i think someone may be taking the food i leave for the feral cat

i think someone may be taking the food i leave for the feral cat. ive been feeding a cat that lives under a building in a closed for the winter hasidic jewish camp 1/4 mile away from where i live in upstate NY. i had been putting the food just inside the front gate since it wasnt locked, and then a couple of weeks ago i saw someone lock the front gate and i think probably put a "no trespassing" sign on it because i dont think i remember it being there before. i was thinking someone related to the camp may have noticed my foot prints in the snow leading to the gate. so since then i have been leaving food about 15 feet away from the gate, outside the camp. my footprints are visible from the road. for food and water trays ive been using the black plastic microwave food trays that are left over from the stouffers type frozen dinners i eat. if the cat food tray is empty it could certainly be blown away by a strong wind, but the water tray freezes very quickly, the cat only drinks a bit of it if it gets to it before it freezes.

does anyone know if it could have been windy enough last night to blow away a half full tray of frozen water tray such as that? the trays are about an inch deep and 7 inchs by 6 inchs.

at least i know it got its food the night before last night because the trays were there empty in the morning, for a person to pour the food out of the tray and put it back in place would have been too messy.

my wireless webcam doesnt have enough range to watch the area from where i live 1/4 mile away.

ive seen one of the trays go missing before but this is the first time ive seen both trays missing including what would have been one of them with frozen water.

does anyone know if it was windy enough last night in upstate NY to blow a such a tray half full of frozen water?

i just realized the dry food tray was missing yesterday morning as well, but the frozen water tray was still there so figured it must have been the wind because i think it was really windy on the night of tuesday to wednesday, was it?

I would say that a human is responsible for getting rid of the food.  Sadly, they may not want cats around and think removing the food will do chase them away.  Are you still leaving the food on your back porch?  If so, this may be a good way to get the cat to your house.  I hope you are able to.

Is there a way you could talk to the next human you see there?  Maybe explain you are trying to help and protect the cat?

It's hard to believe that in this weather someone is going outside to remove cat food. If raccoons are eating the food, they tend to knock plates and bowls around, but in the very cold they don't even come out. Hopefully it's just the wind. If it is a person taking away the food bowls, talking to them won't help and might in fact hurt--a lot of people hate cats, and hate people who leave out food for cats. If you identify yourself as the person leaving the food, then you might make yourself a target for harrassment and be accused of trespassing if you're leaving food on someone else's property.  You could try one nite leaving food in a large styropoam plate and anchor the plate down with heavy stones or a brick--then if the stone or brick is removed and the plate is gone, you know it's a human removing them.

I agree with MsAimee. It wasn't as windy here as it was the other night - nor was it as cold. The raccoons were DEFINITELY here last night, and they had hunkered down for the cold, as there was no sign of them being here through the really cold snap.

I use paper bowls for food, and quite a few were completely missing. I feed in stations, so unless someone (dogs and raccoons, typically - the possums and skunks seem to leave them in place) pulls a bowl out, the paper bowls don't blow away.

Did your snow melt, too? You can't see tracks any longer?

I agree - anchor the dishes with a rock and see what happens.

Another thing to consider: writing a note, putting it in plastic, and tape or tack it to a stake or tree or something near the food. Let them know you are simply caring for the cat they left behind, and you were hoping to speak to them about it. Please contact you at..... :dk:

Maybe they will not bring a new cat if the understand the one they had last year as a mouser will be alive and healthy. :heart2:

Since the wireless webcam doesn't work that far away maybe you could borrow or find a trail camera.  They take really good pictures and you only need batteries.  You have to have an SD card that you will then upload to your computer or ipad.  It might help you see if there are others around as well as getting some pictures of the cats activity and other critters too.

The winds were awful here earlier in the week.  The tray could have blown over or been moved or knocked over by racoons or other critters too.

I also like the idea of leaving a note on a stake.  It would help you to know if there is someone else around.

i spoke to my dad about this this and i think he had an excellent idea: put the food off to the side ware there arent yet any footprints and see if the disappearance of the trays is accompanied by human footprints. im going to use a snow shovel as an "extender" device to put the trays a few extra feet further than i can reach from my own footsteps so if the food/water trays disappear i should be able to see if it was done by a person.

at 3:00 in the afternoon i just went to do that and as i was approaching saw the cat in the distance for the first time in weeks waiting and then it went under the building when it saw me, this tells me its still alive after the historic cold weve just had. did anyone read that the temperature in chicago was at the lowest since 1979 on january 5th? that really worried me, NY isnt that far from chicago.

also i saw that the food that i left this morning got eaten by the cat. so since the cat was waiting for me i decided to just put the food tray in the normal place for now so the cat can get a quick second meal, and i will come back in an hour with the snow shovel and another trays to do the "snow shovel extended plan". as i was walking away i saw the cat come out of the building right away towards the food so now i can be relieved that it got 2 good meals today, plus a not frozen water dish.

 Sadly, they may not want cats around and think removing the food will do chase them away.

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this area is so desolate this time of year i think the only person who would take the time to notice my footprints leading to the front of the camp would be someone driving by who is related to the campsite.

 Are you still leaving the food on your back porch?  If so, this may be a good way to get the cat to your house.  I hope you are able to.

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 The winds were awful here earlier in the week.  The tray could have blown over or been moved or knocked over by racoons or other critters too.

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remember the water tray would have been a block of frozen water, seems hard to just vanish.

