Lots of coyotes and predators in that area, many at my co-workers land in Christiana. I have them in my yard in Murfreesboro also, and a large bobcat.

Or maybe some whack job is rounding them up

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
why now? 22 in two weeks and none before in 4 years?

A couple of rogue coyotes passing through?

The local killer whales eat salmon, transient whales eat seals.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
If he was a little closer I might have thought SR borrowed them to fix his squirrels problem...

Ummm... I just need them a few more days.

something going around , maybe?

My grandmother was from Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Just sayin....

Has anyone thought about putting up a few strategically located (and well camouflaged) trail cameras?

quote:

Originally posted by John Steed:
Has anyone thought about putting up a few strategically located (and well camouflaged) trail cameras?

Done, downtown. This photo below is the only thing caught so far... you might have to lighten up your screen to even see anything. It could very well be a coyote... or a dog... there is a big town dog that hangs out down there near the gas station. More and better cameras are being worked on I understand.


I have had cats my whole life... 13 at one time when I was about 5 yr old. Just one at a time for the last several decades though. One thing I know is cats make a huge ruckus when fighting or attacked. How in the world would 32 cats be taken by coyotes within a 1 mile radius of downtown, in a town of 500, and no one has as heard a single thing... Also no bodies, bones or even fur found... No dogs are missing.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
something going around , maybe?

I thought maybe rabies or something highly contagious, I found a dead fox in my back yard about 6 weeks ago. But there are no cat bodies found, not even one...

Wouldn't local or county animal control people know if rabies was going around?

I live on the east side of the river here in Jacksonville which is to say the built up suburbia area and we have coyotes in our neighborhoods. Every so often the news reports it when they are caught on a security camera and a few years back when I was still working nights i saw 3 of them up the street from me around 3 am when i was having a cigar out in a the garage.

My point is that if you have coyotes in your part of the country, you have them downtown. They are adaptable and will live anywhere there is a food source.

I believe I live just north of you up 231 across the county line and I can hear the coyotes at night. They haven't bothered the cats around here though.

Any news on this?

While that is a poor pic, it looks like a yote to me.

It wouldn't take more than 1-4 of those to decimate the cat / small dog population.

They tore through a bunch of waterfowl around here until we put them down / ran them off.

Don't most jurisdictions treat cats roaming free the same as any other feral animal? It would seem that if you love your cat, you would keep it indoors. A cat's lifespan is greatly increased when not left to roam, as is the bird population. When I lived in a townhouse, I was amazed by how many people felt it was their cat's "right" to be left free to come over and crap by my barbecue grill.

How many cats will you see in two weeks? 22?
That is amazing! If you see 22 cats in two weeks, you definitely have a cat problem in a town of 500 people. Need to call the National Guard or something to get rid of them.

quote:

Don't most jurisdictions treat cats roaming free the same as any other feral animal? It would seem that if you love your cat, you would keep it indoors. A cat's lifespan is greatly increased when not left to roam, as is the bird population. When I lived in a townhouse, I was amazed by how many people felt it was their cat's "right" to be left free to come over and crap by my barbecue grill.

Yup. They are extremely destructive to many native species. It is in their nature to hunt and kill, even if they are not hungry. True ferals do not get a pass in my neighborhood.

quote:

Also no bodies, bones or even fur found.

I would bet on coyotes. It's not unusual for smaller animals like cats to totally disappear in the wake of coyotes. To be sure there is plenty of fur, bones, etc. to be found but you're not looking in the right places. Coyotes often bring their kills back to their dens to eat in comfort and more importantly to teach the young ones how to kill. We found a coyote den on our property once that we didn't even know was there. About 150 yards from the house. It was in an abandoned groundhog den. Bits of fur and bone scattered around the entrance. As soon as the bitch discovered that we found the den, activity stopped. She moved the pups overnight.

No updates and no additional missing cats reported on social media or by the mayor. My E-mail to city hall where the original notice came from for an update went unanswered.

I'll address a couple raised issues or questions.

Still no reports of any missing small dogs.

None of the missing cats were feral, all reported were pets.

I have only seen 2 cats and 3 or 4 dogs running loose in ~4 years here, other than mine, so no, we were never overrun with strays.

ALF perhaps?