Feral Cat, Gilbert Water Ranch
We’ve lived with cats in the house for almost 40 years, so it is hard for me to understand how people can turn loose a pet cat to live on its own. Its not good for the cat, and its not good for the native species living wherever the cat is dumped.
Feral cats such as this one are a big problem at the Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ, where I spend a lot of time looking at birds and photographing them. On a typical morning visit of 2-3 hours I probably see a dozen different cats hiding in the bushes. This morning I saw one climbing out a branch with a mockingbird scolding it from higher in the tree. A friend even got a photo of one carrying a freshly killed stilt chick across the mudflat.
If you care at all for your pet cat, or for the natural world and the species that live there, you will not release the cat and make it live on its own.
This attractive cat was probably a recent release when I photographed it December of 2005 as it looks to be in good shape with a healthy coat and little, and since it wasn’t completely afraid of me.
