2 ferals

"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message
. ..
{snippag}
Evelyn, if you didn't get my email, where can I get one of those travel
clocks with a sound machine? I'm used to sleeping with one and since I'm
planning to travel am dreading hotel "sounds"

We got ours from Sharper Image. http://tinyurl.com/zap8 I just typed in a
search for "travel soother" and got 10 pages of results. The first one
listed is the one we have - we even bought the ac adaptor for it (what's $10
vs. a ton of batteries?)

If all else fails - just use the clock radio (IIRC, most hotels have them)
and set it to a non-existent radio station. The static noise from that is
equal to the 'white noise' that most of the sound soothers replicate.
Unless you want the other sounds - traffic, surf, crickets, rainshower....
the list goes on!

I'm partial to crickets or frogs, myself (or ocean with seagulls) -
static just doesn't do it for me! (And some of those "non-existent"
radio stations broadcast part-time - with my luck, I'd be blasted out of
bed at some ungodly hour by popular music of the type I most detest!)

badwilson wrote:

"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
news:WATZb.378318$na.568528@attbi_s04...

If all else fails - just use the clock radio (IIRC, most hotels have them)
and set it to a non-existent radio station. The static noise from that is
equal to the 'white noise' that most of the sound soothers replicate.
Unless you want the other sounds - traffic, surf, crickets, rainshower....
the list goes on!

Ah yes, the soothing sounds of traffic to put you right to sleep ;-)

Actually, it can! Two places I've lived were very close to busy
freeways, and the noise served to block out all but the noisiest of
neighbors, and was steady enough to be soothing. (Although there WAS
the morning I awakened early to "trample, trample, MOO-O-O-O, trample,
trample, MOO-O-O-O", which was anything BUT "soothing" - the highway
patrol had pulled over a cattle truck, more or less in a direct line
with my bedroom window!)

Willows wrote:

Lots of posts telling this person how to be more comfortable with sound
machines or even sprinklers which would just send the cats to the
neighbours but those cats as howling for a reason. If its indeed
howling and not meowing at the door to come in then I garentee you
pretty soon your problem will get bigger and their will be feral kittens
to contend with.

But the OP doesn't know for sure that they ARE "feral" - at least I
believe he said not (I can't find the original post). If they belong to
someone, then incipient kittens would be the owner's problem, wouldn't
they? Even people irresponsible enough not to have non-pedegree cats
altered usually make some provision for the resulting kittens. (That
may simply be handing them over to animal control, which is regrettable,
but they won't become a neighborhood problem.)

These cats can't be ferals and belong to someone at
the same time. Do you see them during the day have you tried to
approach them at all? It sounds to me like you either have two males
fighting for teritory or you have a female in season and a male chasing
after her. Its a noisy process, but traping and getting those cats
neutered would stop the noise, if you did that however you'd have to
feed them as long as they remained. Otherwise take them to the shelter
its better then watching their kittens die, or having them suffer from
diseases and die slowly.

My 2 kids are driving me nuts when 2 strays come to my downstairs patio and
start howling at 2 am. My kids only go outside supervised and both Bonnie
and Squeak are "fixed" so I'm pretty sure it's not that the strays are
wanting....well you know.
Anyway, Squeak, being the brut he is,could probably kick their butts outta
here, but I'm not stupid enough to take that chance.
This is an area under new development, so it could be the ferals belong to
someone, but why the hell would they let them out all night? There's
coyoties, fox, and other preditors around.
I don't want to trap and take them to the shelter, but I need to sleep at
night. BTW, the shelter, only one within 50 miles has a 72 hour policy.
Why the hell are they picking my patio?? And what can I do?

Then isn't that the owner's prerogative? There are any number of us who
believe that cats do best, health-wise, when allowed to be
"indoor/outdoor", and to come and go at will (and there have been
scientific studies that appear to prove it). Unless you KNOW the cats
are ferals, you have NO legal right to trap and dispose of them!

