The Colony Chronicles
Volume 2, Issue 1
Promoting Non-traditional Feral-Free Roaming Strategies
WS/FCS Career Center and Fur-Ever Friends Donate Feral Cat Houses
Upcoming Events
FFF will be hosting a fundraising raffle. Details will be announced at a later time. Please check our website's "Events" page for more information.
HSUS Grassroots Meeting -
January 27, 2009, 7-9pm
The Blessing Project Foundation
823 Reynolda Road
Winston-Salem, NC
336-724-9393
Hosted by: Amanda Arrington,
NC State Director
aarrington@humanesociety.
org
(919) 237-2546
"Want to find out how you can help animals? Join the North Carolina State Director of The Humane Society of the United States to discuss current issues affecting animals. The meeting will also provide attendees with legislative updates, news on current events, and ways to take action for animals.
R.S.V.P. today to make a difference for animals in North Carolina and beyond!"
https://community.hsus.org/
humane/events/meeting_
WinstonSalemNC_January17/
details.tcl
Tails of the Colonies"The Chain Gang"
By Marianne Rizzolo
Editor's Note: Relocation of Feral Cat Colonies is a lengthy, often difficult process. The reacclimation period, in a cage at the new location, in a protected area inside where the cats are not exposed to the elements, is essential to the hope of any successful relocation. Under no circumstances should the cats just be released at the new location. More information about relocating feral cats is at the end of the article.
About two years ago, before I became involved with FFF, my office building relocated to downtown Winston-Salem. Although we are not in the heart of downtown, I still would have never guessed how many feral cats there would be in an area such as this one. I began feeding the cats, and before long about 10 of them would be lined up waiting for me when I arrived at work. None of them would let anyone touch them but they would lounge and play out in the open most of the time. Their ears were not notched and it was the height of kitten season. Luckily, I had a contact that I had met at my previous office location. She fed a colony at that location and had given me her card. That person was Sue Lawson, a FFF volunteer. Sue TNR’ed (Trap-Neuter-Return) a good number of the cats and soon I learned to trap on my own. Two of the cats tamed up and now live in our office. The others were a very tight knit bunch and we nicknamed them the Chain Gang, as they did everything in a group.
One day I received an unfortunate call from our landlord. One of our neighbors insisted we stop feeding the cats, and in addition he was going to call animal control. He had accused the cats of destroying some of his furniture on his porch as well as tearing up his insulation under his house. I refused to stop feeding them as that would be cruel, but told animal control that I would try to relocate the colony. I was hoping that after a few days the neighbor would calm down and could be reasoned with, but this was not the case. Fearing eviction and the cats being trapped and killed I began researching how to relocate a colony. I contacted Sue from FFF, who told me how difficult it is to relocate feral cats. Luckily a co-worker and fellow animal lover agreed to have the cats relocated to her farm in Surry County.
I caught the first three cats right off the bat and transferred them to a very large cage inside my friend’s barn. They remained there for two weeks and then were released. I tried catching the last two cats for weeks with no luck. It became clear they would never enter a traditional trap. I did some research on the internet and decided to make a drop trap. I honestly didn’t think it would work but I was out of options. Despite the embarrassment of what onlookers may think I toted the trap outside and set it up. My car was parked close by and I sat in my car holding the pull string. To my amazement the two cats immediately came up and went in without hesitating. I jumped out of the car and ran over to cover the trap, but before I could get there they had busted out through the mesh. I repaired the trap with stronger mesh but didn’t think they would go in again. Even so I set it back up and the two of them came back and went right in…and this time they didn’t escape. After two weeks in the barn they were released and soon joined back up with their friends. Although I came to find out that the cats didn’t stay on my friend’s farm, this story does have a happy ending. The five cats decided they wanted to live on the farm directly across the street and took up in their barn. Fortunately these people knew the cats' story; they liked having the cats there and agreed to continue to feed them. My friend still checks on them and gives me updates from time to time. It’s been almost six months now and I am told they are all doing well. I know it was a huge adjustment going from being city cats to living on a rural farm but against the odds it worked out. Technically it was not a successful relocation, because the cats didn't stay where we had intended, and we were very lucky that they chose to stay at a safe location. I really miss not seeing the Chain Gang anymore, but feel great that they are safe and well taken care of.
Editor's Note: Most relocation guidelines stress holding the cats in the cage a minimum of three weeks and preferably four, then gradually exposing them to their new surroundings by getting them in a carrier and taking them into their surroundings before letting them go. Relocation should be considered as a last resort after all other options have been tried, as often the cats will not stay at the new location, and moving them may put them at greater risk of harm than leaving them where they are.