Local Voices Blog: Homeless Cats Discovered Under Cell Tower

I meandered out of East Lake this morning to visit Oldsmar.  Final permissions were granted to install an osprey platform next to the cell tower in Oldsmar this week, so I went to flag the location.  The nest will be removed tomorrow and will be saved to go onto the new platform.  After I placed the flags I decided to get one last photo of the nest from underneath.  Fortunately, the sun was in my eyes.  I walked around to the backside of the tower to get the sun behind me and got a big surprise.

First I saw what appeared to be three couch cushions and thought it might belong to a homeless person. Then I saw a shopping cart with cans in it. Again, I thought this must belong to a homeless person. Then I saw the calico cat. She was sitting in the open fence door. I looked into the shopping cart, full of empty cat food cans. I still didn't know if there was a person associated with the situation.

I decided to leave quickly and go around front and talk with some of the businesses. They all indicated that only cats used the cushions. One of the businesses was giving them food and water daily. The consensus was that the cats had been there for three years, were breeding, and currently had four kittens.

I called Christina Kugeares who works with cats and I called Rick Chaboudy from the .    Both came to check out the situation.  My fear was that the activity around the tower could cause injury to the mother or the kittens.  Christina caught and crated the mother and the kittens.  We saw the father and three more female calico cats so there was a total of five adults and four kittens.  We informed Rick Chaboudy of our count for this morning so a trapping plan for the rest can be made.  Overall the cats seem to be in good condition. The mother is very thin however.

The base of the tower and the area which the cats occupied was scattered with catfish bones.  I imagine when the ospreys are present they drop plenty of fish inadvertently providing the cats a small snack. The cats are now homeless, evicted as of today. The ospreys have not returned from their hiatus or migration yet, but as of tomorrow they too are homeless, foreclosure.  Boy Scout Noah Thompson from East Lake will change that for the ospreys and we'll try to change the situation for the cats this go around.

Anyone serious inquires for adoption or donations welcomed.  Please call Barb at 727-798-2385.