December 13, 2007

I checked the film this morning - still the possum. The good news is that I found the catnip bottle quickly. I am hoping the sardine juice will prompt the cat to come investigate, but it started snowing this morning. Around 10:00 I decide to work from home because it is coming down so hard. After about an hour driving a 20 minutes commute (crossing the mid-hudson bridge cost me 30 minutes instead of the usual 5) I decided to gather up the camera on the way. By the time I got there the snow was already up to the lens and the plates were covered. I had to kick around the snow to get them. I brought the left over sardines home and put them in the dishes I keep outside my house. The leftover friskies I just left there - I figured they will disintegrate by the time the snow melts. The total accumulation was 8 -10 inches. I hope Roy found himself someplace to shelter during the storm - and after.

Today is the first day for my ad to run with the website. I am hoping to get some people logging on and helping me to find Roy. He is a really sweet cat with some health issues. If you have seen him please let me know - If you have just seen a black/white cat you don't recognize let me know too. I can set up a camera and check whether it is Roy or not. I noticed that lots of people assume the cat must belong to someone in the neighborhood. Please let me confirm that is the case.

If you think you might have seen his body by the side of the road let me know too. I know accidents happen. Knowing he has passed will give me closure and let me stop worrying about him - especially in this weather.

December 12,2007

It turns out that my mystery creature was a possum. I don't know if he has been eating the food the entire time or just last night, but since there was a cat in the area I am leaving the food out until I get confirmation on wether it was Roy or not. When I was getting the film this morning the lady who owns the house came out and told me they could see the flash from their bedroom window and were not sure what it was. I didn't realize the flash was that powerful so I moved the camera further into the woods. I don't want to annoy the people who are kind enough to let me watch on their property. This time I put out some sardines - I hope that might attract the cat. I noticed that I dropped my catnip bottle when I got home - I'll have to find it tomorrow. I don't like the idea of leaving anything on someone else's property.

There is supposed to be a storm coming up this weekend - I hope I have an answer before then.

December 11, 2007

There were no pictures this morning and half of the friskies were gone so I collected the camera. I set a new camera up and set it in the hallway to test wether it was working. I got 6 pictures and managed to blind myself for a few minutes. When I went back to set the camera up on location something had finished off the friskies but left the can of oceanfish(don't ask what fish is in it - I just know that is the label on the can. It's probably better not to know exactly what is in there!). This makes me think whatever is there is probably a domestic cat. A raccoon would have gone for the oceanfish and I noticed on my other sites that the canned food went a lot quicker then the dry food. One of the missing cat forums had a post saying that feral cats went for the wet food because it was "better" but domestics went for the dry since it was what they are used to. I have my fingers crossed that I will get a good picture and that it is Roy. Please keep me in your thoughts/prayers.

December 10, 2007

As expected the friskies were a soggy mess this morning. I forgot to bring a trash bag with me so I figured I would clean them up when I went to set up this evening. Some time during the day something ate some of those soggy friskies but there were no pictures on the camera. I dumped the rest of the food in a trash bag and put fresh friskies on it. I took a second plate and put some smelly wet food on it and put it closer to the camera. If the food is gone and there are no pictures I am going to have to assume the camera is broken and switch it out with another one. As I drove off I did see a flash go off (probably set off by my car) so I know it is doing something. The waiting is getting to me. I am thinking this sighting was probably Leotard - it is within 100 yards of his main territory. But I have to know for sure. If this is not Roy then I am am at a loss as to where to go next.

PS - wet friskies smell nasty! Maybe that is why something was attracted to them.

Possible Sighting of Roy

On 12/8/07, there has been a potential sighting of Roy at #5 Kayleigh Drive, New Paltz, NY.

Please be on the lookout for a BLACK & WHITE cat with similar markings to Roy in this area.

It is vitally important that each and every sighting be pursued to the fullest, the witnessed cat be found, and an accurate determination be made about whether the sighted cat is in fact Roy.

In the event that the sighted cat can not be found nor identified, valuable evidence is lost, progress is delayed, and Roy remains at risk.

Please help Daniela in whatever way you can. Many Thanks, Steve H.

December 09, 2007

Nothing found the food I placed out with the camera last night. I decided to leave the camera on and the food there in case something found it during the day. It is now raining so I didn't bother topping off the food. Since I only left dry food it will get very soggy and nothing will want to eat it. Tomorrow I will be putting sardines there to try to lure an animal to the food. I have my fingers crossed that this cat is Roy.

December 08, 2007

Today my plan was to pass out more flyers, after sleeping in a bit. I had just gotten up when I got a phone call saying that a black and white cat had been seen in a nearby street - one street over from the last sighting. I jumped in my car and went looking - I didn't see any cats but I did see a lot of prints in the snow. One gentleman was letting his dog out and let me look in his backyard - I saw a few prints in the snow but not much to go on. He told me that a lady down the street had a lot of cats and to check if Roy had come to her house. This was the street I had been planning on distributing flyers to so I went back home, ate breakfast, showered and went back out there. The 4/5 houses around the sighting area said they saw a black and white cat but didn't get a good enough look to know if it was Roy or not. There is another black and white cat in the area - I call him Leotard because it looks like he is wearing one - black body and white hind legs. One of the houses gave me permission to place a camera on their property so I set that up tonight. And about 30 minutes ago I got another call saying they saw a black/white cat three days ago but didn't get a good look either. This call came from one street over so I am sure that it is the same cat. I have my fingers crossed that this is Roy.