Fishin' for Kitties

[Lady_MCSE]

*sigh* Well, I tried . . .

Driving down to southern illinois late on Sunday night, I stopped at Green Creek rest stop just north of Effingham, IL. As I pulled in, here was a positively ADORABLE little fluffy white thing with tan ears and tan tail. She looked to me as if she were nearly full grown, but still kitteny - maybe a few months old. She also looked so clean and neat, that I feared she was a recent "dump" or "escapee."

I tried calling to her, and she showed immediate signs of being interested, but still wary. I went in to the vending machines and bought an ice cream bar so I could try to lure her toward me with food. I broke off chunks of ice cream and tossed them her way - she was adept a chasing after the food like a dog waiting for its stick to get tossed, so she was clearly not new to this routine.

Even though I gave her several "pieces" of melting ice cream, she remained too cautious of me, and I wasn't able to coax her to come any closer than a few feet. So I started to get seroius, and made some honest attempts to really grab her. She was so IRRITATING . . . managing to stay just out of my reach, and yet not running off for good, as I"m sure she could have easily done. She kept running off to a distance of about 10 feet away, taunting me.

I guess I had a fantasy of scooping her up and taking her home, posting on craiglist about her, trying to see if I could find her rightful owners in any way by means of the internet.

But alas, after 20-30 minutes (i totally lost track), I gave up and went on about my way.

Then it dawned on me, hey, I'd be comign back that way the following day on my return trip. . .

So while I was in Southern Illinois, I loaded up on some canned cat food and tuna. In order to hit the same south-bound rest stop, I had to go 30 miles out of my way . . . going 10 miles too far, turning back, and then on to the next turnaround . . . and it was raining so I was just sure there was no way she would be out in the rain . . .

But I did it anyway.

As I pulled up, she was nowhere to be seen. I put out one can of food underneath a picnic table where it woulnd't get rained on, then squeak-called after her, no sign of her, so I went inside to teh bathroom.

When I came out, what should I find but an adult calico cat! Aaaahaa, my eyes are starting to open. Little kitten isn't all by herself, and is not a recent dump. I started to figure calico was probably momma.

So I sat by calico, who was even more skittish and definitely not going to let me get her. Eventually kitten joined us. And over the next 30 minutes or so, I tried my best to coax them with my three cans of cat food and half a pouch of tuna. I got really close to the kitten, but my best and only attempt at a grab resulted in the fastest cat maneuver I've ever seen in my life. She was spring loaded and ready to go.

When I was about to pack up (picking up my empty containers), here came a maintenance worker dude. I coudln't resist, and asked him if he knew their history. Well, I got an earful . . . yes calico is the momma, and baby is the last of four that were born this spring, seems to be doing fine . . . the employees who care for the rest stop keep some cat food on-hand, and put shelter out in the winter. He said if he ever gets ahold of either of them again, he'll at least take care of the spay\neuter, so that made me even happier.

*sigh*

Well, at least I tried. And when I left they were doing the full-belly-now-its-time-for-a-bath thing, so they were pretty happy.

[Horse poor]

It always amazes me how well cats can fend for themselves in even the worst of situations. Just when you think they are happy for all you've done for them they leave just to maintain their independence. I have a yellow cat that will come to eat part of the time, other times she shows up with a gopher as if to say see I could feed you if I needed to.

[OSUJillyBean]

Sounds liek you need a live-trap.

[seerfarm]

You tried which is more than I can say for some. It is good to know that they atleast have food and shelter.

[Carri]

You did a good thing trying! I once spent days trying to get a kitten to come out from under a structure at the local park... I never got it, and it eventually left, I was so sad...

[dimpleflirt]

I love cats but you were doing a very dangerious thing trying to catch a feral kitten.There is no worse puncture wound than a cat bite and you never know if they may have rabies or some other disease. I glad to hear that they are being taken care of though.

[Fancy's Mom]

We have a cat that hangs out at the plant.He was skinny and since i and a friend started feeding him, everyone else started to also and looks very plump for winter.He has a nice cozy bed too on the side of the building he hangs out alot there..He also has a female friend and she is really feral..I wish there was some way to catch her and spay her and neuter "mr whiskers"..He is easy to catch and wears a flea collar with his name..I also got an application from west tn rescue to spay/nueter cats for 25 each..Im doing my own cats and going to see if i can get more applications to get "mr whiskers" done

[Thoroughbredlover]

Glad to hear you tried. I try to do the same thing. I think its ashame for the thousands of homeless cats out there. I always have cat food in my car so I can have it when needed, though I think in Seminole county, Florida, if I get caught feeding stray cats I will have to pay some kind of fine, though I am willing to take the risk in trying to Trap Neuter and Release.