Trap, neuter, release roundup

"RobZip" no wrote in message
.. .

"Phil P." wrote in message
news:stSYg.1999$9z6.1964@trndny03...

Here's a picture of 3 wild ones that I'm fostering until they're
socialized-- They're actually mushes.

http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/Charl...seyCricket.jpg

http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/CCC_Turbo.jpg

Those are some gorgeous kitties. Looks a lot like my clan here.
BTW - the head count on the TNR so far is around 40 cats of all ages.

40 cats trapped in 2 days is pretty damn good! How many trappers and how
many traps? Are all the cats concentrated in one or two colonies or are they
all spread out? You must have a huge holding area and a couple of great
vets.

This a shrewd little girl that was very trapwise- I had to use a drop-trap
to get her. I think she's gorgeous- but she definitely has the Calico demon
gene! lol! http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/Delilah.jpg Ain't she
beautiful?

RobZip wrote:
The TNR that was to take place 2 weeks ago finally got underway yesterday.
snip

Awesome!

-L.

"Phil P." wrote in message
news:%n%Yg.4278$Z46.3469@trndny05...

40 cats trapped in 2 days is pretty damn good! How many trappers and how
many traps? Are all the cats concentrated in one or two colonies or are
they
all spread out? You must have a huge holding area and a couple of great
vets.

The largest concentration was at my home. I've had a pretty stable number at
around 10 or 11 regulars plus a few recluses that only come in when its very
quiet around here. There was one other small colony that I know of - maybe 5
or so. The rest were spread out remnants of litters here and there, and
several solo adults. There were probably 3 people total working the traps,
one from Cat Haven, two from the Humane Society. I would guesstimate from
what I saw, about 25 traps in use or available. Most of the cats trapped
here were transported in the traps to the locations where the neutering will
be done. After a few escapes early on it was deemed too risky to try
transferring them to carriers. The Humane Society has a few surgery rooms
available and a pretty fair amount of holding space. Angels For Animals
likewise has a surgical suite. I was told the cats would be spread amongst
those two places and some of the local veterinary offices that are helping
out. The one vet I know of that works with HS is my old vet from years back
when he first started his practice - very good doctor and real nice guy. I
don't know how many local vets are involved but it must be at least 3 or 4
of them. This is being written at around 7:30am Tuesday. The cats were to
have their surgery yesterday and today, then be returned. Current weather is
49 degrees with rain forcast until mid afternoon, so it may be well into
tomorrow before my crew comes back.

That's what amazes me - the degree of cooperation between these groups.
There was almost a civil war of sorts within the Humane Society a few years
back that lead to the director being fired. She in turn started Angels For
Animals and continued to be very publicly vocal on her opposition to Humane
Society open shelter policies. She had replaced a director who was in office
during the building of their new facility. That woman was a pure nut case
who elected to go with $20,000 worth of solid oak doors in areas facing
public parts of the facility rather than concentrate the money where it
needed to be spent. The new building went many 10's of thousands of dollars
over budget and caused a serious financial crisis for quite a long time.

A new director came on board at the Humane Society about 2 years ago and
they became a no-kill shelter. Some time after that, a new era of
cooperation between the groups started. In addition to projects like this
TNR, they now alternate being on call for injured animal referral calls from
local law enforcement. It's sad that it took so long to get everybody
pulling in the same direction 'cause the animals suffered for it.
Considering the state of affairs around here over the past several years, I
was quite surprised when all of these groups stepped up in unison to help
deal with this situation. I am not affiliated with any of these
organizations. When they came to my area and announced their plan, I was
wholeheartedly in favor of it. All I had to offer was some information and
an extra pair of hands when it was time to trap. If future TNR projects
depend on the success of this one for funding, it should be a no-brainer to
open up the wallets.


This a shrewd little girl that was very trapwise- I had to use a drop-trap
to get her. I think she's gorgeous- but she definitely has the Calico
demon
gene! lol! http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/Delilah.jpg Ain't she
beautiful?

Sweet looking little girl. Looks a lot like one I had 20 years ago.

"RobZip" no wrote in message
.. .

"Phil P." wrote in message
news:%n%Yg.4278$Z46.3469@trndny05...

40 cats trapped in 2 days is pretty damn good! How many trappers and how
many traps? Are all the cats concentrated in one or two colonies or are
they
all spread out? You must have a huge holding area and a couple of great
vets.

