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In late August 2003, I was called by Melinie DiLuck of Happy Tails, a feral cat rescue in Sacramento, CA to ask for my help. She wanted to know what changes they could make to avoid a negative impact on the local wildlife. I was informed that 127 skunks, almost the whole opossum and raccoon population, and even some black and white cats were murdered in the middle of the night and she and her group didn't want that to ever happen again. For weeks afterwards the cat people were finding injured and dead animals. Although 127 were bagged and evidence taken away, those animals that were injured and died later upped the death toll considerably. For a few days we had phone and internet meetings, and after having no success with the local animal control or marina, I packed my things and drove to Sacramento from Los Angeles. I made up a Petition, brought my educational materials on how to coexist with wildlife, and a notebook to do the study, which ended up being six days of intensive research. I went back and forth between the two affected parks next to the marina to study both cat colonies, as well as interview cat feeders and locals that might be affected by the cats and wildlife both in the park and marina. Hardly anyone had any complaints. I never left the study area day or night, except for a breakfast meeting with the local cat organizations, to go to the local television station to set-up an interview, and a couple other educational stops. The rest of the time was spent doing the study, and training the local feral cat people, both non-profits and individuals. The Study Upon arriving at the upper park at 2:00 p.m. on a Sunday, I witnessed about fifteen huge mounds of dry cat kibble actually on the parking lot pavement, as well as various filled plastic bowls under the trees. I saw that there were two cat shelters hidden under the trees, and also noticed that there was a lot of trash around, much of it left after the cat food was eaten. Seeing that there was a cat table shoved down a hill (see below), I lugged it back up and set it securely in place to enable the cats to eat from a raised station. At the river station, a man named Donald was overseeing those cats almost regularly and it was kept up neatly, except for the continuous supply of food left for the animals. I swept up about fifteen pounds of kibble and put in a plastic bag to keep in my truck for future controlled feedings. All the cats were lying about content with no desire to eat for the rest of the day, but late in the afternoon in broad daylight about 25 skunks came out to find the kibble that was usually there. After cleaning up the crumbs that remained, they quickly went back into hiding.
Some of the skunk visitors with a few that are brown, which are extremely rare. Knowing that having large numbers of skunks out in broad daylight would be a concern, the first night I started the "training" by calling the cats to come eat their dinner in bowls and up on that feeding station after dark. Quite a few of the cats came, and even the skunks, but they couldn't figure out where the kibble was so wandered off. The cats could jump up to eat, but the skunks could not.
After a while, momma raccoon and her four youngsters came out of hiding to have their dinner, and figured out that all they had to do was stand at the edge and pull the bowls down. Back came the skunks to fight the raccoons for their share. This was the last night I allowed any food out while wild animals were visible. During each night various local independent cat feeders would come to feed the cats and enjoy watching the wild critters. While some would feed canned food and take their trash with them, others had the intention of just dumping food and leaving, but I talked to each one of them to ask that they stick with our procedure and not jeopardize our study. The morning of Day Two Melinie gathered her group and other local cat organizations for a breakfast meeting and training session. I explained my goals for the study and asked that everyone stick with the rules: 1) Call the cats when they arrive 2) Only feed on the raised feeding stations that we were building 3) Take all food (even if not theirs) back with them when they left, and 4) Stay long enough to supervise the feeding and take the time to clean up the park, interview and educate the locals, and identify those that are dumping more animals. (During the study, we witnessed and reported four cars of people dumping kittens, a dog, and some baby raccoons. Another suspicious car left bowls of antifreeze to kill the cats.) One of the dead bodies I found.
These are some of the dead animals that we found.
The decomposed body on the left is one of the animals we suspect was poisoned. The one on the right was left after the shooting. We found two bowls of antifreeze on the ground left for the cats. A vehicle fitting the description of the lawyer and his friends (who threatened to poison the cats several times) were seen there that day. We removed it and recognized it as the lethal antifreeze. Day Two I made sure that there was no unsupervised feedings by anyone and started meetings with a local man named Donald that lived in the park in his motor home.
Donald helped with the care of the cats long before I arrived and was willing to build the cat feeders similar to my specifications. We flagged people down to ask for donations of building materials; numerous people dropped off 2 x 4's, plywood, nails, paint and even carpet. Once it was built we painted them white with designs of cats and skunks on them, as well as neatly-printed signs with rules on the side to educate the public on proper feral cat feeding: DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE. ONLY FEED ON TOP OF FEEDING STATIONS. SUPERVISE CAT FEEDINGS AND TAKE FOOD WHEN YOU LEAVE. DO NOT ABANDON ANIMALS. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW.
