Category Archives: Animals

Holy Crap, Part 3

Posted on by

If you haven’t read Holy Crap and Holy Crap, Part 2, you’ll want to do that now. (Holy Crap) (Holy Crap, Part 2)

As you know, an Animal Control Officer informed me he’d received word that 2 small dogs had been run over and killed on Mare Island the night before. Refusing to believe it, yet feeling sick to my stomach, I walked every foot of the reported area, thankfully encountering no dead dogs.

Mare Island foxtails

Then, while heading back to my car, I spotted the little gray dog, aka Gracie. What a relief! I immediately texted Loretta and Toni, alerting them she was heading their way, toward a palm tree where she and her buddy, aka Brownie, nap.

Mare Island palm tree

By now unsuccessful with traps, we resorted to nets.

Continue reading →

Holy Crap

Posted on by

Holy crap doesn’t begin to describe the day we had last week.

Actually, how it all started may have been an omen. Loretta and I were driving to Mare Island to trap Spot, the last of many feral cats we relocated from under a condemned building, when we heard a strange sound. Seems a screw was embedded in my tire. Now don’t get me wrong; that didn’t stop us.

mare island overhead view
Mare Island

Don’t worry, we reached our destination without a flat and quickly caught Spot, who’ll be happy to join his buddies at their new outdoor home. Spot’s feeder monitored the trap while we headed elsewhere on the island to check on other ferals. So far so good.

black cat spot

That all changed when Loretta’s eagle eyes spotted some distressed dogs in front of one of the island’s many abandoned military buildings.

Continue reading →

The Kitty Cat Caper

Posted on by

This caper was originally posted in 2020. Since writing this, we’ve now relocated over 1280  ferals to new outdoor homes and some, like this one, have been quite the adventure. So here you go (again)…

It’s 11:30 p.m. and I won’t be sleeping anytime soon. My adrenaline is surging like a spewing fire hydrant. That’s because I just got home from stealing 4 cats with Loretta, my partner in crime.

woman hiding

Loretta won’t let me take her photo so this will have to do

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not normally a cat snatcher. I’m more a cat trapper…as in trapping feral cats for sterilization. Tonight, however, was different.

Marin Friends of Ferals has relocated over 500 un-adoptable cats to act as mousers that also receive daily food and water. Only 4 times we’ve had to retrieve them for inadequate care. (Read The Great Escape for another cat caper I chronicled.) Tonight’s snatch was equally exhilarating. Except last time we didn’t get caught. Continue reading →

Sometimes People Suck

Posted on by

I’m getting closer to figuring out why I can’t seem to post an original blog at this time but I’m working on it. In the meantime, here’s one from October, 2020 that I hope you enjoy…

Now don’t get me wrong; I believe most people are good. Really I do. But occasionally it’s hard to remember that fact when experiencing evil. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in. Patience dear friends…

As you know, a good portion of my time is spent helping feral cats. We have colonies of sterilized ferals living on public land where our dedicated volunteers feed them. On occasion we leave a motion sensor camera to alert us when newbies show up, as ferals can be elusive.

And that’s how we discovered a black and white cat engulfing the food at one of our locations. Our volunteer, Shirin, along with other volunteers, alerted us to this new cat at our feeding station.

Shirin
Continue reading →

Last But Not Least

Posted on by

Last but not least in the lineup of my furry family is Mango, an orange and white tabby female. You’re probably relieved to hear this is the last chronicle since it’s taken a couple months to introduce you to each animal. Let me tell ya, coming up with new blog posts 52 times a year isn’t easy (and why I sheepishly reprint some from years ago). I’m counting on you not remembering them because sometimes even I don’t.

Mango’s first photo

Anyway, when Mango was a feral kitten, a friend’s neighbor fostered her. He’s a cat guy (yes, they actually exist). But when he couldn’t keep her any longer, I decided to foster her and get my orange cat fix since I have a thing for them.

Continue reading →