My family had a mysterious "cat roaming free" when I was a child; a gray adult male whom we called Zoop. He wandered in one day and was reasonably affectionate, but he only visited our house once every few days. He apparently roamed our neighborhood and had several homes that he visited regularly to get petted and fed, but he remained free of any of them. He doubtlessly was called by a different name at each house. He visited us for several months or a year, and just stopped appearing eventually. We never learned what happened to him.
Any cats roaming free around Los Angeles today quickly disappear, and are probably eaten by coyotes. Coyotes migrated into Southern California around thirty years ago, and have grown to become a problem. They are invisible by day (although I did see one roaming through the luxury Beverly Hills district once) but come out at night. They have made it impossible to let cats or small dogs out at night. Several years ago some coyotes got into the Los Angeles Zoo one night and slaughtered all the flamingoes in an uncaged pool. About a year ago a coyote den (unoccupied at the moment) was found in downtown L.A., which is heavily urbanized.
My sister Sherry, who lives in a small apartment house in North Hollywood, about ten miles from me, has become a "den mother" to the raccoons in her neighborhood. She leaves out food for them every night, and has gotten a small wading pool that she fills with water so they can wash the food before eating it. The raccoons live in trees during the day, so they don't have to worry about non-climbing animals. We also have lots of squirrels and opossums (also arboreal) around here that can be semi-tamed to eat food left out for them, although they run away if approached by a human. I have occasionally smelled a skunk, although I don't know anyone who has seen one.
This news report was broadcast several years ago, and has become famous.
My family had a mysterious "cat roaming free" when I was a child; a gray adult male whom we called Zoop. He wandered in one day and was reasonably affectionate, but he only visited our house once every few days. He apparently roamed our neighborhood and had several homes that he visited regularly to get petted and fed, but he remained free of any of them. He doubtlessly was called by a different name at each house. He visited us for several months or a year, and just stopped appearing eventually. We never learned what happened to him.
Any cats roaming free around Los Angeles today quickly disappear, and are probably eaten by coyotes. Coyotes migrated into Southern California around thirty years ago, and have grown to become a problem. They are invisible by day (although I did see one roaming through the luxury Beverly Hills district once) but come out at night. They have made it impossible to let cats or small dogs out at night. Several years ago some coyotes got into the Los Angeles Zoo one night and slaughtered all the flamingoes in an uncaged pool. About a year ago a coyote den (unoccupied at the moment) was found in downtown L.A., which is heavily urbanized.
My sister Sherry, who lives in a small apartment house in North Hollywood, about ten miles from me, has become a "den mother" to the raccoons in her neighborhood. She leaves out food for them every night, and has gotten a small wading pool that she fills with water so they can wash the food before eating it. The raccoons live in trees during the day, so they don't have to worry about non-climbing animals. We also have lots of squirrels and opossums (also arboreal) around here that can be semi-tamed to eat food left out for them, although they run away if approached by a human. I have occasionally smelled a skunk, although I don't know anyone who has seen one.
This news report was broadcast several years ago, and has become famous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0czs_OtqrLA
Fred Patten