Resident Article: Natural Area & Common Areas in Maple Hill by Ann Bilyeu

I love cats. I’m a cat person, and though I’m not quite at the Crazy Cat Lady stage, I’ve had cats all my life. My current Queen is a rescued barn cat that I adopted shortly after my beloved Vincent and Larry crossed the rainbow bridge 14 years ago. She was brought to me by my (now) daughter-in-law, who at the time, was a vet tech intern at a clinic in Wellington.

She had been sprayed by a skunk, she had one kitten with her (who knows what may have happened to the others), she was riddled with pellets and BBs from being used as target practice, and ended up in my DILs parent’s barn in Ault. She’s, let's say, very spoiled now!

I grew up in a family where pets weren’t allowed inside, but I have a clear childhood memory of sneaking my Tippy Tin indoors to sleep with me at night. Over the years, we accepted that pets were never allowed inside, but when I grew up and had my own place, that obviously changed. Still, my cats were allowed to roam. I had the mindset that it was cruel, it was unnatural, it was not the way you treated your cat, to make them stay inside.

I believe that education is power. When you know better, you do better.

It has only been in the last 20 years that I learned just how wrong I was. I learned that letting your cat roam is not only unsafe for the cat in an urban world, but that they contribute to the downfall of the ecosystem and wildlife in our world. I learned how to contain my cat so that she gets fresh air during the warm months. She has no interest in the outdoors when it’s cold outside!

I learned that we shouldn’t let our cats roam, anymore than we would let our dogs roam.

Below is an article from Birds of Colorado about cats.

“Cats present one of the biggest dangers to wild birds. Free-ranging felines kill up to 4 billion birds every year in the United States. The bacteria in cat saliva are toxic to birds, so even if a cat does not immediately kill a bird, its bite can lead to infection and death for the bird.

What to do: The best way to keep your cat from hunting birds and other wildlife is to keep it indoors. This is safer for both your pet and wild birds. If you must let your cat outside and can’t keep an eye on it yourself, take the following precautions to minimize danger. Shorten the amount of time spent outside. This is less time your cat has to “play” with wildlife. Birds are most active at dusk and dawn. These would be the best times to keep your cat inside. Trim your cat’s claws to make it harder to climb trees. Don’t feed feral cats. This encourages them to stay in your yard. Spay or neuter your cat. While this will not affect its hunting behavior, it will keep your cat from adding to cat populations. Go shopping! You can find a number of different products, such as colorful cat collars, cat bibs, and pens to keep cats contained, that claim to lessen the ability of your cat to catch wildlife. “

There are numerous articles on “how to keep your cat contained”.

And one last reminder, the cats that roam into the Natural Area, also do their business there. Please be considerate of the neighbors who have to put up with the smell, but that their waste also goes into the groundwater, which in turn feeds into the aquifer for the water you drink.