Feral Sammie Intimidated by Two Roadrunners

In November of 2009, I accepted a feral cat, Sammie, from a colleague in cat rescue work. The person who fed and kept him in their garage got him neutered. She did not know what to do with him, so I took him since I already have a feral colony. He was totally uninterested in being socialized, fiercely clawing my husband when he tried to get near him. So I put him in a holding cage outside to observe the other homeless cats and their feeding times hoping he would develop some sort of anchor or attachment to our area - so that when I released him he might decide to come back for feedings. At night, I brought him inside from the cold. I did this in and out ritual for about 4 days before releasing him from the cage. He never came back to feed with our colony. But one of my neighbors has seen him recently several times in a very healthy state in the yard of her neighbor, Benny, directly across the street from her.

This is a story she sent me a few days ago about an encounter Sammie had with two Roadrunner birds. You might find this story to be a bit amusing. (I have had so much intensity on my blog with losing so many cats that it's about time for something lighter). I changed a few words so it will make more sense to everyone reading it here. Enjoy my neighbor's story about Sammie -

Sammie seems happy and relaxed, living primarily in the bushes around and in the back yard at Benny's. He eats at my place and likes to sun himself on Benny's fence, which must be topped with a 2x4 or something like that since he sits up there and grooms himself and stretches out.

There is a roadrunner who also claims that yard as his territory. Judging from what follows, there must have been some kind of confrontation or altercation between the bird and Sammie in the past.

Sunday morning, Sammie and the roadrunner were in Benny's yard. Sammie, looking worried as they crossed paths, began to move away from the roadrunner. The roadrunner followed him. Sammie increased his pace as he crossed the street toward my house. So did the roadrunner. As Sammie dove into the ditch near my mailbox, the roadrunner stopped beside the mailbox. At this point a staring match began between the two of them.

Then a third party joined them - the roadrunner who resides in my yard. He'd been eating cat food, which he does frequently during the lean hunting times. My roadrunner marched over and began to stare at Sammie from the other side. So Sammie was flanked by the two roadrunners. Sammie became visibly agitated, looking from one bird to the other. Then my roadrunner stood up tall and spread his wings. At this point, Sammy lost his nerve, diving into the culvert (which is like a pipe under a driveway which drains water into the ditch when it rains hard) . The roadrunners nodded to each other and departed with dignity, Benny's bird walking back across the street, and mine down the street in another direction.

Sammie didn't peak out of the culvert for a good 10 minutes. I think their message got through to him -Do not mess with a roadrunner!

As I write this, Sammie is on the fence now, washing in the sunshine and watching some men repairing the roof on a nearby home. He's having a contented bird-free morning.

Thanks for leaving a comment if you are so inclined.

Be well all of you!

Debby