Item of note (not directed to you, necessarily, but to education in general):
TNR = Trap Neuter RETURN
Many folks are confused and believe that this means Trap Neuter RELEASE.
This was what it meant in the earlier iterations, but does NOT mean that any more (from any reputable organization). This means the critters will be RETURNED from whence they were TRAPPED (with a neuter in the middle-- very important! and my favorite bit of the whole enchilada) barring extreme circumstances.
More reading from a leader in the advocacy sector.
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I was kinda working on Feral Friends, but I’d have to go over to Richardson-ish to pick up the traps. Mind you, I could probably grab both of these guys and stuff them in a trap. If you could get the code and pick up the traps, I’d help you nab them. They do need to be neutered.
The bigger one (Oliver) is, I think, a stray. He seems to have been born around humans, and likes to be petted once he trusts you. I believe he’s about 1 yr old. Squirt (the smaller one) is about 9 months old. He’s feral-born, but I’ve been feeding him since he was a kitten (and his mama, who doesn’t like the foot traffic and quit showing up) over at Parks. He doesn’t get the whole petting thing, but he’s a food slut, and has become much more social in the couple of weeks since we’ve shifted over to this side of the street.
If you could get them homes, that would be great!
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We (the general area) don’t have many of the other predators/scavengers because the food source is rather limited. While the Parks dumpster is full of food, most of it is still sealed and requires opposible thumbs to access. So far, we’re not just leaving food laying about, so we shouldn’t attract any other critters.
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The area is more sparse than the typical residential neighborhood, but with the drainage to the north and wooded corridor along the tracks to the immediate east, it’s not entirely inhospitable either.
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The Dallas Cat Lady is awesome. We worked with her to get our feral colony TNR’d, I second this. And if the can be homed that is even better.
If they can’t be, or there are others, this might be a good project for the space …
https://alleycatadvocates.org/communitycat-care-center/creating-winter-shelters/
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I have seen a few other critters, mostly opposums, skunks, and rabbits. They don’t tend to hang out much in the warehouse areas because the food source isn’t significant. I’ve seen stray/feral cats around here from the beginning, but I stay much later at night. They seem to subsist on the mice/bird/insects.
I saw a coyote once, when I first joined. I suppose that the smaller critters are too sparse and/or wary, because I’ve never seen one again.
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I have seen rabbits out front and I stepped on a frong the other night, I felt it an didnt squash
Beth is correct we shave the city with many critters
Industrial areas and even down have feral cat colonies If there is a population, it will because there are prey for them to live one
They are a lot nicer than the rats and mice they fed on
We had to avoid accidentally hitting some cats on the way out of the parking lot once. Later on, down valwood, a cat darted across the road and we almost hit it. It ran into the curb and flipped over. Seemed drunk.
I saw them the other day and they didn’t seem to be feral.
I live in an older neighborhood 1.3 miles from the space and we have frogs, racoons, coyotes, and plenty of snakes over here.
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My uneducated guess is that appears to be a cottonmouth.
He does have that square jaw that usually indicates that he’s poisonous…
A lot of animal control agencies will bring them in and put them down, way to sad. I am all for the spay and neuter catch and release, plus they kill rodents. If this is an option I will be happy to assist.
I have been going to DMS about 2 years. Leaving late at night I have seen cats around the building multiple times. This is not new. I usually see a light colored cat, looks white in the dark.
Also, I have know warehouse works that have cats unofficially, unknown by their landlords. They feed them,and give them attention. This may be why the cat are not afraid of people. The cats may have an unofficial home in a warehouse near us, and they get the boot out at night when theyclose up at the end of the day. The problem is if they are not neutered there will be an explosion of cats soon.
Let me know what I can do to help
Anita Willis
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This is the perception.
The perception is not completely accurate.
And most rescue organizations pull from Animal Control, making that their best shot at getting into a furrever home situation.
TNR
Trap
Neuter
RETURN
Sounds like we need an organizer to get them neutered, returned, fed, watered, and sheltered appropriately. Lots of us willing to help with this. None of us willing/able to head it up…
I am waiting on a response from Dallas Cat Lady.
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I may have access to one live trap. Do you think a carrier might work for the other?
The biggest challenges I would face is:
I don’t have a vet willing to let me bring in an animal “whenever I can catch it”, but I’ll ask around;
I don’t have a vet willing to do alterations on the cheap, but I am willing to pitch in on the neuters, especially if we can find a relatively local vet who’ll let us drop in whenever…
I hope you hear something back…
Hoping so too. Generally they get back within a few days. I’ve donated to their organization before and known quite a few people who have adopted and/or fostered with them.
Also, there are many facilities that can do spay/neuter cheap and on the fly. I can’t remember orgs right now, but I’ll get around to looking them up tonight.
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I welcome this knowledge, for this situation as well as future reference…
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