Well, look at who has shown up after weeks of lockdown!
Of course it was a peach kitten. I haven’t had a visit from him in a while, but a few days before he showed up to me, my human saw him on a surveillance camera.
Obviously he was overjoyed to see me. But where was he and why? Perhaps it’s time to talk about one of the biggest dangers facing feral cats, all cats that spend time outside in our area. Get Coyote.
The interesting thing about coyotes is that they are a greater danger to pet cats than wild animals. Ferals are very aware of other larger predators and are very good at making themselves rare. Locally, coyotes spend much of their time hunting wild animals such as rabbits and rodents, and sadly people’s pets. Pet cats and small dogs are easy prey for coyotes. Because of their pampered lifestyle, they don’t know the smell or sound of coyotes.
Ferrules are a little different. Of course, coyotes will catch what they can, but more likely they will catch an old, sick cat, an injured cat, or a kitten that has not yet been trained to live outdoors. Young adult cats, like Momo’s kittens, are generally at the highest level of health and consciousness. They know how to avoid coyotes. That’s why Momo the kitten and her family have survived in our neighborhood for three years.
Recently, there was a pair of coyotes in my neighborhood. My humans did their best to haze them away. They are actually quite scared of her. They probably think she’s crazy (and in a way they’re right!). She can be pretty intense. But wild animals won’t come around often until life on our streets becomes too uncomfortable for them.
My human also keeps me indoors, even though he always scans the places we spend time before letting me out. She wonders if the wild animals don’t think it’s safe to go out, and I don’t either. That’s why I decided to visit Momo’s kitten this week. She caught him and other members of his family on security camera several nights in a row. There are no coyotes either. So after checking out the area by the bridge she took me out. Then a peach kitten appeared.
Not only was he happy to see me, but he was also happy to get a treat.
I think he was also happy to see my human, just because she had a treat bag.
He is still eating from her hand. But one thing he still refuses to do is go inside. He doesn’t even take more than a few steps into the enclosed patio. Although he looks friendly in photos and videos, he is still feral and will not tolerate being picked up or kept inside. It would be crueler to trap him now than to set him free. Of course we encourage him to consider going inside. But it’s still a process. It must be his choice to abandon his bohemian lifestyle and choose a safer (and boring, smaller) life.
Think about it. If you were wild and adventurous and that was your whole identity, would you be happy being stuck at home and never being able to go outside? do not.
This is the status quo at the moment. I hope he can come visit me again soon. In the meantime, watch a video of our visit below.
