First, let me show you the Wave Petunias. They have grown so much during the last month. From now on, I dump dead plants in hope of their reseeding the next year. I saved about $7.
This, below is what they looked like on April 23, 2001. Haven't they grown?
Feeding Feral Cats
 |
| Railroad bridge and way to feral cats |
For years feral cats have lived along the embankment in the railroad cut underneath the bridges that go over the railroad that runs through town. Like many towns, the railroad ran through the middle of the town. Unlike many towns, the railroad is still central. The town grew up on both sides.
Feral cats have been living under these bridges for at least 40 years that I know of. They may have been strays at one time, but now are feral.
People feed them all the time. I am not sure if this is good or the right thing to do. But, we do it anyway.
 |
| Leftover meat |
Consequently, often the food supplied was heavy on meat. I had a plate of meat I could not face, so three weeks later, I carried it to the feral cats. If I had gone later, I would have gotten pictures of them coming out, darting, snatching and running to safety.
I threw the food down the embankment. If I had only placed part of food in sight of the car, I could have gone back later, put out more. Eventually, I could have taken pictures of the cats. Oh well. The food is about ten feet down.
Some people feed cats in the park or outside university buildings. This is our version of library cats. They are train bridge cats. Some people even add houses for the cats in parks and nice pet feeding bowls.
Your turn
Do you feed cats in a park or near a building in town or at a university? Does it make you as happy as it does me? Or, are we deluding ourselves that this is a kind act?
Well, not deluded but I don't feed the feral cats myself because I would rather allow them to hunt mice, moles, rats or whatever else is out there. If I notice that they are starving, I'd put something out. In my farming community, people shoot them. I like having them around for pest control. Of course, they could become pests too.
ReplyDeleteLindaM, you are right about their hunting dividends. But, in the city when you step out to dozens of cats, there is a problem. These cats (not ones in my neighborhood) under the railroad bridge and all downtown are ravenous and ill. In a live trap I caught 8 feral cats in one week. One had a litter of newborns. That was sixteen cats removed in one week. I released the pets that I caught.
ReplyDeleteLindaM, by the way, I trapped cats within feet of my house. Some were ill. I don't have any inclination to catch railroad bridge cats. That would be a fulltime job.
ReplyDelete