Red was one of the three cats we trapped and altered
and released in June, 1995. We were feeding the neighborhood strays at
our house. Traffic had picked up on our street and it was hard for me to
sleep
with the windows
open at night, knowing these cats were running across the street to eat
at our house. I discussed this with a neighbor and she agreed to feed the
cats at her house and I would still provide the food. This worked out well,
because the cats live on her side of the street. One of the things I wanted
to do first was to catch one of the red boys. He was quite friendly with
me and I almost had him letting me pet him. He did play with a cat toy
I would bring out. One of the fishing pole type toys. I would run around
the front yard with it and he would try to catch the red yarn lion at the
end of the string. He would roll on the ground a purr quite loudly for
me.
Catching him was not easy. He knew the trap from
the time he was neutered and wasn't falling for that again. I left it out
for over three weeks with yummy food in it. I even propped it open so that
he would get use to going inside to eat. He didn't fall for the ruse.
My neighbor that was going to feed the cats pointed
out our side door to the garage. Oh, yeah, real smart of me. We locked
our other cats out of the garage, put food inside and waited to see if
he went in. He did. But when he heard the front door open, he ran like
the wind out of the garage. That was on the first day. The second day,
I left the front gate open and waited at the side of the house. My husband
let me know when Red was in the garage. I went up as quietly as I could
and shut the door. Red went nuts. He ended up in the rafters. This was
on August 1, 1996. As I type this, December 17, 1996, he is still up there.
But he is making great strides at coming down.
He is an extremely affectionate cat. He will let
me pet him, he will even lay down inside a cradle I make with my arms.
He rubs my face and he is a drooler. It will be nice to love him and not
stand on a ladder to do it. I will keep this updated.
Red Rafter's story as told by Mesha:
One of the decendants [read about Mincha, in the trivia section] was brought to this country
aboard a banana boat. Upon the docking of said boat
she ran ashore to the nearest tree. However a rambling
cat named Tracks told her of another place far away
to the north. Off they went. She didn't like all the
travel but they finally arrived at the biggest tree
she 'd ever seen. There she lived. After her last
litter of babies was born the tree was cut down and
the lumber sold. A fond attachment to the tree had been
formed and she told her youngest, "red pol a track o"
to make his way in the world and find the afore mentioned
tree. He left his mama who had found another tree
almost as large as the first , and off he went.
Happily one day he saw it! He decided to make sure
the people who owned it saw him because he thought
it only right to be invited to live in his tree,
(which really had taken on an odd shape)
They indeed saw him and realized he needed to be
back in his "tree" although they did not know the
full story of his travels. When they brought him
to the safety of their home, he of course was
so very thrilled he ran right up into his tree,
now made into rafters. ( He was glad that the
tree had not been made into a door.. hard to
balance on the top you know). The new people
named him Red Rafter. He was very pleased with
the name and the kind people.However if the
truth be know his complete name is
"Red rafter 'es afta de la tracko ah la Mincha"
The only thing that puzzles him is why anyone
would choose to be on the ground when the
view is so much better up high. Must be
inherited!
UPDATE: Red finally came down from the rafters in the middle of August. Now, in December, he has started to sleep on the furniture in the living room, and he goes outside to check out the yard. He doesn't care for the dogs, yet. For more details on his progress, read my diary.
Leave a message for Red
meet OC
~~~~~~~~~
meet lonee
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