Feral cats: Feline wildlife on the prowl in Vernon County

There is a difference. An alley cat could be defined as a cat that has been domesticated but through some set of circumstances, usually abandonment, finds itself living on its own. A stray cat is more likely to be a cat that is actually someone's pet that has been lost or wandered away from home. But a feral cat, that's a cat that has been born to parents which were either wild, stray or alley cats that had their litter in an isolated environment and raised them without any human socialization.

Feral cats are truly wild and have to survive in a harsh and often dangerous world that, although urban in nature, is filled with the day-to-day struggles of finding food and shelter and avoiding perils that are thought by many to be confronted only by wild animals living in a natural environment.

These animals can be seen any day or night. They cross the street in front of your car; they hunt for rodents in the weeds of an empty lot; they gather outside of or near unused or abandoned buildings where they live in colonies; they wander the city at night in search of food or mates and they are ever-present whether you take notice of them or not. Their nationwide numbers are estimated at more than 60 million by some, according to the Feral Cat Coalition based in San Diego, Calif.

But don't let the staggering numbers fool you into thinking these animals are doing fine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Living with the seasonal elements, disease, parasites, hunger and the other dangers inherent to living wild is not a picnic. Almost half of the feral kittens born will die from exposure, one of the hazards above or some other misfortune before their first year, and the life expectancy of those that do make it is only about two years, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Given these dismal survival rates and life expectancies, how does the population continue to grow? Partly because pet owners let their pets wander uncontrolled and breed with the stray or feral cat population in a given area. Many people simply abandon animals whose natural inclination is to breed and the resulting activity creates a population of animals whose survival skills, hunting skill and prolific nature, up to four litters per year, lead to an increasing problem.

This problem is here in Vernon County and Nevada. There is no city ordinance against free roaming cats in the city of Nevada, and of the nearly 1,000 animals trapped by the Nevada animal control officer this year "Almost half were cats," said control officer Ben Douglas. He also said that on reviewing his records that about 150 of those cats were feral cats that were too dangerous to handle safely. Douglas trapped nearly 1,100 animals last year and the statistics were about the same.

Some of the animals Douglas traps are so wild they cannot even be handled, never mind adopted out to a caring family. Douglas uses live traps in his work and only the most humane methods to handle all of the animals he comes in contact with. Even then some of the cats have to be euthanized, because they pose a danger to the staff at the city animal shelter. Feral cats are put down immediately while other animals are held for at least 10 days and offered for adoption before they are euthanized. Douglas said that most of the time there are 15-20 cats in the facility, but there seems to be quite a demand for barn cats right now and there was only one cat being cared for at the city animal shelter as of Tuesday. Most of the true feral cats Douglas traps are in the northeast portion of the city, east of the railroad tracks and north of Austin Boulevard.

That fact doesn't mean feral cats are restricted to that area of the city. A colony of feral cats can take up residence just about anywhere. The major metropolitan areas have large numbers of the cats and there have been organizations formed in some of those cities to address the problem. Almost all of them advocate a trap, neuter, return, or TNR, program where animals are captured, and spayed or neutered then returned to their home colony where, in some cities, a group or individual feeds them. Some groups also vaccinate the cats to reduce the spread of disease.

Some opponents of the TNR method say that elimination is the only way to solve the problem; but nature will not allow a vacuum, not even in an urban setting. If all of the cats are removed from an area, another group will be attracted to the food and or shelter that drew the original inhabitants and take up residence, thus beginning the cycle again. And relocation seldom works, because of the difficulty of capturing every cat in a colony.

A slow but persistent TNR program which marks spayed or neutered felines by a process known as "ear tipping", cutting off a quarter inch of the right ear, proponents argue will eventually render the population unable to reproduce and the population will decline due to natural mortality.

Captured cats are hard to adopt out even if they are not feral. Local shelters like Vernon County People for Pets do take in some cats, but since they don't have an established facility and all of their animals go to foster homes, it is very difficult to get people to take them. In the past year they have placed about 20 cats into good homes. They are limited to what they can do, "I wish we could take in more, but we're limited because of our number of fosters," said VCPFP's Debbie Bossaler.

And that seems to be the case with other organizations. Shawn Abel, who owns and operates the rescue facility Second Chance Barnyard in El Dorado Springs says she is going to have to stop accepting cats because some unknown disease is said to be spreading through the nation's feline population. She can't risk the health of the animals she does have by taking in an animal that may be infected with something that would spread throughout her facility. The best solution, said Abel "is for everybody to participate" by having their animal spayed or neutered.

In the meantime, feral cats will continue to be here. In Nevada, those who suspect a colony living nearby can call the animal control officer and he will remove them. Douglas said residents should never try to trap and remove the animals, because it can be risky. Some of them are truly wild and can be very dangerous to try and handle. As most cats are shy and sly and tend too be nocturnal, it can be hard to tell if there is a group in the immediate area. But rest assured they are living in Nevada and the surrounding communities in surprising numbers.

For more information, there are many good resources. Contact the local sources mentioned above or write to the Feral Cat Coalition, 9528 Miramar Road, PMB 160, San Diego, CA 92126 or visit their Web site at www.feralcat.com. Contact the ASPCA on their Web site at www.aspca.org, and for information on trapping feral cats visit www.metroanimal.org.