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Two weeks ago we moved to a rural area, immediately above a state park. Last week a local found bear scat about 20 feet from our trashcans; later that week we found bear pawprints on top of our trashcans. You live in wilderness (ish) area, you deal with the animals that lived there first. On Tuesday we had haulers in the house, and I forgot to lock the cat in a closet before they came. He's 11; in our previous house he was indoor-outdoor. We made him strictly indoor when we moved here, because bears, coyotes, mountain lions, and so on. He's a successful hunter of lizards, and he's very good at hiding. Anyway, he saw the haulers, he freaked, he ran away, and he ran straight out the front door that was open so stuff could be hauled. I saw him again very briefly Wednesday night; I went out on the back porch and he streaked away. I haven't seen him since. Stuff I've done so far: * Human beings sitting out on the back deck a lot of the time, including after dark * A box facing the back door (thus sheltered) with one of my T-shirts in it * A cat litterbox next to the back door * offerings of food during the daytime; removed after dark because animals of all kinds * Asking the closest neighbor to keep an eye out Most of the standard suggestions -- put up posters, ask the neighbors, check with the humane society -- don't apply to a highly rural area. Yes, he is chipped, but the only way anybody would read his chip is if they picked up his corpse on the highway (California 1) that runs by our place. Are there other standard things I could do to help him reappear, if he's still alive? God, this sucks.
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Aug 1, 2021 04:05
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 23:57 |
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kw0134 posted:Have you considered a baited small animal trap? Or are you likely to catch a raccoon/possum/etc.? Guaranteed to catch a raccoon. The one time I left out food overnight there were raccoon paw prints on the dish.
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Aug 1, 2021 16:19
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jemand posted:You could get motion security cameras that send alarms to your phone, and then use a baited live-trap. You can shoo away the wildlife or release it quickly, and might get your cat. We leave doors open in the daytime, but there are mobile and hungry reasons not to leave them open after dark.
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Aug 2, 2021 18:31
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Thank you. No, we never saw Jareth again, and we feel that we failed him.  After three weeks, we got two new kittens, who are adorable; it lightened the catlessness of the house. They won't be Jareth, but then he wasn't them, either. We are super careful about the doors and the cats. kitten thread.
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Sep 9, 2021 20:35
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