I saw Dash, Chappy, Gadget, Poe and Turtle yesterday and also this morning. At least they didn’t bolt for the hills and are sticking close to home for now. I am leaving the door to their enclosure open and feeding inside of it, but I am also feeding them under the house. I don’t want them to go hungry while they decide what they are going to do. I was asked by a friend, why I don’t trap them. They won’t go in the traps, I already know this and I risk trapping the mom skunk and her 6 babies in the process. Something I would rather not do.

This morning when I went to feed, I had my orange feral cat come rushing up to me to say hello. It took me by surprise because this is a cat that has not let me even come close to her and has just been hanging out in the shadows. I bent down to pet her and the reaction I got was unsettling. Super affectionate to the point that I had to pick up a large stick and use it to herd her away from me. The flip in her personality is so quick that it could be an exposure to rabies. 🙁 I know if I call my vet, the only recourse he will take is to send her to her death- so I have her on quarantine in one of our largest cages in the barn. If I was working with her on a daily basis and she flipped like this, I would know it is because I had finally got her to trust people, but out of the blue like this- with a wild skunk that I am seeing earlier and earlier in the day- rabies has to at least be considered. There are two types of rabies, the furious form and the paralytic form. Quarantine is 45 days with her being vaccinated in 30 days if no other signs appear. I hope I am just being over-cautious and this little girl is just tired of hiding in the shadows. Time will tell- of course this is the only cat on the premises not vaccinated against rabies- couldn’t get close enough to her. So the countdown starts today. Never a dull moment around here it seems.

George is back to finish the roof. he is also going to make a sheltered feeder off the side of the house so I can feed the escapees in the rain without them getting wet. Pushing food under the house although it works for them- is a bit hard on this 60 year old back and legs!