By Chris Nelson
La Plata County Humane Society
Do you see a lot of cats hanging around your alley or maybe your barn? Do these cats not belong to your neighbors? Do you mostly see them at night? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you are probably seeing feral cats.
What’s a feral cat, you ask? Feral cats are just like your cuddly house cat, only not quite as friendly. They are typically undomesticated and unsocialized cats that have been born in the wild and have never been socialized to humans. They are mostly aloof and very typically terrified of humans. Many times, they are the result of people dumping unwanted kittens, or nonspayed or non-neutered barn cats that have overpopulated their barn and moved into your backyard.
They spend most of their energy doing what all cats do: sleeping, hunting and making baby cats. They survive mostly by hunting rodents and birds, but this is sometimes supplemented by people who think they are a lost cat and begin feeding them.
If you see a stray cat or cats show up around your house and she won’t come near you, it is likely a feral. If you begin to feed the cat, it will probably start to hang around your house. While this is the kind and humane thing to do, be aware that soon more may arrive and they may have kittens on your property. This is where the La Plata County Humane Society usually gets involved.
Starting every April, and continuing through November, the Humane Society receives hundreds of kittens. The majority of these little ones come from feral cats. People find these litters in their barns, under their shed, in the wood pile and just about anywhere else you can think. While we all like kittens, these kittens cost lots of money to care for, as well as make it harder to adopt older cats that are looking for a home. Because most are born to unvaccinated mothers, they very often get sick, further stressing resources.
This is all preventable through our trap-neuter-return program, or TNR. With this program, you can trap a feral cat, bring it to the shelter and we will alter her. We also tip their ear, so that the cat can be identified in the field as already altered. Then you can return it to your property, where it will live out its days keeping the mouse population in check. If you have more than 10 feral cats living on your property, we will send a volunteer to your place. They will trap the cats and return them once they are altered.
If you have a feral cat problem, give us a call at 259-2847
Chris Nelson is director of Animal Services at the La Plata County Humane Society.
