Sixteen feral cats from SLC were relocated down here to southern Utah this week and I tagged along to photograph. The caretaker of their colony up there died, and local animal rescue workers brought them down here, where a kind farmer named Larry agreed to watch over them. He has a farm deep in the heart of Johnson Canyon, an hour removed from any sort of traffic. For the time being, we moved them into an enclosure where they will spend the next two or three weeks, acclimating to their new home. Then they will be released where they will have the run of the place. Since they’ll have spent so much time in their enclosure, the hope is that they won’t roam too far. The borders of Larry’s gardens are fenced in a way that the cats can get through, but coyotes can’t. So if they do wander out into dangerous territory, they can get back in. It’s a very different life out here from their former alley cat existence, but it’s a better one, and I’m sure they’ll love it. No more dodging cars, no more cold cement, just great views of the backside of Bryce Canyon and endless fields of green to romp through (with a mouse to catch every now and again). Yes, it’s a good life in the country.
For anyone needing a basic feral cat rundown, here is what I can offer. Feral cats are cats that want nothing to do with humans. Not all stray cats are feral cats, but many are. Ferals are the ones you can’t touch, who will scratch you to death if you try to, who will run at the sight of you. They are wild, pure and simple. They have grown up without human contact, and they would like to keep it that way. There is a huge overpopulation problem with feral cats though, and because of this, they tend to get a bad rap. TNR is how we address this. Trap-Neuter-Return. You trap all the feral cats in a colony, get them fixed, and then let them go back. This way, they can’t breed, but they live out their lives. If you just kill them, new unfixed cats will move into their colony and the problems start all over again. Also, providing them with food and water will keep them from digging in garbage and causing a ruckus in neighborhoods.
I met Haley at work last week. I have never fallen for a dog, or even a cat here (at least not in the sense that I must bring them home), but something was different with Haley, from the moment I met her. When I left, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her caregiver, Mileen, told me I should come back and walk her whenever I want. Even if I couldn’t adopt her, all the socializing would be good for her. I knew I would take her up on this offer.
I didn’t think I could consider taking her home though, because well, I have so many cats now and they’d never get along. While talking to one of our trainers today about my love of Haley, she told me Haley is great with cats. We wandered over to Haley’s area for a little visit, which turned into a little walk, which turned into a trip to my house. I had to pick up the bloody puke cat and bring it home at lunch, so I did… and Haley came with. We walked in, and as stated, she is great with cats. She knows her boundaries and won’t bother them. She looks away if she knows they’re uncomfortable. She’s met all of them and already made friends with a few. We went back up to work, and a few hours later, I picked her up again to come spend the night. It’s just a sleepover, but it’s a sleepover that may turn into me fostering her, which could possibly turn into adoption. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
When Mileen found out today that Haley visited my house over lunch and was coming back tonight, she said she wasn’t surprised at all. She told me she knew the minute she introduced us last week that I’d be taking her home. I guess deep down, I kind of knew too. I had all sorts of reasons why I shouldn’t get a dog, but it’s funny how they become non-issues when the right dog comes along.
Haley is perfect. She’s the perfect size, not too big, not too small. She’s great with cats… and other dogs, and horses, and everything except maybe squirrels. She’s great off-lead (a necessity for a hiker such as myself). When on-lead, she doesn’t tug. She’s very mellow, except when under the influence of hyperactive dogs, and even then it’s not over the top. She sits before any door is opened. Her kisses aren’t sloppy. She’s perfect! So she is sleeping over. And we will see how it goes.
It’s incredible how wonderful and well-adjusted she is, considering her background. Haley has a heart-breaking story that will shock you just as much as it shocked me. Haley is from Ethiopia. I knew the situation must have been bad to warrant such a long-distance rescue, but I had no idea it was as bad as it was. Haley, and her buddy Hana (also at Best Friends, and also great), were two of four surviving dogs found in a pit in Addis Ababa - a pit containing an estimated 6,000 dead dogs. This pit is where people threw unwanted dogs… a pit they couldn’t get out of. No one knows how long she was in there, but what we do know is that she is out now, and sleeping comfortably on my arm as I type this.
So while I can’t tell you the outcome of her story yet, whether I will adopt her or not, or even foster her, I will tell you that for now at least, there is another roommate in this animal house. Her name is Haley, and she’s perfect.
Zoe’s new home isn’t new to her. She was fostered by Adele in Los Angeles before coming to Best Friends six weeks ago. Thing is, Zoe was with another dog, Ginger, who she had always been with. Adele wanted to keep them both, but Ginger wouldn’t get along with her other dogs, so instead of separating them, they both came here. But Ginger got adopted last week, by herself, and as soon as she did, Adele came back to officially adopt Zoe. It was a happy reunion.
It always amazes me how much our animals really do remember us. Granted, Adele and Zoe were only separated six weeks, but Zoe knew who was coming as soon as she saw Adele’s car coming around the corner. Every time I had to leave my cats with my parents while I criss-crossed the country interning, I was always knocked over (literally) with love upon our reunion. Every time I go to Park City and see Chloe, months in between, her neurotic squeals just remind me of how much we really bonded in the week before I moved away. Or when I didn’t see my birds for over a year, and when I finally did, they whistled “our” song. Oh yes, they remember us all right. We don’t forget them, and they don’t forget us.
Okay, now go take some aspirin! It’s supposed to help.
This is Sidney (and Pepito). Sidney was found on the side of a road in Iowa, tangled up in her brother’s umbilical cord. He was dead, she was nearly there. She is doing great now, but her foot fell off. Yes, fell off. She is the itty-bittiest, teensy-weeniest kitten I have ever seen.
