he never lets me get closer than 100 feet so i managed to catch him on my wireless webcam to see if he survived the cold spell without getting frostbite:
after the last two cold spells i could see from the distance he was still alive but since he never lets me get closer than 100 feet i didnt want to post on the "has everyones ferals survived the weather this week?" thread because i couldnt tell if he might have frostbite on his ears etc. i tried to see him on my wireless webcam a few times but had technical problems like low battery, finally i got him on camera last saturday and he looks in good shape, also i could see its a male.
he didnt want to use the styrofoam box made for him i assume because hes so paranoid he has to be deep under a building at this closed for the winter hasidic jewish campsite. the cold temperatures here in upstate NY in the last few weeks were incredibly cold, i think coldest in 10 years, its the first time my boiler started quitting because according to the plumber the air temperature was causing the fuel to "gel up". i couldnt believe my fingers would numb up in the 1/4 mile walk to the campsite even when wearing gloves. i comforted myself telling myself that deers and coyotes make it through the winter and they arent getting purina cat chow with a slice of fat each day. and that if he can make it through this then he will probably make it through the rest of the winter.
but on the negative side i think that means i am going to have to be responsible for having him neutered if i understand correctly.
can you guys see how he keeps looking in the direction that i come from as if its a bit paranoid. every day around 3:30-4:00 i walk to the campsite, and it always waits in the same place under a building for me, we look at each other from the distance and as i get to about 100 feet away it runs under the building and hides. then after i set the food and water trays and walk away it waits about 2 minits after im out of site before coming out for the food. if i then walk back slowly of course it runs and hides again. you can see from the video it keeps checking to make sure im away. i had once noticed what looked like coyote prints leading to the campsite so i wondered if that might be part of the reason for this behavior, but hes not looking around himself hes looking in the direction i come and go from. i found this coyote vs cat footprint comparison:
http://www.backyardnature.net/101/mamkey05.gif
there are supposed to be coyotes around here although i have never personally seen one, my mom says she has seen one.
notice how he eats the dry cat food fast and sort of chokes a little, the black tray on the right side is the water tray, it is tilted but the water had not spilled, there was still plenty of water in it, it looks more like he was just eating as fast as he can to get away as soon as possible.
now that he has survived these last two awful cold spells i feel he will probably survive the winter, but being this paranoid of humans when the campsite starts up again in june i dont see how i will be able to feed him, i have no idea what he will do when the camp starts up with hundreds and hundreds of people, there seems no way he will stay there and certainly not hang around in front of the gate as he is doing in the video. i suppose i will have to move his feeding place away from the camp.
i dont think he was ever mistreated by humans apart from being abandoned at the camp if thats the case, i think the paranoia must stem from the survival hunter/killer instinct, before i started feeding him he had to kill to survive so he must feel that any creature thats bigger than him is a threat.
i always make sure to wear the same red coat when i go to feed him so he knows its me, there are no other people around this place this time of year anyway.
first time i got him on video was December 26th he looks a bit smaller, this was before the front gate was locked so i was able to leave the food under the front building:
its a thankless job feeding a cat that wont let me near him but on the bright side this has forced me to exercise each day, i had been getting into a very sedentary lifestyle and since i cant stand the idea of the cat waiting there for his dinner and being disappointed at me not showing up i absolutely have to do the 1/4+1/4 mile walk every single day plus i often go back the same day out of curiosity to see if he got the food or take back the trays.
mostly i am just really not looking forward to having to trap him to get him neutered.
Ondine says they dont hate you for trapping them because they will appreciate the warmth of being near a heater and nice bedding so this makes me think that trapping him while its still cold will make it more appreciative of its jail, since if done in summer time would only be preventing him from being free.
is this "dog crate" something that can fit in a normal car?
after the last two cold spells i could see from the distance he was still alive but since he never lets me get closer than 100 feet i didnt want to post on the "has everyones ferals survived the weather this week?" thread because i couldnt tell if he might have frostbite on his ears etc. i tried to see him on my wireless webcam a few times but had technical problems like low battery, finally i got him on camera last saturday and he looks in good shape, also i could see its a male.
he didnt want to use the styrofoam box made for him i assume because hes so paranoid he has to be deep under a building at this closed for the winter hasidic jewish campsite. the cold temperatures here in upstate NY in the last few weeks were incredibly cold, i think coldest in 10 years, its the first time my boiler started quitting because according to the plumber the air temperature was causing the fuel to "gel up". i couldnt believe my fingers would numb up in the 1/4 mile walk to the campsite even when wearing gloves. i comforted myself telling myself that deers and coyotes make it through the winter and they arent getting purina cat chow with a slice of fat each day. and that if he can make it through this then he will probably make it through the rest of the winter.
but on the negative side i think that means i am going to have to be responsible for having him neutered if i understand correctly.
can you guys see how he keeps looking in the direction that i come from as if its a bit paranoid. every day around 3:30-4:00 i walk to the campsite, and it always waits in the same place under a building for me, we look at each other from the distance and as i get to about 100 feet away it runs under the building and hides. then after i set the food and water trays and walk away it waits about 2 minits after im out of site before coming out for the food. if i then walk back slowly of course it runs and hides again. you can see from the video it keeps checking to make sure im away. i had once noticed what looked like coyote prints leading to the campsite so i wondered if that might be part of the reason for this behavior, but hes not looking around himself hes looking in the direction i come and go from. i found this coyote vs cat footprint comparison:
http://www.backyardnature.net/101/mamkey05.gif
there are supposed to be coyotes around here although i have never personally seen one, my mom says she has seen one.
notice how he eats the dry cat food fast and sort of chokes a little, the black tray on the right side is the water tray, it is tilted but the water had not spilled, there was still plenty of water in it, it looks more like he was just eating as fast as he can to get away as soon as possible.
now that he has survived these last two awful cold spells i feel he will probably survive the winter, but being this paranoid of humans when the campsite starts up again in june i dont see how i will be able to feed him, i have no idea what he will do when the camp starts up with hundreds and hundreds of people, there seems no way he will stay there and certainly not hang around in front of the gate as he is doing in the video. i suppose i will have to move his feeding place away from the camp.
i dont think he was ever mistreated by humans apart from being abandoned at the camp if thats the case, i think the paranoia must stem from the survival hunter/killer instinct, before i started feeding him he had to kill to survive so he must feel that any creature thats bigger than him is a threat.
i always make sure to wear the same red coat when i go to feed him so he knows its me, there are no other people around this place this time of year anyway.
first time i got him on video was December 26th he looks a bit smaller, this was before the front gate was locked so i was able to leave the food under the front building:
its a thankless job feeding a cat that wont let me near him but on the bright side this has forced me to exercise each day, i had been getting into a very sedentary lifestyle and since i cant stand the idea of the cat waiting there for his dinner and being disappointed at me not showing up i absolutely have to do the 1/4+1/4 mile walk every single day plus i often go back the same day out of curiosity to see if he got the food or take back the trays.
mostly i am just really not looking forward to having to trap him to get him neutered.
Ondine says they dont hate you for trapping them because they will appreciate the warmth of being near a heater and nice bedding so this makes me think that trapping him while its still cold will make it more appreciative of its jail, since if done in summer time would only be preventing him from being free.
is this "dog crate" something that can fit in a normal car?
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