Cats. Gophers. Sweet Peas

Over the years, GreenPrints magazine has published many stories about cats and gardens. One of my faves is "Cats. Gophers. Sweet Peas: A Problem Of Boundaries" by Terilynn Mitchell. It is a "story about what happens when cats and gophers get mixed up in the garden." You can read it here.

Hear Me Roar!

Loretta Gillespie submitted this photo of Alvin and an article she wrote on "Cats in the Garden" for the Cullman Times.

"In the South, cats in the garden and in the greenhouse are almost a fixture anywhere you visit. They are hunters of big game, i.e. rats, mice, snakes...

 

...Every gardener needs a garden cat, to keep us safe from all the bad things."

 

Read the full article text at:

http://www.cullmantimes.com/features/x252043720/SOUTHERN-STYLE-Cats-in-the-garden

Tango's Story

Diana Wind of http://GardenCuizine.com submitted the following links to a three-part story on Tango the Garden Cat.

Part 1, Tango Arrives

Part 2, Tango's Garden Adventure

Part 3, Home for Christmas

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1824/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2204/

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2685/


Diana said, "The Tango cat fiction was based on a true story of Tango, a little black cat who just arrived in our Garden along with his furry friends, Zina and Cali. Our suburban yard is a habitat Certified for Wildlife. Wildlife gravitates to the trees, shrubs, ground cover and gardens that provide shelter, food (native berries and seeds) and water sources. We have numerous songbirds, hawks, owls and your typical backyard squirrels and chipmunks. On occasion we've seen deer, wild turkey and groundhogs. And as much as I love cats, I wish we didn't get feral or stray cats in our garden. Cats (Felis catus) as a species are really not wild and deserve better.

   Every township is different, but ours does not do TNR (trap, neuter, release). Sadly they euthanize feral and stray cats that they trap. I suspect they do that with red foxes too. I haven't heard a fox howl since I wrote the Tango story..."