A Different Kind of Cat Blogging
Each summer our neighborhood is overrun with gang activity. Not the stereotypical drive by shootings and late night drug busts, instead there are three cat gangs that constantly compete for territory and our house seems to be ground zero for their conflicts. We always know which mob is on top according to which boss is urinating on the side of our house or leaving dead bunnies and birds on our doorstep.
The Corleones, Don and Michael, control the neighborhood running south and southwest. We see them occasionally dashing through the streets but mainly they stick to their own world. Tony and Salvatore rule the area across the street from us and east toward the park. Tony visits our yard more than any other, usually sniffing the air hoping for a good whiff of Haley.
Two houses south of us is the home of the Farkus Brothers; the youngest and probably most powerful pride of all the rotten thugs. Their leader is Scut, named for the yellow-eyed bully that terrorizes Ralph and his friends in A Christmas Story.
Similar to the plot of the movie, events from a few years ago are now legend along our avenue. That fateful afternoon Scut and his crew mistakenly lurked into our yard while Olive was out on her harness (unlike our neighbors, we follow city law and allow our cats outdoors only when they are secured and supervised). Olive gained adrenaline strength (like those mothers who lift cars off of their babies) and pulled the leash fastener out of the ground; dragging it behind her as she chased Scut and his brothers out of our yard, across the neighbors’ lawn, and onto their owners’ patio. Domestic Olive beat the snuff out of wild Scut and established herself on the neighborhood cat hierarchy.
Olive’s reputation kept the Farkus Brothers out of our yard for a few years, but they are back. The boys are sneakier now, and taunt us with their audacity. Last week they attacked a baby bunny and left it for dead under our front stoop. Late at night they lurk under our front windows until Olive is puffed with outrage and screeching for us to let her at them.
No matter how many times Mrs. Cravitz calls the police to come and collect Scut and his posse, the neighborhood cat owners don’t seem to understand that we don’t want their cats in our yard. We don’t want their urine stench and stains on our house. We don’t want them poisoned by the ant killer laid along the sidewalk. We don’t want them upsetting our pets. So we’ve assembled our usual weapons of defense, including waterguns filled with cayenne and lemon water. T is planning to ready a bucket of waterballoons so he can launch grenades at any future yard prowlers. Gang activity is causing us to go to war.
We love cats. We love our cats so much that we don’t allow them outdoor access outside of our fenced area, and we never leave them alone there. Outdoor cats have much shorter life spans than indoor cats. They catch and spread diseases. They can easily be poisoned by the toxins we put on our lawns and gardens. Cats are not indigenous to urban environments and in fact have a detrimental impact on biodiversity. They create destructive impact on wildlife, including rare and endangered species, both by hunting the wildlife and competing with them for food sources. And in our city it is illegal to allow your pets to roam free.
The solution is easy.
The Corleones, Don and Michael, control the neighborhood running south and southwest. We see them occasionally dashing through the streets but mainly they stick to their own world. Tony and Salvatore rule the area across the street from us and east toward the park. Tony visits our yard more than any other, usually sniffing the air hoping for a good whiff of Haley.
Two houses south of us is the home of the Farkus Brothers; the youngest and probably most powerful pride of all the rotten thugs. Their leader is Scut, named for the yellow-eyed bully that terrorizes Ralph and his friends in A Christmas Story.
Similar to the plot of the movie, events from a few years ago are now legend along our avenue. That fateful afternoon Scut and his crew mistakenly lurked into our yard while Olive was out on her harness (unlike our neighbors, we follow city law and allow our cats outdoors only when they are secured and supervised). Olive gained adrenaline strength (like those mothers who lift cars off of their babies) and pulled the leash fastener out of the ground; dragging it behind her as she chased Scut and his brothers out of our yard, across the neighbors’ lawn, and onto their owners’ patio. Domestic Olive beat the snuff out of wild Scut and established herself on the neighborhood cat hierarchy.
Olive’s reputation kept the Farkus Brothers out of our yard for a few years, but they are back. The boys are sneakier now, and taunt us with their audacity. Last week they attacked a baby bunny and left it for dead under our front stoop. Late at night they lurk under our front windows until Olive is puffed with outrage and screeching for us to let her at them.
No matter how many times Mrs. Cravitz calls the police to come and collect Scut and his posse, the neighborhood cat owners don’t seem to understand that we don’t want their cats in our yard. We don’t want their urine stench and stains on our house. We don’t want them poisoned by the ant killer laid along the sidewalk. We don’t want them upsetting our pets. So we’ve assembled our usual weapons of defense, including waterguns filled with cayenne and lemon water. T is planning to ready a bucket of waterballoons so he can launch grenades at any future yard prowlers. Gang activity is causing us to go to war.
We love cats. We love our cats so much that we don’t allow them outdoor access outside of our fenced area, and we never leave them alone there. Outdoor cats have much shorter life spans than indoor cats. They catch and spread diseases. They can easily be poisoned by the toxins we put on our lawns and gardens. Cats are not indigenous to urban environments and in fact have a detrimental impact on biodiversity. They create destructive impact on wildlife, including rare and endangered species, both by hunting the wildlife and competing with them for food sources. And in our city it is illegal to allow your pets to roam free.
The solution is easy.
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