The largest concentration was at my home. I've had a pretty stable number
at around 10 or 11 regulars plus a few recluses that only come in when its
very quiet around here. There was one other small colony that I know of -
maybe 5 or so. The rest were spread out remnants of litters here and
there, and several solo adults. There were probably 3 people total working
the traps, one from Cat Haven, two from the Humane Society. I would
guesstimate from what I saw, about 25 traps in use or available. Most of
the cats trapped here were transported in the traps to the locations where
the neutering will be done. After a few escapes early on it was deemed too
risky to try transferring them to carriers. The Humane Society has a few
surgery rooms available and a pretty fair amount of holding space. Angels
For Animals likewise has a surgical suite. I was told the cats would be
spread amongst those two places and some of the local veterinary offices
that are helping out. The one vet I know of that works with HS is my old
vet from years back when he first started his practice - very good doctor
and real nice guy. I don't know how many local vets are involved but it
must be at least 3 or 4 of them. This is being written at around 7:30am
Tuesday. The cats were to have their surgery yesterday and today, then be
returned. Current weather is 49 degrees with rain forcast until mid
afternoon, so it may be well into tomorrow before my crew comes back.

That's what amazes me - the degree of cooperation between these groups.
There was almost a civil war of sorts within the Humane Society a few
years back that lead to the director being fired. She in turn started
Angels For Animals and continued to be very publicly vocal on her
opposition to Humane Society open shelter policies. She had replaced a
director who was in office during the building of their new facility. That
woman was a pure nut case who elected to go with $20,000 worth of solid
oak doors in areas facing public parts of the facility rather than
concentrate the money where it needed to be spent. The new building went
many 10's of thousands of dollars over budget and caused a serious
financial crisis for quite a long time.

A new director came on board at the Humane Society about 2 years ago and
they became a no-kill shelter. Some time after that, a new era of
cooperation between the groups started. In addition to projects like this
TNR, they now alternate being on call for injured animal referral calls
from local law enforcement. It's sad that it took so long to get everybody
pulling in the same direction 'cause the animals suffered for it.
Considering the state of affairs around here over the past several years,
I was quite surprised when all of these groups stepped up in unison to
help deal with this situation. I am not affiliated with any of these
organizations. When they came to my area and announced their plan, I was
wholeheartedly in favor of it. All I had to offer was some information
and an extra pair of hands when it was time to trap. If future TNR
projects depend on the success of this one for funding, it should be a
no-brainer to open up the wallets.


Easier said than done for some reason getting the public to help animals
can be very difficult. We did fund raisers all the time even when I was
backing the shelters I used to be involved with till the political bull****
happened here in Florida.

If you ever need any ideas or places where to get things to sell ask. I
have a lot

Rob from animals lovers We salute you

sending you a pat on the back and a handshake



This a shrewd little girl that was very trapwise- I had to use a
drop-trap
to get her. I think she's gorgeous- but she definitely has the Calico
demon
gene! lol! http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/Delilah.jpg Ain't she
beautiful?

Sweet looking little girl. Looks a lot like one I had 20 years ago.

"Matthew" wrote in message
...ation
If future TNR projects depend on the success of this one for funding, it
should be a no-brainer to open up the wallets.


Easier said than done for some reason getting the public to help animals
can be very difficult. We did fund raisers all the time even when I was
backing the shelters I used to be involved with till the political
bull**** happened here in Florida.

It seems they have some source of funding in the works. Since it is most
likely a private source, they obviously aren't going to disclose any info
regarding who or how much. Fine by me.
I lived in Jacksonville for 9 years and another 2 years in the Tampa area.
Florida and political BS are almost synonymous aren't they?

"Phil P." wrote in message
news:%n%Yg.4278$Z46.3469@trndny05...
This a shrewd little girl that was very trapwise- I had to use a drop-trap
to get her. I think she's gorgeous- but she definitely has the Calico
demon
gene! lol! http://www.maxshouse.com/Feral/Delilah.jpg Ain't she
beautiful?



She looks like she's full of it!! Incredible eyes. Phil, you've got some
beautiful cats there--enjoyed the pictures of the three orange cats as well.

"RobZip" no wrote in message
...
The TNR that was to take place 2 weeks ago finally got underway yesterday.
The Cat haven worker who originally gave me the dates had incorrect
information on when, but everything else was correct. We had some
surprises, a more complete effort for the first day, and a few new faces
in the traps who seem to have kept themselves out of sight previously.

Scruffy, the most battle scarred and wary of the crew was a concern. I
didn't think he'd be likely to come near the traps after all the human
commotion. He actually walked into one while the humane society worker was
still here and was straddling the pedal in the trap, eating away. I was
able to reach past him with a stick and trigger the trap. Easy one!

Bubbles, domesticated as they get, and housebroken, surprised us all. The
HS worker tried to transfer him from a trap to a carrier. He did one of
those notorious feline liquid pretzel moves and got away. I managed to
call him back a short while later and get him in a carrier. Boy was he
****ed when he figured out what I was doing. As soon as the door was
closed, he lunged at me, slapping front paws down with his head and ears
lowered, hissing and obviously not happy.

