Shh, listen! Do you hear cats?
uhmmm, OMGosh! Yes I do! They must be outside, fighting!
Sure enough, a couple of big cats seemed to be doing that territorial cry. I just shooed them away, and carried on.
We have heard them a couple of times, but I thought nothing more of it. I figured Figuro, the big orange cat that lives next door, must be trying to maintain his territory. Although, Sergio & I sometimes swear it sounds like it is right under us.
Today, I thought about it and told Sergio we should check the vents & crawl space doors to see if any cats got in. When I got home from work I found a poster taped up on our light post with the face of a cute little missing house cat. I called. They ran over. After calling Cali Cat (the female decawed house cat that got out) unsuccessfully. We (the neighbor missing the cat & his son) did manage to chase a HUGE gray cat out from under the house.
BUT that was just one cat from one crawl space. You see, my house has two crawl spaces, the second from an addition to the house. Over on the other side of the house, I have another cat under the house in the crawl. GREAT BIG, MAYBE A MAINE COON? I don't know big darn cat that has no intention of moving. Did I mention he/she is really big? I can't convince my neighbor to take this one, to replace their missing cat. They kindof thanked me, and we will continue to look. I will continue to monitor activity for Cali Cat.
So, now I am worried about this HUGE cat that has managed to get in my crawl space.
I go in. I gotta rescue it!
So in I go!
Luckily, we have the kind of crawl spaces that are dry, has a nice vapor sheet covering pea gravel, and, ahhhh, electricity with light switches!
I'm good with that. Pleased I find NO bugs, rodents, etc (well, jeez, what do I expect? This big cat has been eating something!). The cat stares at me without blinking. The cat doesn't move a muscle, yet I hear growling......
I'm in on my hands and knees trying to sweet talk this uhm, tiger? Suddenly I realize the growling & hissing is coming from my left! Opposite of Cujo Cat. FIGURO! The other neighbor's big yellow cat, and he is PISSED. I get around him realizing he is territorial over this other cat or scared shitless and trying to act tough. I get my back to the wall and try to get the cats to run out the opened crawl access door. I shoo Figuro with my big ole flashlight and he bats at it angrily instead of running FROM me, he darts toward the other corner and Cujo Cat Tiger chases him up into the rafters/ floor beams whatever they are! Now these cats are deeper under my house!
Meanwhile, above me, I can hear my dogs FREAKING out! They hear the cats, me, OUR cats, whom have decided to "talk" back at the cats under the floors, and an occasional, "Knock it off!" from Sergio, who is on a business call instead of trying to keep me from losing a limb to a Ferrel cat (actually he doesn't know I am under the house at this point, although he did here the neighbor under there!
Now, that I know Figuro is involved, I run to those neighbors to get them to help me. The teen daughter joins me under the house, and eventually her father also comes over (but not under the house~ cat allergies!)
For now, we have given it a rest. I left the door open for them to run out (not a great idea as it is cold and our bedroom (the area this situation is) has gotten chilly as well. So, I put the door back on, but it's leaning so they or at least the BIG CAT can retreat out. Figuro will come when he knows its safe and he wants back in at his house.
Lets just hope I don't wake to even more cats under there in the morning!
