Feral Fables

Snow is the mother cat pictured in the header bar. We had seen her around the neighborhood every now and then the spring and summer of 2005. I called her the "cow cat" because her markings remind me of the Guernsey cows we see here in Wisconsin so often. (I'm sure she would be mortified to know she was referred to in that manner.) Once she settled here with the kittens I knew we needed a proper name for her. One day as I was trying to think of a good name I looked out at her sitting in the yard when snow was on the ground and "Snow" seemed to fit. She was a very feral cat. I am sure born outside (not kicked out or thrown out as many neighborhood cats are). She would immediately hide when she saw my face even through the window. As the kittens began to trust me, her fear of me began to subside. But this took an extremely long time. Well over a year.

She was an excellent mother to both of her litters------yes, she got pregnant again before we could trap her-------she never ate before them. She always waited until they were done and then approached the bowl. She was cautious, loving, tolerant of their pawing and play and very fierce when needed. One summer evening in 2006 when she had returned to the yard with the second litter, Snow was on the deck with her kittens as the neighborhood raccoon came under the fence from the next yard over. She ran right up to that raccoon (at least twice her size) with her teeth barred, claws out and howling. That raccoon took one look at her and took off like a shot!! I was shocked, particularly because I have seen raccoons raise themselves up on their hind legs and they are menacing looking when they do this. But this raccoon knew better than to mess with this mama cat.

As far as trapping her to spay her---------she was pretty clever. Marty and I repeatedly set the trap only to have no luck. We were getting frantic as we knew as the second litter matured, that she would separate from them and go off and get PG again. I could not handle that. We were getting desperate. One of the Humane Society workers shared a way to set the trap that used one of the kittens sort of as a lure without harming the kitten. We already had trapped "Jingle" and he was set to be released. The suggestion was to put the traps back to back so mom would be fooled into going into the trap to get her kitten. OMG! First-------Jingle, cried and cried to be released. That is awful to listen to------heartbreaking! But we had to be tough to get this mama cat for her own good! Next thing I knew, Snow had laid down next to the trap and was nursing Jingle through the bars of the trap! That broke my heart right there. I said to Marty, "I cannot do this anymore!", and went out and released Jingle.

One night, we decided to set the trap because we were going to be home and the weather was good. But I had just fed the cats so I really did not think we would have any luck getting Snow. We were sitting at the kitchen table looking out at the yard, watching the kittens and the trap. All of a sudden we noticed Snow was walking around the trap smelling the food. I thought-----she'll never go in. She just ate! But she kept smelling. Marty and I were in the house repeating the mantra, "Go in the trap.... go int the trap." Much to our surprise-----she went in. OMG! You would think the Packers had won another Super Bowl the way we jumped up, yelled, high-fived each other and danced around the kitchen! Finally we had gotten our mama cat.