if I find it necessary. I know that finding homes for kittens is a big task. I've done it many times. I'm worried about the cat and though I've seen her almost every day for weeks, she didn't come around today. That makes me wonder....
Our neighbor dog, Buddy, started barking tonight and I could tell he was in our yard and possibly on our front porch. I instantly thought of the pregnant cat and didn't want him to scare her. I don't think Buddy would hurt any animal, but he sounds fierce. I turned on the porch light and saw something inside the humane trap. It wasn't the cat. It was a huge raccoon, trying to eat the food I'd left for the cat.
At first, he didn't set off the trap, but scurried out when I opened the door. He kept trying though, going in and out of the trap, until finally the trap door shut on him. We're not trying to catch any raccoons, so we let him out of the cage and he grabbed the food bowl and took it with him as he lumbered off the porch. We brought the trap in and called it a night.

2 comments:

KernowWitch said...

What a beautiful creature, we don't have them in the UK. And what a clever one taking the bowl. If he returns with it asking for more you can always call him Oliver...lol...Hugs Chrissy x

Kady said...

Raccoons abound around here and some people detest them but I love them. The can be destructive though and some have been known to carry rabies. My feeling is they are God's creatures too and they must also eat, so I don't mind if the come to eat from my doorstep as long as they do no harm to the cats who are also eating there. I think they're darling. We once had a mom raccoon who used to bring her three little ones around for us to feed. They were cute as could be. They're not meant to be kept as pets though and we've never done that. We just enjoy their antics. I think I might call this raccoon Oliver. What an appropriate name!....Hugs, Kady