Saturday, February 20, 2010

Captured The Ringleader! (I Think)

As Dr Desert Flower was waiting for her fellow scientist driven car pool earlier this week, she noticed the stench of male cat urine around the turret in our front entrance way. Of the 6 feral cats I had previously trapped and relocated to the mountains earlier this month, the dominant orange bob tailed male was not among them. I figured he was too wily to go for the tuna baited live traps. I had personally witnessed him peeing on my house once last fall, where the turret meets the exterior wall of my office. Dilute bleach solution did not seem to dissuade or 'wash away' his pheromone tagging.

So on my first day back in Arizona yesterday, I used the last of the tuna that I'd stored in a Lock-n-Lock ® in the back of the fridge, baited a small trap and put it in the same location where I caught 3 of the last 6 felines. "Great Success" in less than 8 hours. A hungry coyote will be able to feed her family tonight in the western mountains.

If this is not the territory marking ring leader, it's one of his direct progeny ...and it's a matter of time before I get the boss. These feral cats can't resist a free meal of tuna any more than a pan handler in Charleston SC can resist a free quart of malt liquor.

1 comment:

  1. It rained the morning i relocated this bob tailed male. A doubled over plastic tarp, an old bed sheet (that I use as a painting drop cloth) under the cage, and an old beach towel over the cage, he stunk up my trunk as I forcibly relocated him to his new apartheid home.

    Using the sanitize water temp cycle, lysol concentrate, and bleach, I got the stench out of the sheet and towel. I fabreezed my trunk "just in case" there's any lingering odor, and have left the car windows down in the garage to "vent" the residuals as the deodorizer evaporates.

    Smelly cat, smelly cat... you won't be spraying my home any longer!

    Great success. =)

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