[Magdalen] Rodent Patrol News

[cady soukup]

What wonderful news Jay!

Your new substation of the Broadway Rodent Patrol sounds lovely - both
for the kitties, who have a safer home, and for you, who get to have
local officers to nurture and get to know. It may even reduce pesky
rodents in your immediate vicinity?

Our 3 rodent control officers have developed into indoors wussies.
They haven't been able to get a handle on the field mice that come in,
although they have definitely taken care of every bat that found its
way into our house (we even have a bat habitat hanging in our
stairwell to try to mitigate the predation). It is an amazing thing to
see our heaviest, laziest cat vertically jump and manage to intercept
a bat flying by in its irregular swooping pattern.

hugs from the eastern side the Blue Ridge & Massanutten Mountains - Cady

On 9/29/20, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> Life is normal again, sort of. I have cats. Or, to put it another way, we
> now have our own division of the Broadway Rodent Patrol. Our new officers,
> Winnie and Vicky, were brought to me today from the Barn Cat program of the
> RHSPCA. They will live in a "habitation crate" which is 4' x 4' x 4' and is
> installed under our deck, with proper accoutrements of hide box, litter
> box, and food and water dishes. I added a few homey touches such as a tarp
> over the top, a mat on the floor, and some toys. They will stay in the
> crate for 4-5 weeks, getting used to the area and me and being fed on a
> regular schedule, etc. Then I will open the door, the shelter will come and
> get the crate and hide box, and they will (hopefully) stay on the property
> and possibly even be semi-social. They are basically to be working cats and
> earn their keep by keeping the rodent population down.
>
> Both of these ladies seem to have been rescued from somewhat dire
> situations. Officer Winnie is a tortoiseshell with rather nice markings and
> a wonky left eye which was likely injured in some mishap in her stray days.
> She and I became acquainted on my work days in the stray jail. She wasn't
> freaky even then and she ventured out of the hide box once today. I have
> hopes that she will warm up to us. Officer Vicky is, well, shy. She's a
> lanky brown tabby whose intake photo shows a lass somewhat the worse for
> wear, and she didn't come out of her hide box on my work days, but Winnie
> bonded with her in the Barn Cat room, so I said I'd take them both. Perhaps
> she, too, will be happy with consistent feeding and attention from one
> person. Spousal unit doesn't want anything to do with the project, so
> they're my babies.
>