Spook, brother of Bubbles, was figured for a difficult catch but really
put up a hell of a fight. He wanted nothing to do with the traps, no
matter what bait was in them. He finally took an offering of dry food on
the ground. I was able to sneak up on him and pick him up. He was fairly
cool about it until a carrier was placed on the ground, then all hell
broke loose. It ended with me having to pin one front leg up alongside his
head while isolating his rear legs at the hip. It took one more set of
hands to manage him and another to hold the carrier. He struggled all the
way, and everybody involved bled a little. He was finally in with no harm.

Mr. Jingles was also figured for a tough catch, but surprised everyone. He
accepted an offer of dry food, allowed himself to be picked up and loaded
into a carrier without any struggle at all. He even turned around in the
carrier and accepted head scritches through the grille.

Most of the rest went without incident. the litter of 4 kittens wasn't too
bad either. They're about 5 months old now. Two went in the traps almost
right away. The other two were hard sell after witnessing most of the
others being caught. They kept circling the traps, trying to fish the food
out through the sides and back of the trap, but wouldn't venture inside.
After a few hours, I placed a hot chicken wing about halfway into the
trap, where it could be reached without tripping the thing. Sure enough,
one of them went for it. Now that he had confidence he could get it, take
the food and escape, I placed the next wing up beyond the trip pedal. Sure
thing - he went in and set off the trap. Lather, rinse, repeat, and his
brother was in a carrier too!

The traps that were left overnight yielded one more female that is always
very reclusive and another female tabby that was never seen around here
before. I'm thinking it was 12 cats total that were taken at my residence.
This includes a few that neighborhood kids caught and brought over for
transport.
So far, I know of around 28 or so rounded up in just a few hours last
night. The trapping effort continues today.
Animals will be neutered today, released tonight or tomorrow. Any testing
positive for feline leukemia will be put down. Those with medical needs
will be treated before they are returned.

This is the first TNR in this area. I'm hoping the success will impress
the county commissioners enough to pry some money loose for future
efforts.

That's fabulous! Are any of them adoptable? We've done a little TNR
here--we live a rural area and have had several cats dumped off here over
the years but nothing on that scale.

"22brix" wrote in message
...
That's fabulous! Are any of them adoptable? We've done a little TNR
here--we live a rural area and have had several cats dumped off here over
the years but nothing on that scale.

There are about 5 right now that are adoptable as is. Bubbles was born under
my home as was his brother Spook. Bubbles runs inside at every opportunity.
Spook is a bit aloof but would calm down quickly if kept inside. Both know
the food bowl and litterbox well.

Mr. Jingles is a huge orange tom that used to be an owned cat. When he first
showed up here, he was wearing a blue collar with vet and ID tags on it. A
few weeks later he no longer had the collar. Kids in the area tell me his
owner moved away and left him behind. After he got repeated calls about his
cat being found, he returned and took the collar off. Jingles bluffs a lot
with his growling, but is a big sap for attention and food.

Another little orange cat has about 4 names depending on who you talk to. We
call him BoBo. He showed up in the spring at around 12 - 14 weeks old, fully
socialized. He was obviously a pet that was dumped. He's too smart for his
own good and fears nothing. At around 9 months old now, he's roughly the
size of a 5 month old kitten. He will sit on my top step raised up on
haunches, prairie dog style, and survey the area.

We have a recent arrival I call Jaws - he talks constantly. He's another
abandoned pet, a dark tabby male approximately 1 yr. old, already neutered.
He is very eager to demonstrate his household skills. My wife is trying very
hard to dislike him so she won't get too attached. She has a weakness for
lap kitties and this guy knows the human lap as a great tool of influence.
He has the peculiar habit of chasing my fingers around the keyboard as I
type. He's also followed me out to my van 3 times now and climbed in for a
ride. He curls up on the passenger seat and seems to enjoy it.

Some of the younger kittens could probably be tamed really well if somebody
works at it. When the litter of 4 showed up, they would scatter if the door
opened. Now they will come up on the steps and play with a cat tease whip
with any of us. Two of them have actually walked inside for a quick look
around, then scampered back out. The same two will play with my fingers
under the bottom of the storm door when it is held open a few inches. They
constantly peek inside. Two males, one female - not sure on the 4th one.

Just about everything around here is potentially adoptable except the
oldest, wildest, and most wary of them.

"RobZip" no wrote in message
. ..

"22brix" wrote in message
...
That's fabulous! Are any of them adoptable? We've done a little TNR
here--we live a rural area and have had several cats dumped off here over
the years but nothing on that scale.