Leaving the indoor/outdoor issue alone, how does someone ever know for
sure if the cat is a stray? They don't wear signs, you have to judge by
behaviour and by asking around. Talk to people ask them about the cats
how long they've been seeing them ask them if they know who they might
belong to. Knock on doors if need be throughout the area first see if
someone is feeding them. Quite often people do know where they came
from I hear all the time they belonged to this person but they moved
away and left the cats behind. You have to check into the situation I'm
sure you aren't the only person who has seen or heard them.

Also shelters do this all the time and they do keep lists of missing
cats and attempt to find their owner even if only by checking their lost
records. Contact someone local for advice as well.

But the OP doesn't know for sure that they ARE "feral" - at least I
believe he said not (I can't find the original post). If they belong to
someone, then incipient kittens would be the owner's problem, wouldn't
they? Even people irresponsible enough not to have non-pedegree cats
altered usually make some provision for the resulting kittens. (That
may simply be handing them over to animal control, which is regrettable,
but they won't become a neighborhood problem.)

Unfortunately that's only true if they choose to take responsibility for
the kittens. Most people do some people don't and there's not much you
can do about it when they don't. I've seen people wash their hands of
their pets I spayed and eventually rescued two females that had been
breeding for two years with not a single surviving kitten between them.
I knew who the owners were they still lived there where they threw the
cats out from, they had been reported and nothing was ever done.

"jmcquown" wrote in message
.. .
badwilson wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
news:WATZb.378318$na.568528@attbi_s04...

If all else fails - just use the clock radio (IIRC, most hotels have
them) and set it to a non-existent radio station. The static noise
from that is equal to the 'white noise' that most of the sound
soothers replicate. Unless you want the other sounds - traffic,
surf, crickets, rainshower.... the list goes on!

Ah yes, the soothing sounds of traffic to put you right to sleep ;-)

Don't laugh... some people are used to that! I'm not one of them, but I
suppose if you lived in a big city downtown you might be used to loud
cars,
buses, horns honking
I prefer the sound of rain or even a thunderstorm.


Oh, I know, but it's still funny. Most people complain about the traffic
keeping them up. I am so used to the steady drone of the air conditioner
that I can never sleep when it's completely quiet. I should get one of
those gizmos too, I guess.
--
Britta
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 00:52:04 +0000, Willows
wrote:


Then isn't that the owner's prerogative? There are any number of us who
believe that cats do best, health-wise, when allowed to be
"indoor/outdoor", and to come and go at will (and there have been
scientific studies that appear to prove it). Unless you KNOW the cats
are ferals, you have NO legal right to trap and dispose of them!

Leaving the indoor/outdoor issue alone,

Well, we've got people posting here from around the globe, so I
usually ignore the indoor/outdoor debate, too. In some places it's
safe for the cats to go out, and in other places, where there is lots
of traffic and/or preditors, it's next to criminal. IIRC, the OP
stated he was in an area with coyotes and other preditors, which would
seem to indicate neligent owners (if any).

how does someone ever know for
sure if the cat is a stray? They don't wear signs, you have to judge by
behaviour and by asking around.Talk to people ask them about the cats
how long they've been seeing them ask them if they know who they might
belong to. Knock on doors if need be throughout the area first see if
someone is feeding them. Quite often people do know where they came
from I hear all the time they belonged to this person but they moved
away and left the cats behind. You have to check into the situation I'm
sure you aren't the only person who has seen or heard them.
Also shelters do this all the time and they do keep lists of missing
cats and attempt to find their owner even if only by checking their lost
records. Contact someone local for advice as well.

Here's something else that I tried, way back when Little Bit decided
to move into my apartment. I tied a note to her collar, asking that
anyone who claimed her to give me a call. Didn't work in her case,
which I'm certainly thankful for now.

As long as I'm spouting off, let me add that I think there's a
definite difference between a stray and feral cat, which lots of
people don't seem to recognize. The OP doesn't seem to know the
difference, since in the heading he says feral and in the body of the
post he says stray, and my advice about his problem would be different
depending on which is truly the case.

If they're truly feral, it would take a lot of work and patience to
socialize them, and they may never be suitable for adoption. The best
solution would be if the the OP could find some local organization, or
some individual, which works with ferals.

