This is Achilles drinking the goat's milk. He loves it so much it's just dripping off of his chin. Sometimes he will give a big stretch when he's done drinking, but I think I was too close for his comfort, so he left in a hurry.
These guys just don't "play." Achilles was more interested in the catnip banana and catnip plant than the orange toy that one of the neighbors sent over.
AJ had a cold when we finally trapped him for his TNR. They were able to give him some medication for his nasal discharge at the clinic. Not sure if you can hear his loud breathing, but if you look closely you can see little bubbles forming out of his nose ☹️
Poor little guy has a cold and you can see bubbles forming our of his nose. Not sure if you can hear his loud breathing.
We finally trapped AJ for his TNR. Didn't realize he was sick, but they were able to give him some meds at the clinic. Get Well Soon!
AJ's Leap
Not sure what's going on here. I've seen him stop eating to scratch and then go back to eating, but this leap was something new. We're thinking he might have fleas or some sort of allergy. Hoping to get him fixed and get some flea treatment in the next couple of weeks.
There's a new tabby on the block. He looks a lot like the old tabby, Achilles, so we named this one AJ - Achilles Jr.
Funny thing, AJ came to eat the other day and Achilles was resting in the chair behind him! Not sure if he even knew he was there.
Fluffy has been coming by in the daylight. I believe one of the people feeding in the neighborhood has moved. I also have a new tabby coming by.
Achilles and the catnip fish
A Facebook friend posted a video of her indoor cat playing with a catnip fish on a string. While our Community Cats don’t really “Play” they do love their catnip, so I bought a fish to see what would happen.
I moved my “Catnip Station” under the fish hoping they would be more likely to spot it.
The “Catnip Station” is a mat bought from the dollar store. It’s sprinkled with catnip, has a small bowl of loose catnip and a banana stuffed with catnip that one of the neighbors gave me. The cats often eat the loose catnip, or attempt to roll in the tiny bowl! 😄
Achilles was playing with the banana and then noticed the fish! I don’t think he was quite ready for the bungee action from the cord. He seemed a bit startled and decided to leave!
Thought I’d share a few of the other cat videos as they play with the banana or try to eat or roll in the catnip.
What really surprised me was when the opossum stole the banana!!!!! What the heck! It’s okay, the neighbor had a bunch of bananas and I was able to put out a new one. 😉
Cats sometimes tap the water to create ripples, so that they can judge the depth. Fluffy seems to be having some trouble figuring out the water level. Looks like she gets some water up her nose near the end of the video clip. She is a cutie.
One of the neighbor's cats - Milo. Also a fan of the catnip. He rolls off the porch with the catnip banana, but bounces back to sniff (and attempt to roll) in the loose catnip in the egg carton.
Gabriel and the Opossum
Round One goes to Gabe, but Round 2 goes to the Opossum.
We had a new cat show up. On the night vision he looks all white so we named him Gabriel (like a little angel👼) Turns out he's not quite an angel and doesn't seem to get along with the Opossums.
I got some new food from Costco and wanted to find out what they liked best, so I set up a tasting station. You would think there would be enough food for everyone, but I guess Gabe likes to eat alone.
I'm not sure what happened in between the few seconds while the camera reset, but in the end Gabe is gone and possie gets the food!
I was looking through some old videos and came across this one. Irene is eating peacefully and Achilles comes up to say hello.
Achilles did a little foot shake too on his way to the water dish. I think he was more wet than cold. Maybe this is a new trend among the cats 😺
Fluffy came by on one of the super cold nights. She ate a little and then went for a drink of water. She did these cute little foot shakes with her hind legs that I don't think I've seen her do before. Not sure if she was wet, or cold. You can see her going to the water dish. She eventually puts her front paw in the dish. I'm not sure why. The dish was sorta frozen in place, so it wasn't moving on her. I guess they sometimes tap the water to see the depth, but it doesn't look like she's doing any tapping. The wind blows and she decides it time to leave. I'm expecting another paw shake with the one that was in the water, but if she does it's not caught on camera. Hope her little paw didn't freeze 🥶
I put out some goat's milk for the cats (NOTE: Do NOT give cats cow's milk!) This baby opossum came by and tried the milk and then went for the food. Achilles showed up and decided to kill some time while baby possie finished eating, so he played with the catnip toy. Then he realizes there's another dish of something. He finished off the goat's milk and left licking his lips 😻
I think it's so cute when they eat with their paws! I don't know what I served that night, but it was paw licking good! 🐾
This is a cute one of Julie! She doesn't know if she should scratch, or just chase moths! I tried making another treat tray (on the right) but it came apart the first night. One of the neighbors brought over a Treat Tower! You have to push the treat to one of the holes and then it drops down to the next level. The last level drops down into a little basin. Julie is one of the few cats to engage with this toy. You can see her trying to figure out how it works.
