by Brandi Sherman

Brandi Sherman is rescue coordinator for Cats By The Tracks. Cats By The Tracks is a small Fresno, California, based cat rescue named by the founder Jack Gross who lives by the railroad tracks. You can learn more about their rescue in our recent article about them.

A few weeks ago there was a plea on Facebook about an area in downtown behind Fresno City Hall and a colony of kitties that were in need of TNR—trap neuter and return which is best policy for the colony’s health and brings a halt to the reproduction and more homeless cats. I decided to take on the task and headed out to meet with the feeder.

A wonderful woman in her 80s had been feeding the colony for a few years and had become very attached to the nine colony cats. She had names for every one of them and knew who was pregnant and who had babies and a general idea of where the babies were. I set up a few traps and her ever trusty drop trap. The first night we caught four, followed by a few more the next night, and before we knew it, we had counted a few extra cats bringing our total to twelve. Over forty hours trap sitting and we’d caught all but three kitties: one pregnant mama, one who was harboring babies somewhere close to city hall, and another mama who was not letting us catch her even though we had her babies safe in foster care.

Last Friday, I spent an hour staking out a little calico mama and where she was harboring the babies, and found that they were in a storm drain. With the impending rain, I gathered the help of Carly and Kat to help plan the rescue the following day. Saturday morning we barricaded the opening the best we could, and Carly jumped down in and started pulling out the little babies that were just outside arms reach; no mama, but five gorgeous littles. At that very moment a freight train, which was only feet from where we were, pulled by creating a true cats by the tracks scenario. We set a trap and hung out for the next eight hours, but we never saw mom. I decided to leave the trap and check on it periodically. Around midnight, I went back, and she was in the trap calm as could be. The following day she was reunited with her babies and sent to the foster who was willing to foster her even though she is feral and hard to find.

Consider supporting Cats By The Tracks. Visit our website at catsbythetracks.com! We can use donations, volunteers, and are also looking for foster parents. All donations are tax deductible. If you are interested in adopting, please visit our website as well.

Consider visiting our Amazon wishlist and purchasing something for Cats By The Tracks at: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/genericItemsPage/3K3TNIQZOPYXE?ref_=wl_share. With your help, we can make it a great year! We appreciate your continued support and feel free to reach out with any questions!

Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section & watch for more stories from Feral Paws every other month, and we would love to have you join our KRL Pets Facebook group. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to Feral Paws.