The end of a colony.......?

Last October Tess died after being hit by a vehicle early in the morning.  Since then whenever I would see Jazz, her best buddy, he cried and cried.  In the eleven years prior I never heard a single meow from him so I feel he was mourning the loss and of course that broke my heart.

Que and Jazz are litter mates and were about 5 months old when I began feeding the Logan Gang in November 2002, along with a number of other kitties, including Tess.

Now that Tess is gone Jazz seems to have stopped coming to the feeding shelter and has not been using the nearby sleeping shelters he shared with Tess.  Even though I never saw it, I know the two of them curled up together in the shelter to sleep during the winter months.

Que has never been neutered so he continues to roam but he always returns after a few weeks.  I haven't seen either of the boys for a month and all evidence points to the fact that a raccoon is enjoying the food and water.

The plan had always been to care for the kitties until there were no more kitties and now I wonder if I'm at that point.  Are the two boys still around but have moved to new locations.....  My fingers are crossed they will both return.   Every morning I pull up beside their feeding shelter looking for them.  I still leave fresh food and water just incase.

The feeding shelter is waiting for them to return.  I miss them.

I hope one day soon to be ble to report back that they have returned.

The joys of TNR

Yesterday the plan was for me to try trapping Piccolo so he could participate in a spay/neuter clinic.  I got a trap from Robin a few days before, spent 20 plus minutes orienting myself to this unfamiliar trap and collecting the items needed.  The weather wasn't that great but it could certainly have been worse.  My thought was to try to trap Piccolo early afternoon so he wouldn't have to spend too much time in the trap in the back of my van before being delivered to the clinic around 5 pm.

Piccolo has been around everyday for the past week and I feel he has decided to make his home with the East Side Gang.  They don't seem to be upset that this handsome orange and white fellow is hanging around and of course I am already madly in love with him.

It was overcast yesterday with a threat of more rain.  However it wasn't raining when I arrived to feed the other kitties.  Ollie, Jag, Spirit and Doodle all came out to eat but no Piccolo.  I made myself comfortable sitting on a board that I use as a shelter for Spirit to eat under.  I was pretty sure Piccolo was around but maybe he was waiting for me to leave.  He usually comes out but keeps his distance.  I sat and sat and sat waiting.  No Piccolo.  I had my iPad so played card games while I waited.  Then it started to spit so I leaned forward protecting my iPad from the rain while I continued to wait.  After an hour of waiting and no signs of Piccolo I decided to pack it in.

This morning I went early to feed, but no Piccolo.  The other four kitties all came out for brekkie.  Later this afternoon I went back again to feed and could tell Rachel Raccoon had been by to devour any food remaining from this morning.  All the kitties ate well this afternoon and I hung around for about 45 minutes to see if there was any chance Piccolo would show up.  No luck.  Piccolo is off doing what unneutered boy cats do.  He will return and I hope to trap him when he returns.

Piccolo

Since January I have seen Piccolo a number of times and lately he has been hanging around with the East Side Gang quite a bit.  It's nice that the other four kitties don't seem to mind him being there.

The past four days Piccolo has been at the colony and it is quite possible he has decided it is a pretty good spot to hang.  I hope so since I have become quite attached to him.  I'm also hoping he will eventually allow me to pet him, but I have to leave that up to him.

This morning when I arrived I got the clicker out that I use to call the kitties so they know food has arrived.  Doodle, Ollie and Spirit almost always hear me approaching but Jag is a heavy sleeper so I have to use the clicker to get her attention.

What I didn't see immediately was Piccolo was curled up in the straw sound asleep.  He didn't hear my approach, he didn't even hear the clicker the first time I used it and it is quite loud.  I had to use it a few times and to speak softly.  I was concerned he would wake with a start and take off, but he didn't. 

The picture below is Piccolo sound asleep while Jag walked right past him

He seemed quite relaxed this morning while I got the food out for the other kitties so I think he is becoming more comfortable with me being sort of close.

What Piccolo doesn't know is next week he is scheduled to go in to be neutered.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed he sticks around so that I can keep that appointment.