Donations
The Feral Project at Lightfoot Court in Wake Forest is registered with Wake County Animal Control and Wake County Animal Center. It is not registered with the IRS as a 501(c) (3) , but will accept donations of food, toys, cat trap, cat transporter, and comfy items such as used towels, blankets, and used outdoor chair paddings.
As of 8/30/2020, a couple of used outdoor chair paddings would be the best, so if you’re in the Wake Forest or North Raleigh area, please don’t just toss them out if they’re a bit discolored.
How The Feral Project Began
When cats and kittens are spayed, neutered, and eartipped, they are usually vaccinated for rabies, and sometimes ID chipped. This is helpful in case they wander too far from their home territory. See TNVR.
This project to rescue feral cats and kittens from euthanasia has been a labor of LOVE since July 2019 when ten unspayed / unneutered feral cats and kittens invaded my yard, looking starved, skinny, and scared to death. Three of them were adults and seven were kittens. None of them were spayed or neutered. All were feral. They weren’t wild in terms of hissing and clawing at humans, but were feral in terms of being afraid to go anywhere close to humans. They were socialized with their feline community but completely unsocialized with humans. All of them had lived outdoors their entire lives, and are great hunters.
One of the adults was an unspayed calico female, probably the mother. 6 of the kittens were perhaps 4 or 5 months old, and one was a few months older. Four of the kittens were also unspayed females.
This feral community, with 5 unspayed females, was certain to breed and multiply, again and again until a more out-of-control situation developed. Doing the math, and considering some kittens do not survive until reproductive age, offspring could have numbered several hundred within a few years.
It is more likely that before a feral colony grows to several hundred, coyotes and other predatory animals would have been very attracted to the neighborhood before then.
The Future of the Feral Project
I’ve found I have a knack for rescuing and caring for feral and other community cats. I’ve received a tremendous amount of satisfaction from this. My reward is just knowing these cats and kittens were not euthanized and are having happy lives. Plus, they entertain me!
In the future, I expect I’ll be able to help other neighborhoods to set up community kitty programs with like-minded caregivers. I will be glad to help trap ferals in nearby neighborhoods if we can find willing and able caregivers. Contact me! I’m also finding I have a fondness for other small wild animals who have visited my yard, such as raccoons and opossums… there is no telling what that could lead to.