Cat trap fever

June 9, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

WASILLA - The charcoal-colored cat with matted fur hissed, howled and growled inside the live-trap cage. She thrashed, cutting open her nose in attempts to escape.

A veterinarian working with Houston Animal Control sedated the feline, and then prepared to euthanize the animal. But the feral cat was pregnant - ready to give birth at any time.

Susan Helmericks, who founded Matanuska Valley Kitties Rescue Group, nabbed the cat. After about eight days of warming up to Helmericks, it became apparent that the mother cat might be as suitable for adoption as the kittens, Helmericks said.

In late April, the first phase of live trapping of a colony of cats living in the woods behind Windbreak Restaurant had begun. Wheels were set in motion after the city warned the Windbreak to keep its Dumpster lid shut, ending a consistent source of food for the cats, Helmericks said.

At first, 10 cats were trapped, and all were euthanized except for two or three pregnant ones, according to Dennis Lords, chief animal control officer with Houston Animal Control, the agency contracted by the city of Wasilla.

&#8220We keep them for three days. We have to do it by law just in case we trapped an owner's cat. We can usually recognize that because after a couple of days, they let us touch them,” Lords said. &#8220They're all really wild cats. If you can get them when they're kittens, they're OK. Before six months, it's possible. Anything past six months is pretty much feral.”

After a few weeks of trapping, no more cats took the bait for three days. So, Lords quit setting out the cages for about a week to allow the cats to relax and work up an appetite again.

They see their buddies caught, they get more skittish, Lords said. He guesses there are about 20 cats left in the wooded area behind the restaurant.

In mid-March, Wasilla's code compliance officer, Mike Rager, was patrolling the city, looking for code violations when he noticed an open Dumpster lid behind the Windbreak.

The primary reason behind the ordinance is to keep trash from blowing out of Dumpsters and littering the city, he said.

Rager documented the incident with a photo and warned an employee of the violation. He said the lid has been closed since, and the Windbreak is one of six restaurants given warnings for the same thing.

As he drove away, Rager worried about the cats living in the woods and feeding out of the Dumpster, but figured most of them were creative and clever enough to find food or slip in through small openings in the wire cover of the trash receptacle.

&#8220I knew that there was the tradition of the Windbreak cats,” he said. &#8220You gotta figure the Dumpster is their buffet. It makes me wonder over the years how many cats got hauled off to the dump,” he said.

Rager recounted how, through his counter installation business, he got an overnight job to replace the Windbreak bar top in the spring of 2004.

&#8220We parked out back. That Dumpster was swarming with cats, ” he said.

He took a photo at the time, and said that, in the photo, a person with a magnifying glass might spot between 15 and 20 cats around the Dumpster.

&#8220I don't know if it has become a spot for people to dump off their unwanted cats, or if there's always been a colony,” Rager said.

Helmericks worries it's been a dumping spot. The feral cats she rescued from there calmed down after a week, indicating they must have been someone's pet at one time, she said.

The cats live in dens under trees in hollowed-out areas between the above-ground roots, she said.

It's common practice in the Lower 48 for animal control officials to live-trap the cats, spay or neuter them, and return them to the property as long as that's OK with the owner and as long as there is a food source, Helmericks said. Lords, with Houston Animal Control, doesn't think that's a good solution.

&#8220Rabies is a real concern with every animal because we have a lot of fox and squirrels,” Lords said. &#8220Feline leukemia is always a problem, and that could be spread to your household pet.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252, or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.