I think I found her...

So...

Our "last" colony feral has eluded me the past month or two. Our apartment complex is bordered by a large, very pretty, historic cemetery that overlooks the Hudson River. Beyond the cemetery is woods...and if you walk back into the deep woods, there are old woodpiles and abandoned vaults and markers from the 1800s. I've scared myself more than once by wandering back there at twilight to look for cats, only to be startled by the snort of a deer. There's nothing like hearing unexpected, startling noises as it gets dark in a cemetery. It doesn't help that we're on the other side of the river from Sleepy Hollow.

I had anticipated that this last cat from our colony (I hope the last) might come from that area, so I went to check it out today. And there she was.

I didn't see any kittens around, but she did hang around about 20 feet from me, even after I had startled her. I tried to poke around the woodpile to look for kittens, but didn't find any. I'm wondering if she would have them stashed someplace.

Most of our males are neutered, but there are enough cats around that I'd have a hard time believing she's not pregnant or a mother yet this year.

I'm going to lay 4-5 traps over there tomorrow, up until the evening, and hopefully I get her. If I lay traps overnight, I'll run into work conflicts and I'll bet that I would catch raccoons, opossum, skunks, and no cat.

This area is about 1/4 mile from the main colony, back in the woods...for the sheer amount of potential hideouts for her, it's interesting to think that my hunch was right. If you look long enough and hard enough at the right time of day, it is possible to find all of the cats. (We'll see about that)

Good Luck Scott!!!!

Katie

OMG what a beauty .

I also want to wish you luck

Good Luck

Good luck! If you trap her, check her nipples to see if she is nursing or recently nursed. As much as I hate to suggest this, if she has kittens and you can't find them, you will need to release her to take care of them. I know you can use kittens to bait their mom to a trap, but I don't think you can use the mom to bait the kittens.

She's beautiful!

Wow! What a good cat hunter you are! I wish you siccess in trapping this little female. (And, I hope there are no kittens.)

Except for the professional quality of the photo, that looks like it could've been taken out back here! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I didn't catch her, but I did catch:

A tabby male.

I suppose I'll call him Nemo.

Of course, he was intact and it was in the same area as the tortie, so she must be preggo or have kittens by now.

Aaaww look at this beautiful boy , gorgeous . My congrats of catching him

Wow...what a gorgeous boy.

Katie

That is great that you were able to catch that male.
Good luck on trapping the little black female.

He doesn't look very happy! But, what a big hunk of a guy! Lets hope he never found the female.

I don't expect he's very happy. Our "regular" cats are quite tame. Some of these other guys are completely wild. He probably doesn't see humans very much (if at all), particularly humans that want to take him in to be sterilized.

Well, there's good news and bad news.

That first cat ISN'T her. But I did catch two cats, including an all-black male, that maybe is that first cat in this thread????? The brown in the photo is throwing me off, but maybe it's a play of the light.

The bad news: I've seen the tortie once or twice, but she only comes by in the middle of the night and I'm loathe to leave a trap overnight (I'm sure I'll get a skunk or raccoons). Also, I work most days, so even if I catch her at night, there's no place to put her - I've got to be on a train by 8am and some days I'm not back until 8-9pm at night.

Her tummy looked a little low, but she hasn't been coming around with any kittens. She doesn't look fat. She's small, a little on the thin side...about Tiki's size.

Here's the best I could do for a photo (far away...she runs underneath cars almost immediately).



Now we're up to 21 cats that have been TNR'd (either adopted or sterlized), and I know, for sure, that there are at least two more out there. Maybe three, depending on that first photo and what cat it is.

Good Luck Scott...is there anyone else who could assist you with trying to trap this girl?

Congrats on trapping 2 more.

Katie

It was a long night - only 3 hours of sleep, but here she is. I'm waiting for my rescue contact to pick her up.

She's tiny - she's smaller than my 1-year-old Tiki, who was the runt of her litter. She doesn't look pregnant (maybe very slightly bell-shaped, but almost unnoticeable). I can't really see any nipples, but she's a bit skittish, so it's tough to get a good look.

congrats! What a beautiful tortie! Torties, and calicos are my fave colorations.

Scott great work

My congrats on catching her , one female less having baby's

Wow...stunning tortie!!!

Katie