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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Here We Go Again

While many are taking trees down and cleaning out the Christmas cheer, hauling boxes back into the attics and basements, I have another task at hand.
Do you remember two years ago January, when I posted about cats getting into our crawl space? Click HERE for that post. A neighbor cat went missing and I crawled into our crawl because of all the meowing going on below? Apparently the Feral Cat living there was having a party.. I ended the party sending everyone home! All 3 or 4 cats.  Then after we closed off the entrances, the big Ferel Cat moved into the neighbors crawl as this house was empty.  He continued to visit our porch particularly when Izzy was living with us, as she was a beauty he really wanted to get to know better. Click HERE for the post and clip of Izzy and her Tom.

So anyway...
The neighbor house has been bought and occupied.  Therefore the Feral moved out...
strong cat... not only bent but ripped out screen

He managed to break back into our crawl.  Which, honestly, I didn't mind too much at first.

Until this morning...
When he decided to mark our crawl as his territory.  Anyone familiar with male UN-neutered cats knows exactly what I am talking about...
We woke up to that unmistakable awful smell.

A plan is being plotted. I must make Tom the Feral move out, clean up that horrible smell, and fix the entrances he has made.
My dogs and cat are going crazy trying to find this cat they smell.
I think I will bring Bandit (middle dog) with me.  He should be able to chase it out, (and protect me.. Ferals aren't exactly friendly cats!)
It's 19 degrees out.  I am not looking forward to this.  My shoulder is acting up too.  Hubby wants to wait till the weekend when the weather warms up a bit, but I will be in Kentucky unable to help.
oh my goodness...
Maybe we should go get Izzy to chase him out! lol
Or anyone know the number to Feral Busters?

10 comments:

Tina said...

Bless your heart. I know that smell. I don't own a cat, but to look at my yard, you would think that I owned a dozen of them! They love my garage and under my house.
Have fun getting rid of it all...the last time we had the smell we also had a big rain..so that helped!

Reality Jayne said...

you could set a live trap...and then haul him out to the wild ....He would prob. like it.

Anonymous said...

...you are TOO FUNNY!
Good luck with that (Ferral Busters, what a hoot!).
your sis~

Nora Barnard said...

Jan, I wish I did not have 2 cats or I would come and bring him home. I have no idea what you can do. This is such a tough situation. Will the cat freeze to death?

janis said...

Tina~ thanks girl... hopefully we can get the smell out. The crawl is tight, so rain wont help. RJ~ my neighbor tried to use a trap before, he is too smart for them, and unfortunately, unless I use live bait, he wont be interested. Julie~ I love you Sis! Nora~ Feral cats typically can not become House cats... I doubt he has ever had human contact. A couple years ago, I tried to lovingly reason with this big cat. But he will have nothing to do with me. First, he is as big as a dog... Second he is very much a wild animal, with no desire to become docile. He isnt a stray cat.. he's Feral. There is a Feral Society in Indy that will catch, neuter/spay, then release. They can not be tamed. The Humane Society, City Pounds,they will not touch them. If you weren't in pain, I would have you come help me though :) Trust me, he is quite capable of taking care of himself. If he hasnt froze in these past several years I don't think he will get too cold this season. Love you!

Rosaria Williams said...

I don't envy you this task, in such temperatures.

B. WHITTINGTON said...

Janis, I'm so sorry that you have this problem.
I'm thankful too that right now I don't have such a problem. (You're younger than me!)
I know there are things on the market to use. What about vinegar water??? Just a thought.
I'd think he/she would not come back if it smelled of vinegar.
I'm not an animal person so I don't know anything much about them.
I do have grand dogs some of whom I claim and some not!
The biters, I do not claim. The barkers, somewhat. The cuddly ones yes I'm a sucker for.
Blessings. Barb Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the lovely comment on my blog post.
And I know exactly the smell you mean, any cat that just pees or leaves its mark where it wants is a smelly one. We have bought two houses over the years owned by cats and their family. None of the cats housetrained in one of them, so you can imagine the smell in the room they used when they couldn't get out. And in the second house, cats allowed in every room, scratched wallpaper and paintwork. Why do people have cats if they are not prepared to look after them properly. We are now visited by one large black and white lady cat, and a small tortoiseshell, and a small black cat, in the garden. Both live nearby, none have collars on them (flea collars) and I just hope they have been micro-chipped as this area has been known in the past for catnapping, presumably (so I was told) for their fur, to make into gloves. Makes you feel sick at the thought doesn't it?
Have a good 2012 and keep visiting, love to hear from you.

Bee Lady said...

We used to see a lot of feral cats in our yard until I got Winston, our Welsh Terrier. He is very territorial. Be careful taking your dog with you, if they get in a fight, that cat probably has some disease issues.

Cindy Bee

PS - Your comment on my blog was cute. Chin up Buttercup...I thought...uuuuh huuu look who's talking to who now!

Charla @ Healthy Home Blog said...

We had a dead squirrel in our attic and I thought that was bad, but this sounds even worse!