Farewell Perdita and Brood

In the spring of 2014 Perdita found our home and never left. She was tiny, scared and alone. I always wondered where her litter mates were, but she always remained as the sole “lost one”. The Monsters were just a year old and were new to the outdoors, exploring and curious, but also territorial. Territorial except with Perdita, who followed them around like a shadow. She never grew much bigger than she was and always looked small compared to the others. Within a year she had produced a litter of her own and they were fluffy balls of cuteness. I named one George, who turned out to be a female, and one Gizmo because of the hair in her ears. It was wild and adorable! The third one never received a name because he/she was, and still is, elusive and skittish. It  turns out that one is a twin and they are never seen together. Isn’t that wild? They both skedaddle as soon as someone walks outside, and is never at the food bowl until no person is in view.

At the beginning of the year Perdita looked like she was expecting again, and that is when I decided they all had to go. However, I have been talking about it for months, doing nothing about it. That is, until MtnMan visited a few weeks ago. We were on the deck and looked up to see Perdita marching the new litter across the yard to the shed area, which is Garfield’s territory. It was an amazing site to see and the babies were just as fluffy as the first batch, but this madness cannot continue.

MtnMan trapped Perdita, George (*sad face*) and Gizmo, which the dog catcher picked up a couple weeks ago. That is when we realized the no-named one was a twin and they were too elusive to catch. Unfortunately, the three that I had fun watching are gone, but I am certain those three would eventually turn into hundreds because they were all females. I don’t need to be known as the cat lady at the bottom of the hill, nor do I want to feed that many.

So, farewell Perdita, the Monsters are sure to miss you stalking them as they roll in the dirt and nap on the picnic table. G’bye George, you were the one I was most attached to! And, Gizmo, those ears, they made me smile!