Population down from 150 to 17 (and that’s good!)
Once a month I head on over (“head on over” is Texan for “go”) to Quivira Court:
To the west of the park, there is a jetty that separates the mouth of the San Diego River from the water entrance to Mission Bay. You can see it better in this Google Maps picture (black arrow courtesy of Corel PaintShop Pro X4, not Google Maps):
I go once a month to do my civic duty and help feed and water
San Diego’s largest collection of feral cats. Normally there are about
30-40 cats relaxing on the jetty rocks.
During the height of the recession the population grew to about 150 due to people dumping their unwanted cats at the jetty.
Volunteers were operating a catch/spay-neuter/adopt/release program. Cats would be captured, taken to some vets who volunteered their services, spayed or neutered, evaluated for behavior, put up for adoption if their behavior would allow it, or released back at the jetty. I’m pleased to say that the population (willing to come out and greet me) yesterday was down to 17. Here they are:
The jetty also happens to be one of the best pelican-watching sites in San Diego County:
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Posted on July 1, 2012, in Birds, Fauna, Out & About, Photos and tagged feral cats in san diego, pelicans in san diego, quivira point in san diego. Bookmark the permalink. 26 Comments.
Glad you help with those feral cats: great work!
Bless you for helping this furbabies!
You are very good at delivering the unexpected, Russel – ie. I never know what to expect – wonderful. I am really beginning to like cats!
How could you ever have not liked cats? lol
Lovely pictures shame for the cats although they do look happy… maybe because of people like you…
And if I were a feral cat, I wouldn’t mind living at the jetty at all. Well, except maybe for all the dogs on the other side of the river at Dog Beach…………..lol
you are so nice, so nice… and they are so lovely… I love cats so much… Thank you, love, nia
How sweet of you to do that Russel. The poor babies. I can tell they are used to your presence and the goodies you bring. Otherwise they would run from you and you wouldn’t have all these lovely kitty photos. Such sweet faces. Bless you for what you do…..
Good for you looking after them. Such a shame people can treat their pets with such disdain.
RRay
Generosity of spirit goes a long way.
Thank you, Mr. Ray, for being so generous with your time and so sharing of your spirit…
RayeR.
I would think that all the feral cats would make things challenging for the pelicans!
Nope. The cats don’t seem to bother the birds at all, and the pelicans know where there food is, and it’s from following all the fishing boats returning from the Ocean to Mission Bay.
That is so cool that vets would spay/neuter them for free! I loath seeing abandoned animals! Makes me wish I could house and love them all. Thank you for feeding them – and for the pictures.
So, it looks like we can use the reduction in ferral cat populations to test where we are in recessions. We’re certainly no way near a reduction in Europe, not even at the zenith yet. You do a lovely thing for these cats and they look remarkably well on it. Well done.
Beautiful cats!
At first I thought this was a photoshop joke! Never expected to see cats there.
Anyone who would just drop any pet off like this does not deserve the space that they occupy on this planet. So glad that the number living here is reduced. Now if we could just get people to understand that kindness to all animals including them is what is needed worldwide!
Awwww all the babies! I want to take some home! lol
I feel the same way every month when I go out there.
Sweet portraits, and awesome pelican!
I have some better pelican pictures but I liked that one because I was taking pictures of the cats, heard the pelican ruccus behind me, and quickly turned around to snap a picture. Just lucky that I even got a pelican in the picture! lol
My brother has a cat identical to the second one on here! As for cats, we love them and I could easily have too many if my husband didn’t keep me under control!
Sounds like you need a new husband………..lol
Thanks for taking these beautiful photos. I manage this colony with volunteering through Feral Cat Coalition. I have every cat documented and sadly…there are 60+ cats still living at this Jetty. Everyone has a name and one 1 left that has not been neutered. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these kitties.
at stratton tell more about the situation. where is feral cat coalition.
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