Below are pictures of what I call the "feral cat condo". The actual design is in the beginning of this report, although Donald improvised because of limited materials. At the base of his version of the design is a shelter from rain and cold which is carpeted, and a hanging flap was added to allow access but keep the cold out. On the roof (three feet from the ground) was where the cats were fed. This too was carpeted and had a lip of two inches to keep the kibble from being knocked down onto the ground. This height made it impossible for the wild animals to get access, but then again, we had no food there while they were around. On top of this feeding area was a second feeding level (for the more avid jumpers and to add more room for eating), with this level giving shade to the lower feeding level (where the smaller, weaker and older cats were able to jump). The design is multi-functional taking up the least amount of space. We made up several different designs.
The second night a couple more feeding stations were in place in the river park, so I started feeding by the rules. Quite a few wild animals milled about for quite a while trying to figure out where their dinner was, but soon gave up and left. There was no food around at all. On Day Three all the cats were running for their dinner when called. I remained consistent in my training, and the cats recognized the vehicles and people that feed them. By that night barely any wild animals showed up, and with no more food left unsupervised on the ground, none during the day. We were already witnessing a major improvement. With things under control, I spent the day interviewing the locals and getting Petition signatures. I did not find ONE person with complaints about the cats or wild animals, only those that hated that they were killed! Several boaters admitted that it was because of one rich boater that was an attorney who threatened the marina owner with a lawsuit "if any of those rabid skunks spray his grandson while visiting his boat, he would sue and end up owning the marina!" One word of lawsuit from one person and that's all it takes to launch a murderous assault on innocent lives!! After the night of the animal slaughter, some of the locals expressed how horrifying it was to not only hear hundreds of gun shots and animal screams, but the duration and skunk stench that they had to endure. One of these people was a boater that docked in that Marina and he and his family were staying in their boat that disturbing night. He had nightmares for weeks afterwards. The local street people advised me that additional shootings were taking place by gun-toting officials of various agencies, but this was to be kept very quiet. The allegations were denied, of course, since who would take the word of street people? Any evidence laying around were long ago removed. By the third night, the feral cats and wild animals were totally trained. All the cats would run when they were called, since they knew that was the only time there would be food for them. This was a great opportunity to make head counts and capture those that needed spaying or neutering, inoculations, de-wormed, and possible placement. Many are returned because they are too wild, but at least they can't breed any more. Also, if a few wild animals were coming at all, it was in the middle of the night. On Day Four, things were going smoothly - the feral cat people were following the rules, the animals were making the study a success as well, and we were frantically building the condos to have pictures of them completed for the morning meeting on Day Six. That night there wasn't a single wild animal to be seen unless you were trying to find one. The study was going smoothly.
Donald and I adding our artistic touches. On Day Five, we did all the finishing touches - carpeting, painting white, adding our designs and the important signs (since the county had yet to place professional signs around the park). Donald is a wonderful artist so painted cats and did the lettering on the condos. I painted the majority of the white and added my signature skunks - two skunks looking at a sign that said "No Skunks Allowed". The marina started having Donald harassed by asking him to leave the study area. Donald is an important local character who saves tax dollars - cleaning the park, not only after himself but others, keeps the area safe, cares for the cats, and protects the Project by supervising the feeders and witnessing those that abandon animals there on a regular basis. Not being allowed to park there at night just means that the animals will be dumped (and fed improperly) in the middle of the night. Back will come the wild animals, back will come the paranoia, and back will come the shootings. I was given very good care and support by Melinie's cat organization - with some bringing ice daily for my cooler, water, food, and even some home cooked meals. The last night I was picked up so I could shower to ready for the meeting. Pictures were taken and developed in time for the next day's meeting. Notes were put together and graphs made by computer. On the morning of Day Six, I attended the meeting with Bob Reder (HSUS Rep. Representing all the animals), and Melanie and others (representing the feral cats), representatives from Sacramento County Parks and Recreation, the health department, animal control, the marina manager and security, etc. The meeting went well from the standpoint that our side presented great information, but the government works at a slow painful process, especially when opposed. After the meeting I packed up and left after having lunch with Melinie, saying my goodbyes to Donald, and the cats. Although I have been kept abreast of meetings that followed, and any updates, things were painfully slow and manipulated to work against the feral cat project. After all our work and having the condos placed in a good safe place where they would do the most education, it was decided by the marina/county committee that they should be schlepped far out of sight, which will make it more difficult and less safe for the feral cat people to approach the area after dark. This will discourage people where they will stop adhering to the rules. The opposition also decided to displace the colonies to another location, much to our dismay. We have proven that the study worked, but I guess they think we can't fight city hall . . . ?
Contact us For more information on the Protect R Wildlife projects, how to join our team or become a member, e-mail us at ProtectRWildlife@aol.com @2003 Protect R Wildlife. This project article MAY be reproduced and distributed without permission; however, appropriate citation must be given to the author, Share Bond, and PRW - www.ProtectRWildlife.org |
