Help needed with aggressive feral living under our house

[feralvr]

You have to be kidding me

. That is SO funny. DARN - you could have had him - no trap needed

. It almost sounds like this cat knew where he was and what he was doing. Do you think he has ventured in before????

I wonder what Headbutt (what a name

) would have done waking up to this big cat strolling through the house

. Too funny. You sure have a menagerie of visitors coming in and out of your house!!!!!

Hope you get some cats trapped SOON!!!!!

 

[neilgunton]

This fellow that came in our house wasn't the black cat that William fought with - it was a different one, and I think I've seen the black cat fighting him too (and chasing him clear across the street, poor thing). Actually, I think this may also be the cat that William encountered the very first time we let him out of the back door and into the yard - I heard a commotion, and when I went out William and this gray cat were facing each other, and William had a big tuft of gray hair in his mouth. I think WIlliam made his point, because I haven't seen any more fights with him - the black cat is the one who seems to be William's nemesis at the moment. And I haven't seen him around much since the last big fight on our roof. So maybe William made his point again? I don't know.

We have quite a few cats in our neighborhood, and I am starting to think that cat politics is a bit more complicated than we perhaps give them credit. For example last night I went outside because I knew William was out there, and I wanted to check the area to see if anybody else was around. I heard a "mew" from underneath one of the cars - that was a black cat. There was another black cat (maybe the aggressive one, but couldn't be sure) across the road, just sitting there calmly watching me. And further down the lane there was yet another, just sitting around. I honestly don't know if William was even aware of them, he was more intent on investigating something in a bush near the front of our house. It was quite bizarre - I've often come across a collection of cats who seem to be just sitting around having a cat conference.

We have the trap, but I haven't seen the black cat around the house since the fight. We may have seen him yesterday, but I wasn't sure (there are a bunch of black cats around here - maybe this guy has been, um, active with the ladies?). My credit card bill is starting to complain a bit, so I'm going to have to delay the purchase of the security camera I would like (for monitoring the hole into our crawlspace to see who goes in there). The Havahart 1079 trap looks fine, if the situation looks like it's continuing to deteriorate then at least I have it around. For now I'm kind of interested to see how these cats interact with each other - it's obvious now that the black cat is not always around, or at least if he is then he obviously seems to be finding ways to avoid William. I do think there's more to their interactions than meets the eye...

Neil

 

[ldg]

You are SO right about that. "Cat hierarchy" seems to be a pretty fluid thing.

It's been SO interesting to watch the ferals we've TNRd. The other thing is that even though they have that "challenge" thing going on, I think that usually it's more of just a way to establish who's who and what is whose (LOL) - because the truly aggressive cats are pretty rare in my experience. For the most part, they seem more social with each other than our inside crew. Ours are all feral rescues, but the first six were rescued young. The last two (now) indoor-only rescue kitties were older (one was probably almost two, the other 3 or 4 years old) - and they are the most cat friendly cats. They groom each other all day long, and try to headbump and hang out with the other cats, who look at them like they're aliens.

I think, perhaps, that at least partly this is because the ferals are used to communal eating, and the inside cats get individual meals?

The outside cats... one little female will constantly hiss at the resident male if he gets near her before a meal. But after a meal, the four that generally hang around here will run around like crazy chasing each other. They'll turn into rolling tumbles of entwined cat - but they ran into the encounter "tails" up, no ears back.... so they're just playing.

We have two that I can pet (one I'm sure was a dump, not born feral). And if I'm petting the little black female, the big dilute red male will come over and tackle her if she doesn't take off before he gets to us (resulting in a mouthful of black hair, though he's clearly not actually hurting her.

). However, if she does take off, and he's rubbed all over my legs - he's just fine if she comes back, and I can pet him with one hand and her the other. But we go through this ritual every time. She has to run away, he has to rub, and then it's OK for her to come back. Yet they pal around together all day!

Here's a great article you may enjoy: http://www.messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm

 

[feralvr]

Originally Posted by LDG

Here's a great article you may enjoy: http://www.messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm

Thank you, Laurie (

) for the great article. Have never seen this one and I am saving it to read through it later!!!

 

[feralvr]

Neil - What I have noticed over the years with the feral cats is that their behavior to each other can seem quite aggressive, hateful and harsh to us but really to them, it is just "normal, typical" family behavior. There usually is some level of rank, meaning a more dominant cat versus a more submissive cat. Some are more brave and outgoing and other's are just happy to have that higher ranking, more aggressive cat in their colony. They all seem to find a way to make their colony work and run smoothly. But it is not without it's arguments

. I have noticed many of them hissing/growling and even chasing/charging during feeding time and other's just wait in the wings for their turn to eat. After eating, many times I see them laying in the grass close to each other grooming and relaxing. I really enjoy (if I have the time

) watching and studying the feral's interact outside. A bit different from my indoor cats, but not always..

Lauren

 

[neilgunton]

One quick question about this trap (regular Havahart 1079): Looking at it more closely, it really seems like when the door slams shut, it could trap someone's tail. I mean, it's right in the place where the tail will be when the animal enters the trap and steps on the plate. Does this ever happen?

 

[ldg]

I've never had it trap a tail. I have had a kitty trip the plate and have the door slam on the cat, not close all the way, and cat was able to get out of the trap. That's happened once in 10 years of trapping. Cat was back the next day, if I remember correctly, and properly trapped.

 

[neilgunton]

Thanks. Well, stage one is now complete - I just had to break up a fight between William and the black cat in the crawlspace under the house. Afterwards, I saw the black cat going up toward the back of our yard, so I took the opportunity to block off all the holes leading into the space. I'll see if this does anything to make him want to move on - if not, then the trap is next. Just taking it step by step.

 

[feralvr]

I have never had that problem either. These cats are so fast as lightening that they pretty much turn the exact same time as the trap door coming down. So the tail is out of the way.