Cats

Florida is home to thousands of feral cats. Where we live there were many cats of all colours and breeds when we arrived. These cats were either abandoned by their owners or ran away to be free. The weather here is friendly all year for animals living in the wild.As the city developed much of the vacant land was developed and the area for wild creatures became less.

These cats are not friendly and run when you approach them. We have fed them but you rarely saw them until a pattern was established. Theresa started to place food on tin foil plates in the driveway each evening. The wild cats would come and eat and we were able to observe them. For the most part they are well groomed and quite beautiful but live a dangerous life.

Local kids would harass these Little creatures and we even had to stop young adults from using pellet guns on these cats. One day a grown man was allowing his dogs to chase them and he appeared to enjoy this activity.Today we have only a dozen cats in our area and they are looked after every day by our neighbour. Every morning and evening before and after work she places food by her driveway and all the cats come for food. These cats are friendly to her and she knows all about them.

This lady Susie is very compassionate and the cats love her. If she is late coming home from work the cats will be seen sitting together on her sidewalk or sitting on top of the cars. We have some that chose to have their babies in our yard and we have seen the mother cat moving her young brood from one place to another in her mouth. She moves them nearly every day.

The center of the cat population is in the vacant lot next to us. This lot has a magnificent pine tree in the middle and Jamaican Pepper grows at its base. This thicket is impossible to penetrate and became home to the feral cats in our area.

There is no end to the animal and bird population in Florida and provides entertainment for people who love nature.