We think this is the neighbors cat. He's trying to get the last bits of what's left in one of those Friskies "Lil' Soups" I need to find a way to keep the bowl in place. Julie was having the same problem with the bowl moving on her. I love how Bo finally uses his paw to bring the bowl back to him.
I didn't realize Raccoons make a chattering noise!
Not sure which cat this is, but s/he had a good time rolling in the dirt.
I thought I'd share a few of the other night critters.
These guys came by and thought they'd give the catnip banana a try, but decided that it really wasn't for them.
I was unsure why the bungee cord was so stretched out in the morning. This video explains a lot. The bungee was was a bit old and from the dollar store. He must have tried the same thing the again, because the next morning the bungee cord was broken.
I found a video on YouTube about making cat toys. I glued a bunch of household items to a piece of cardboard and loaded it up with cat treats, loose catnip and a toy of catnip in a yellow pouch.
The egg tray has some treats and also the loose catnip. You can see some of them trying to eat the loose catnip, or roll in it 😂
The pouch is also a favorite and I’m a bit surprised they didn’t try to take it out, but just left it in place to rub on.
Little Julie was the first one to figure out how to use her paws to get the treats (she’s so smart!) If you ask me the raccoons cheated – they have hands! And the neighbor’s cat (with the collar) also knew what he wanted and just how he was going to get it!
As for the opossums – they seemed to lack the finesse of the cats and the dexterity of the raccoons, so they just went with brute force. They ripped apart the “Treat Tray” over the course of a few nights. 😫
I found a video on YouTube about making cat toys. I glued a bunch of household items to a piece of cardboard and loaded it up with cat treats, loose catnip and a toy of catnip in a yellow pouch.
The egg tray has some treats and also the loose catnip. You can see some of them trying to eat the loose catnip, or roll in it 😂
The pouch is also a favorite and I’m a bit surprised they didn’t try to take it out, but just left it in place to rub on.
Little Julie was the first one to figure out how to use her paws to get the treats (she’s so smart!) If you ask me the raccoons cheated – they have hands! And the neighbor’s cat (with the collar) also knew what he wanted and just how he was going to get it!
As for the opossums – they seemed to lack the finesse of the cats and the dexterity of the raccoons, so they just went with brute force. They ripped apart the “Treat Tray” over the course of a few nights. 😫
I knew we had a few raccoons. I think I've seen a couple of pairs, but this really caught me off guard when I saw SIX raccoons all at once! I was going to stop putting out food for a few days, but turns out they didn't return the next night. I guess they decided that the restaurant was too crowded!
The night after I caught the raccoon, I caught one of the cats I was after! I really like the Tru Catch trap. It's a lot more quiet and less frightening than the spring-loaded traps. You can see that Little Rayne (Drop) is barely phased by the door shutting. In fact, he just keeps eating! So glad he got a good meal. I dropped him off at All About Animals the next morning for his TNR and one of the neighbors picked him up the following morning. This really is a "Community" effort! I held him for recovery and then - well you can watch his Catch and Release.
Skunk vs. Raccoon
Too bad the skunk didn't realize it was a tag team match!
Here's some Raccoon etiquette.
"It is never allowed to attack another raccoon from behind. This rule can be used to peacefully force another raccoon to relinquish a bowl. One approaches butt first. The other raccoon will not attack, but instead will usually turn his butt toward you. Then it becomes a pushing match. If you can push the other one away, you get the bowl.
Sometimes, instead of a pushing match, this behavior can lead to sharing a bowl. The two raccoons end up butt-to-head on opposite sides of the bowl. Each one sort of reaches back to get food. As long as they don't face each other, peace prevails."
One of the neighbors brought over a catnip Banana. I was able to catch a glimpse of everyone's favorite "Community Cat," Achilles, as he played with it for a bit.
