Elusive Canyon Matriarch Captured
This week, Ms. Tuxedo Patches, the canyon’s feline matriarch, was finally spayed after over a year of effort on the part of campus staff.
Throughout her tenure in the canyon, Ms. Tuxedo Patches has birthed more kittens than campus staff has been able to keep track of, posing a significant problem to environmental health of the canyon. According to the Portland Audubon Society’s Wildlife Care Center, a local wildlife rehabilitation organization, cats are responsible for nearly 40% of the injured animals they take in. Since many birds in the canyon are migratory, their deaths can have significant impacts on ecosystems beyond Oregon. The spaying of Ms. Tuxedo Patches represents a significant victory in Reed’s effort to humanely decrease the amount of environmental harm the canyon cats are able to do.
Ms. Tuxedo Patches has been living at Reed for the past two and a half years, since she herself was a kitten. Since then, campus staff has recorded the birth of four litters of kittens, and it is possible that more kittens could have been born without their knowledge. The first two litters were captured by facilities services and were rehomed; only one kitten escaped from the third litter. The kitten that got away from the third litter – Pretty Kitty, a large orange tabby cat – was captured in November. Ms. Tuxedo Patches’ fourth litter, consisting of three kittens (now five months old) remains in the canyon, and all of the cats are now completely feral. All of the cats occupy the space under the gas shed near the Cerf Amphitheater, and have been extremely elusive during efforts to trap them. With Ms. Tuxedo Patches spayed, there are now only three known canyon cats with the ability to reproduce, averting a potential feline population explosion that might have been devastating to Reed’s avian community members.
Ms. Tuxedo Patches still roams her home turf today, but she now bears a newly clipped ear – the universal mark of a spayed or neutered feral cat. Her continued life in the canyon will be a persistent reminder of Reed’s commitment to environmental consciousness and humane-feline relations, something that will surely resonate strongly with a student body that has been variously described as cat-friendly, or even cat-loving.
Related posts:
CEP Captures Ecologically Damaging Canyon Kittens
A Bright Day for the Canyon
Canyon Day Through the Ages
Canyon Revival Presses On
Canyon Day Brings Community Together
Thanks for bringing attention to our efforts, Drew! I wanted to give you a few updates/corrections.
It’s the Conference & Events Planning office (with support from Facilities) that has been catching the cats. They are being spayed/neutered by the Feral Cat Coalition and released.
Mrs. Tuxedo Patches’ 4th/final litter actually consists of 7 kittens. One is unaccounted for (probably caught/adopted or eaten by a canyon critter), one was adopted by a CSO, one was adopted by a student, and the remaining 4 (not 3) are living with the canyon colony. Three of these four kittens have been spayed/neutered. Of the total 6 cats in the colony (Mrs. Tuxedo Patches, Pretty Kitty, two tabby kittens, and two black kittens), only one tabby kitten remains to be fixed. We have an appointment with the FCC next week, so hopefully the entire colony will be infertile soon!
Brittney Corrigan-McElroy
CEP
Is it not enough that the administration has smothered and smote student body autonomy? Must these beautiful creatures of the wild also quiver and flee under the harsh and ceaseless rationality of discipline exercised by the administration. The outrages of successive college administrations committed against animals forms a long and gruesome tally, from the “petting zoo” outside our already grimy mailroom, to the inhumane subjection of llamas to hours of aggressive fondling from stressed out nutjobs, and now this gross offense against the freedom of these fine little felines.
In Olde Reed these beauties would have run free, never to fear or suffer the invasive cruelties of this human race. A shame and a disgrace.
Richie,
You argue that in the administration’s actions we see a hand-tying beyond that wrought on the student body’s traditional, indeed sacred, autonomy. But what you neglect to perceive in your dogmatic approach to the problem at hand is that Kroger’s hands are themselves tied by a larger, Sadomasochistic entity: the Federal government. What if these felines, that, while adorable, were to multiply beyond number and damage much of the Canyon’s vital and delightful wildlife? I know that I might have roamed the Canyon’s trails back in the “swimming pool days” of Olde, before a fish ladder or river otter graced the scene, but I can still appreciate the destructive effect these razor-clawed hunters can have on the local fauna.
You seem to say that the administration is flattening feline autonomy as an obese elephant might, but do you really think that the Feds will sit back and watch a protected environment ravaged by the paws and mouths of a band of cats? I for one would hate to see our Alma Mater’s federal aid revoked over a scruffy band of felines.
Does no one remember the cats that used to roam campus? These feral cats almost depleted the bird population and are a travesty for bird watcher and bird lovers, such as myself. The cat spaying of ’76 solved the feline epidemic for a while, and I am sad to hear that the cats are back in full force.
The community must stand up for the defenseless bird population. Cats kill around 4 billion birds each year in the United States (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/01/29/New-study-says-outdoor-cats-are-serious-killers.html). There are also many endangered birds in Oregon, such as the lovely Northern Spotted Owl. Spayed or not, they remain killers. I suggest “Canyon Day” for Spring 2013 become “Cat-Hunt 2013.”
I call for a community effort to rid Reed of these cats. What say you, Kroger? What say you, Student Senate? Let us try some of the many ways to skin a cat.
Ellen,
I fully and enthusiastically support your idea of “Cat-Hunt 2013″; the subjugation of the canyon to these cold-blooded killers has gone on for too long. In anticipation, however, of the President’s censoring this event as he did with the recent Paideia classes, I am here posting a phenomenal recipe for cat burgers for all to see and use if they are so inclined.
Aunt Sally’s Famous Cat Burgers
Makes: 4 burgers
Vegetable oil
1 lb. ground tabby or calico
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 soft white hamburger bun, split
4 1⁄4″-thick slices of a large ripe tomato
12–16 sliced pickles (optional)
4 small leaves iceberg lettuce
4 1⁄4″-thick slices peeled onion
1. Lightly grease a small nonstick skillet with oil, then heat over medium-high heat.
2. Gently shape cat meat into a four 3 1⁄2″ patties (don’t overhandle meat, or it will toughen) and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Sear patties until well browned on both sides, turning once, about 1 minute per side. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking 1 minute more per side for medium rare.
4. Place on buns, garnish as desired, and enjoy!
I hope this is helpful for any other would-be cat hunters out there fighting the constraints of institutional censorship. Viva la cocina de gato!