Failing that, and probably what I would do if I were in his place
(remember, IIRC the OP said that the only shelter in his area held
animals for 72 hours before euthanasia) trap the animals for neutering
and health check. If they checked out healthy, I'd establish a feeding
station somewhere far enough away from the house so that their
presence didn't bother my cats. Then I could work on socializing them
myself. In my semi-rural area, I could probably find some farmer
looking for a barn cat, but don't know if that would work for the OP.

Much as I hate to say it, if neither of the above solutions are
workable, I'd say trap them and take them to the shelter. If the OP
can't find someone to do the work, and isn't willing to do it himself,
IMHO it would be better than having a feral colony establish itself in
the neighborhood.

Now, like I said, my advice would be different if the cats in question
are strays, and not feral as stated in the heading. I would NOT
suggest taking them to a 72 hour hold shelter.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

"jmcquown" wrote

Don't laugh... some people are used to that! I'm not one of them, but I
suppose if you lived in a big city downtown you might be used to loud
cars,
buses, horns honking

When I moved last year, it was from busy downtown to quiet suburb, and I did
miss the sound of traffic and had a hard time getting to sleep at night. I'm
more used to the quiet now, but I still miss living in the city. Ah, well,
it's better for the cats here.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki

badwilson wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
.. .
badwilson wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
news:WATZb.378318$na.568528@attbi_s04...

If all else fails - just use the clock radio (IIRC, most hotels
have them) and set it to a non-existent radio station. The static
noise from that is equal to the 'white noise' that most of the
sound soothers replicate. Unless you want the other sounds -
traffic, surf, crickets, rainshower.... the list goes on!

Ah yes, the soothing sounds of traffic to put you right to sleep ;-)

Don't laugh... some people are used to that! I'm not one of them,
but I suppose if you lived in a big city downtown you might be used
to loud cars, buses, horns honking
I prefer the sound of rain or even a thunderstorm.


Oh, I know, but it's still funny. Most people complain about the
traffic keeping them up. I am so used to the steady drone of the air
conditioner that I can never sleep when it's completely quiet. I
should get one of those gizmos too, I guess.

I have one (not a travel one, although I did find one for my trip!) and when
the electricity goes off and it falls dead silent I can't sleep. Luckily it
also runs on batteries I have to have some constant noise. But I can't
sleep to the television or radio because the sounds are changing constantly
which just keeps me awake. I recommend one of those gizmos!

Jill

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
badwilson wrote:

"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
news:WATZb.378318$na.568528@attbi_s04...

If all else fails - just use the clock radio (IIRC, most hotels
have them) and set it to a non-existent radio station. The static
noise from that is equal to the 'white noise' that most of the
sound soothers replicate. Unless you want the other sounds -
traffic, surf, crickets, rainshower.... the list goes on!

Ah yes, the soothing sounds of traffic to put you right to sleep ;-)

Actually, it can! Two places I've lived were very close to busy
freeways, and the noise served to block out all but the noisiest of
neighbors, and was steady enough to be soothing. (Although there WAS
the morning I awakened early to "trample, trample, MOO-O-O-O, trample,
trample, MOO-O-O-O", which was anything BUT "soothing" - the highway
patrol had pulled over a cattle truck, more or less in a direct line
with my bedroom window!)

When we had severe storms last July which knocked power out in and all
around Memphis, in some areas for weeks! (I lost power for a week) I had to
sleep with the windows open. Thank God the storm cooled the temps off. My
phone also went out, so I didn't know if work was open or closed and no way
to call to find out. So every morning about 5:00 I'd hear roosters crowing.
That was my sign to get up, get dressed, drive to the office, only to find
out no, we still had no power, go back home. They did have a generator
which powered basic stuff at work so I was able to fill big ziplock bags
with ice from the breakroom. Prevented loss of a lot of food in the freezer
that way. Also kept my beer cold

The home sound machine works on batteries too, which was good. Although the
sound of the crickets and frogs chirruping through the open patio doors did
the trick

Jill