There are about 5 right now that are adoptable as is. Bubbles was born
under my home as was his brother Spook. Bubbles runs inside at every
opportunity. Spook is a bit aloof but would calm down quickly if kept
inside. Both know the food bowl and litterbox well.

Mr. Jingles is a huge orange tom that used to be an owned cat. When he
first showed up here, he was wearing a blue collar with vet and ID tags on
it. A few weeks later he no longer had the collar. Kids in the area tell
me his owner moved away and left him behind. After he got repeated calls
about his cat being found, he returned and took the collar off. Jingles
bluffs a lot with his growling, but is a big sap for attention and food.

Another little orange cat has about 4 names depending on who you talk to.
We call him BoBo. He showed up in the spring at around 12 - 14 weeks old,
fully socialized. He was obviously a pet that was dumped. He's too smart
for his own good and fears nothing. At around 9 months old now, he's
roughly the size of a 5 month old kitten. He will sit on my top step
raised up on haunches, prairie dog style, and survey the area.

We have a recent arrival I call Jaws - he talks constantly. He's another
abandoned pet, a dark tabby male approximately 1 yr. old, already
neutered. He is very eager to demonstrate his household skills. My wife is
trying very hard to dislike him so she won't get too attached. She has a
weakness for lap kitties and this guy knows the human lap as a great tool
of influence. He has the peculiar habit of chasing my fingers around the
keyboard as I type. He's also followed me out to my van 3 times now and
climbed in for a ride. He curls up on the passenger seat and seems to
enjoy it.

Some of the younger kittens could probably be tamed really well if
somebody works at it. When the litter of 4 showed up, they would scatter
if the door opened. Now they will come up on the steps and play with a cat
tease whip with any of us. Two of them have actually walked inside for a
quick look around, then scampered back out. The same two will play with my
fingers under the bottom of the storm door when it is held open a few
inches. They constantly peek inside. Two males, one female - not sure on
the 4th one.

Just about everything around here is potentially adoptable except the
oldest, wildest, and most wary of them.

That's wonderful! You've done a great thing. We have a feral now who we
neutered a year or two ago that has started following me around outside,
talking the entire time. He's wary of me and won't let me touch him but
seems to like my dog just fine, actually coming up to her and sniffing her
nose. I'm pretty sure he was "pre-owned" but he's just not quite ready to
trust humans yet. Like your wife I don't want to get too involved, already
having 7 indoors but he's growing on me all the time!

"RobZip" no wrote in
:


"22brix" wrote in message
...
That's fabulous! Are any of them adoptable? We've done a little TNR
here--we live a rural area and have had several cats dumped off here
over the years but nothing on that scale.

There are about 5 right now that are adoptable as is. Bubbles was born
under my home as was his brother Spook. Bubbles runs inside at every
opportunity. Spook is a bit aloof but would calm down quickly if kept
inside. Both know the food bowl and litterbox well.

Mr. Jingles is a huge orange tom that used to be an owned cat. When he
first showed up here, he was wearing a blue collar with vet and ID
tags on it. A few weeks later he no longer had the collar. Kids in the
area tell me his owner moved away and left him behind. After he got
repeated calls about his cat being found, he returned and took the
collar off. Jingles bluffs a lot with his growling, but is a big sap
for attention and food.

Another little orange cat has about 4 names depending on who you talk
to. We call him BoBo. He showed up in the spring at around 12 - 14
weeks old, fully socialized. He was obviously a pet that was dumped.
He's too smart for his own good and fears nothing. At around 9 months
old now, he's roughly the size of a 5 month old kitten. He will sit on
my top step raised up on haunches, prairie dog style, and survey the
area.

We have a recent arrival I call Jaws - he talks constantly. He's
another abandoned pet, a dark tabby male approximately 1 yr. old,
already neutered. He is very eager to demonstrate his household
skills. My wife is trying very hard to dislike him so she won't get
too attached. She has a weakness for lap kitties and this guy knows
the human lap as a great tool of influence. He has the peculiar habit
of chasing my fingers around the keyboard as I type. He's also
followed me out to my van 3 times now and climbed in for a ride. He
curls up on the passenger seat and seems to enjoy it.

Some of the younger kittens could probably be tamed really well if
somebody works at it. When the litter of 4 showed up, they would
scatter if the door opened. Now they will come up on the steps and
play with a cat tease whip with any of us. Two of them have actually
walked inside for a quick look around, then scampered back out. The
same two will play with my fingers under the bottom of the storm door
when it is held open a few inches. They constantly peek inside. Two
males, one female - not sure on the 4th one.

Just about everything around here is potentially adoptable except the
oldest, wildest, and most wary of them.

You are a lovely person. Truly.

How anyone can abandon a pet cat is beyond my comprehension...

--
"Lynne" lover of mutts and feral kitties