Okay, now go take another one, just for safe measure.
After taking this photo of the hidden kitty this morning, I peeked inside the bear box to meet the furry friend I had just photographed. I was delighted to see that it was my beloved Cooper, one of my absolute favorite felines at work. I actually squealed a little bit. I didn’t recognize him in that little box nor expect to see him there. Since he first arrived at Best Friends from a massive hoarding situation, he had been living in the yurts (where all the cats from that rescue have been), but was recently moved to a different building. The last time I went to see him in the yurts, he wasn’t there and I didn’t know where he was. I wish he had been adopted, but at the same time, I was very happy to see him today. Like whoa. Cooper is my boy. I LOVE him… my little black bear.
Two very special birds arrived from California this week… a Hyacinth macaw and a Major Mitchell cockatoo. Birds like Joey (the Hyacinth) and Honey (Major Mitchell) don’t usually find themselves in rescues, because they are very rare and fetch a very high price in the bird market. But luckily, a very kind couple did the right thing when they found themselves not able to give enough attention to their birds anymore… they handed them over to us (a noble thing since they could sell those birds for as much as half my yearly salary).
These two birds are going straight into our education program, meaning they won’t be available for adoption. We don’t want to advertise these incredibly beautiful birds as pets. Through the illegal pet trade, the Hyacinth’s numbers have diminished in the wild to the extent of being classified as endangered. Over 10,000 were taken from the wild in the 1980s alone, and today, only 2,000-5,000 of the world’s largest parrot species remain in the wild.
So without futher ado, meet Joey and Honey. We really lucked out in getting these birds in amazing shape. They had great owners and are both highly sociable, friendly birds. And they don’t pluck themselves!
I love birds. I have two. Everyone in the bird department loves birds. But what people probably don’t realize is that we wish pet birds didn’t exist. Parrots belong in the wild. We take in the birds that are already pets, and will love and care for them, but in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to. The parrot trade is no different than puppy mills, where dogs are kept in cages for the sole purpose of breeding more and more pet dogs… pet dogs that are so overpopulated that thousands are killed in shelters every year. The pet bird population continues to grow as well, leaving more and more birds homeless as they are very hard to take care of, and people are often ill-prepared. Over their head, people also don’t seem to realize that most parrots can live as long as a human. Did I mention that I’ve had my birds since I was three years old?
Birds have not been domesticated for thousands of years like cats and dogs. Even if raised as a pet, living life in a cage, wings clipped is highly unnatural for them. Pet birds are deprived of everything they were meant for, and though they can live a good, happy life as a pet, they usually don’t. These birds that we view as “pets” here in America are wild, native species in other areas of the world. Would you support the sale of eagles or a hawks as pets? It’s no different.
This is Fat Bastard. He is fat, and he’s a bastard. Some idiot family took him from the wild and kept him as a pet (until the DWR confiscated him) in an itty bitty cage and fed him grilled cheese sandwiches, egg McMuffins, and candy bars. No wonder the little bastard is so fat! And as fat as he is, he used to be fatter. When he first came in, he couldn’t even get up to the next level of his 5-story cage. Now he can run the whole thing (and very fast), but he’s still a tub of lard. Hopefully that won’t be for long though. As you can see, he is now on a low-cal diet.
Think he’s all cute and cuddly? Guess again. That photo above was taken through the bars of his cage, because he would attack me if we opened the door… just like he did to one of our staff…
So now we’ll move along to the darling little mink that was rescued from becoming a coat. Just look at that face! How could anyone ever wear such a thing?!
And if that wasn’t cute enough, how about some itty bitty baby cottontails? Three of these tennis ball-sized babies (none from the same family) happened to come in at the same time for the same reason: they were all chew toys for dogs and cats. They were pretty messed up, still kind of are (one is bloated and full of fluid still), but can hopefully be released in about two weeks. Seeing these guys makes me feel kinda sad about the comment I made a few posts back about it being a good thing that these guys are an easy meal for the bobcat.
Please note the three small baby bunny poos in the bottom right corner… HOW PRECIOUS!
On Saturday morning, I got to cover my first release - a bobcat release. Her name is Sophie and she had been at Best Friends since she was just an itty bitty baby. She was trapped at the bottom of a slot canyon when she was just a few pounds and was rescued by canyoneers last summer. She’s spent her whole life since then here in captivity, but remained completely wild. She has been kept away from humans to ensure that she stays afraid of them. She ate by hunting small animals that wandered into her pen, and was occasionally tossed a live meal to hunt if none wandered into her pen on their own.
She could have been released last fall, but she would have had a much harder time adapting to being on her own at that time of year. Now was a better release time, because of the bajillion wild bunnies out here that are procreating. There is a never-ending supply of slow, easy-to-catch baby bunnies for her to feast on. Not so good for the bunnies, but good for her. It will give her time to become a better hunter in time for winter, when food is harder to come by.
We drove out to the White Cliffs on Saturday and let her go. It’s incredible how much natural instinct they have. This bobcat that has lived its whole life in captivity, will be just fine in the wild. Bobcats are solitary animals, so they don’t need to befriend any others. They just go out and eat, sleep, and live.
I wish I had better photos to show for the release, but that cat took off so fast, I only got two frames fired off before she was gone, gone, gone. I couldn’t be in front of her because she could attack if she felt I was in the way of where she wanted to go. But sub-par photo aside, it was an incredible experience, one I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