 Did your snow melt, too? You can't see tracks any longer?

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the snow hasnt melted, i see a mess of human tracks which would be either all mine or mostly mine and possibly someone elses and some cat tracks.

 Since the wireless webcam doesn't work that far away maybe you could borrow or find a trail camera.

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interesting, i didnt know what that was. but i dont know anyone who has one.

i decided that from now on i will carry a pen and paper with me every time i go there in case i get a chance to write down the license number if i see a person doing this, this place is so desolate right now it would have to be someone stopping by in a car. but does anyone know if NY has laws against animal cruelty? and what they would be? the last few times i called the local shelters i kept getting the "were busy right now message".

ok i will wait an hour and then do the snow shovel thing, the cat will have probably left by then. im pretty sure it lives under a building in the camp but much further away from the front building.

Even though the building is closed for the season, there is probably still someone coming by to check on it a few times per week.  Since you live nearby is it possible to gradually move the food to a place where it will go undisturbed? 

A wind gust could definitely still blow over a tray of frozen water, especially if some pokey cat started smacking around the ice block trying to get water out and tipped it upside down.

ive been doing the "snow shovel extending experiment" and no more trays were taken and i saw no human footprints, it looks like it may have been the wind blowing the trays away a couple of times. if it was a person then he/she may have lost interest in taking the trays at least for now but its looking a bit like it may have just been the wind and me being a little paranoid. i will keep close watch on this.

That's reassuring, anyway.  Hopefully it was the wind and a little paranoia 

Another point to consider is that perhaps because it is an Hasidic camp, they are removing the pans to avoid the wind blowing them into the camp area because they do not know if they are kosher or not (and they are not).  The pans entering the camp could contaminate areas in the camp and make them not kosher.  In that case, it would be quite understandable for them to feel they had to do this, and you would be the one who was in the wrong.

What I would suggest is trying to lure the colony to a nearby area outside the camp, perhaps in a wooded area.  I would recommend setting up some shelter for the cats for the severe weather.   These can be made quite easily and inexpensively.  If you google making shelters for feral cats you'll see lots of suggestions, instructions and advice.  You can then put the food and water into a shelter you built  or something that would keep it from being blown around and into the camp.  Chances are if you left a trail of food to the new area a time or two, the cats would find the colony and stay there since they'd have the food and shelter handy.

That would solve the problem whether the food was purposely being taken away, or if it was the wind, it would be respectful of the religious beliefs of the camp, and it would give you the opportunity to help the kitties in the best possible way.

Kitty is being fed outside the camp. :rub:

At first you left it inside the camp, which is probably why they locked the gate.

But 15 feet away the winds can still blow the pans into the camp, which has the potential of compromising the kosher laws.

mike5361 said:

 
ive been doing the "snow shovel extending experiment" and no more trays were taken and i saw no human footprints, it looks like it may have been the wind blowing the trays away a couple of times. if it was a person then he/she may have lost interest in taking the trays at least for now but its looking a bit like it may have just been the wind and me being a little paranoid. i will keep close watch on this.

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So glad the trays are still around and kitty is getting fed.  The wind was very strong last week so it certainly is possible.  Hopefully kitty will make it closer to your home soon.  It is wonderful the dedication you have for this little one.  We all get paranoid and worried about our cats!

You might consider doing the shelter thing in an  enclosed area anyway, as it would allow the cat to be less exposed to predators, and less of a chance for other animals to eat the food you leave as well,

Re removing food.  It wasnt necessarily against that homeless cat.   More probably it was against rats.  The caretaker of the camp dosnt wanting to have rats attached.

Best is probably to try and get in contact with the camp caretaker, and also arrange the food station so rats cant get in, but cats can.

for example, having a one leg table, the leg in the middle under the table..  Rats cant climp upside down, while its no problem for the cat to jump up.

As I said earlier: dont wait to the summer when the camp is again used for full. Get in contact with them now, and discuss.   Do it friendly, they will surely be willing to talk and come to some good solution.

Good luck!

StefanZ said:

 
Re removing food.  It wasnt necessarily against that homeless cat.   More probably it was against rats.  The caretaker of the camp dosnt wanting to have rats attached.

Best is probably to try and get in contact with the camp caretaker, and also arrange the food station so rats cant get in, but cats can.

for example, having a one leg table, the leg in the middle under the table..  Rats cant climp upside down, while its no problem for the cat to jump up.

As I said earlier: dont wait to the summer when the camp is again used for full. Get in contact with them now, and discuss.   Do it friendly, they will surely be willing to talk and come to some good solution.

Good luck!

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its been 10 days since i first posted, and i havent seen any missing trays any more. i think it might have been the wind. if it was someone it looks like they may have lost interest.

the vermin problem around here is not rats but mice, so im guessing such a huge camp might accumulate a lot of mice during the summer, but since the previous cat from the year before didnt survive the winter im guessing the mice might not be enough for survival.

this cat has survived the record freezing we just had recently in NY USA so im thinking it will probably make it through the winter. im trying to see it close up again on my wireless webcam to make sure it doesnt have frostbite, it didnt want to use the styrofoam box i left. i hope i will have a happy video soon to post of it not having frostbite.

maybe it would be good to not bump up this thread anymore so people dont have to read a long thread just to find that there probably wasnt anyone taking the food, if it turns out there is i will post. it was comforting to talk to you guys about it when i thought someone might be taking the food