By Lily Damron / Lomabeat.com / Jan. 25, 2023
Many on-campus Point Loma Nazarene University students may be familiar with the feral cats that roam around campus, especially the ones that live in the wooded area along the southern edge of Nease Residence Hall. Some may also be familiar with Jim Gaupsas and his wife, who feed and take care of them. I first heard about Gaupsas, and the cat population, from my roommate after she had unsuccessfully attempted to befriend the campus’ cats.
One afternoon, she ran into Gaupsas, who furthered her interest in becoming a cat whisperer.
?This past weekend, I walked over to the upper Nease parking lot and found the clearing off the path where the cats’ water bowls were. I settled down with a book for over an hour, hoping the cats would let me get close enough to take some pictures of them. As it grew closer to lunchtime, more and more cats melted out of the woodwork, but none would let me get within ten feet of them.
Then, around one, about six cats burst forward and ran toward a truck that had pulled up in up in the parking lot. I knew it had to be Gaupsas. I watched in awe as the previously skittish cats butted up against him and rubbed against his legs, meowing as he took bowls of cat food out of a refrigerated bag and talked to them by name. They still skirted around me, though, hiding in the bushes if I got too close or too loud.
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No offense to cat lovers, but these kitties are absolute murdering hell on local bird populations. Especially the smaller birds. Domesticated cats who are fed by humans killed enormous numbers of birds in the US. Bluntly, they are a plague.
People dump cats (and dogs) out of cars on the dirt roads in these mountains constantly, and they immediately start starving. When new ones show up I start find little piles of feathers around the property as the bird population just flat-out plummets.
Mostly people around here just get out their .22s.
I’ve only had one actually come in that re-adjusted. Loves the dog, too, rubbing up against her purring and the look the dog gives me… Tigerkitty is still an outdoor cat but she loves to fall asleep in my lap on the front porch whenever possible. Hates any other stray cats but is too little to protect her food dish so she gets to eat inside when a new stray shows up. She is very good at catching mice, moles, and gophers. And birds unfortunately.
They usually don’t last long as these discarded pets become snacks for the local wildlife. The coyote packs, cougars, wolves, bobcats snap them up as snacks, along with the bigger hawks and bald eagles, rather quickly.
And it doesn’t matter how much you feed them, they’ll just kill birds to kill birds and leave the bodies to rot. De-claw and bell your kitties is a good idea!
sealintheSelkirks