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Thanks Pauline

Here are some additional questions to help me understand:

1) The house that Sunshine escaped out of previously is the same home you are in presently? Yes

2) When he jumped out of your arms the first escape, do you believe he jumped out of fear from being outside? Yes

3) In this recent escape, had you noticed any reason why Sunshine might have run out the door? Did it seem more fear based or territorial defending based? heard any caterwauling? possibly females in heat? (neutered cats sometimes still pursue females) was the a loud noise or something else that may have frightened him just prior to him escaping? since you saw some new cats a couple days after his escape he may have wanted to defend his territory?

May have been territorial defending or a female cat. There have been the two strays that were hanging around - one of them at least is still there - on our front porch just this morning eating food I put out just in case he showed up.

4) "My husband last saw him up the bank just on the other side of the woods (steep bank up to a large cemetery in back of us - border of woods of about 20 feet between our yard and the cemetery) two nights after he got lost."

What time of day did your husband spot Sunshine? Was he crossing the bank or ascending the bank? How far up — quarter way up? halfway up? What was Sunshine's behavior. .. how did he walk? slinking? fast or slow? how was his reaction to seeing your husband?

10:30 at night. He was walking along a ridge created by dirt piled up by the cemetery workers. When he spotted my husband, he ran back down into the woods toward our house, and my husband couldn't find him after that. This was the first area that I focused on when I returned home the next night and began looking for him. Took tuna out with me and just sat still, but called from time to time like I did when he got lost two years ago. No response though.

It's interesting that Sunshine was spotted farther than in his first escape. Maybe he travelled beyond the woods because of the two stray cats seen recently.

This is what I'm wondering. If those two cats are scaring him away, what can we do to get them out of the area? They're obviously too smart for the traps, but I think they keep eating the food we put around -- nearer to our house. Probably eating the food trails we leave at the traps too.

5) The direction that Sunshine was last seen heading. . .is there anything that would be attractive to a cat in this direction? Was he heading toward the cemetary?

The last obsolute positive sighting was that of my husband two nights after he ran out of the house -- and that would be when he ran back down the bank into the woods right behind our house.

6) Are you aware of any cat in the area that could be mistaken for Sunshine?

One of the stray cats is a pale yellow - and we had first described Sunshine on flyers as "yellow" so it's possible the neighbor who thought she saw him on her deck was mistaken, as well as the second sighting in a field some distance from our house. We've since changed the flyers to say "orange" because he's much darker than the cat we've seen.

At the last sighting - a great distance from our house - those people, in fact, have a yellow cat, but the other neighbor who thinks he saw Sunshine says it wasn't the cat that lives at that house. However, this person is the son of neighbors who is visiting from Denmark and doesn't really know what Sunshine looks like. He insisted this cat had on a collar, though, which Sunshine did. The cat that lives at that house didn't.

I don't know if pictures would help. It's such a large area if we consider all the possible sightings. I can perhaps draw a map, scan it and send it to you that way.

We put out three traps last night, two nearer to our house and one much farther away where someone thought they saw a cat slinking along the woods - no color could be determined -- too dark at the time, but we set a trap there anyway. Caught nothing.

Any ideas? Thanks so much for responding.

Barbara

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Thank you all again from Sunshine and his mommy. I am soooooo happy to have that baby back!

To answer Pauline's questions:

Do you think ANY of the farther away sightings were Sunshine? [NO, NOT NOW I DON'T] Were there any solid sightings closer in besides your husband seeing him run down the slope and later on Wed possibly being chased by fox? [NO, UNLESS YOU COUNT THE NEXT DAY AFTER THE NIGHT HE FIRST GOT OUT (AROUND MIDNIGHT). I WASN'T AT HOME, BUT MY HUSBAND SAYS HE FIRST RAN OUT THE FRONT DOOR AND STOOD IN THE YARD FOR A MINUTE EATING GRASS. WHEN MY HUSBAND TRIED TO GET HIM, HE RAN AROUND THE HOUSE AND BACK INTO THE WOODS. THE NEXT DAY, MY HUSBAND LOOKED FOR HIM AND FOUND HIM UNDER FLOWER BUSHES RIGHT BESIDE THE HOUSE, BUT WHEN HE TRIED TO REACH HIM, HE RAN TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HOUSE AND GOT UNDER A ROSE BUSH. FURTHER ATTEMPTS BY MY HUSBAND TO REACH HIM -- THOUGH HE SAYS HE GOT FOOD AND SAT QUIETLY TRYING TO ENTICE HIM CLOSER FROM UNDER A HUGE THORNY ROSE BUSH FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR -- SCARED HIM, AND HE TOOK OFF FOR THE WOOD AGAIN. DIDN'T SEE HIM AGAIN UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT, THEN NO MORE DEFINITE SIGHTINGS AT ALL. ALL WE GOT FROM NEIGHBORS WAS 'YELLOW CAT' DESCRIPTIONS, AND THERE WAS A PALER YELLOW STRAY AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD AT THE SAME TIME - STILL IS. I DON'T THINK ANY OF THEM, BASED ON THE DISTANT LOCATIONS, WERE HIM]

Do you still believe it was water that was attracting Sunshine up to the cemetery? [IT WAS EITHER WATER OR MY HUSBAND GOT TOO CLOSE TO HIS HIDING PLACE AND HE RAN FROM THE NOISE BEING MADE -- IMPOSSIBLE TO WALK QUIETLY IN THAT AREA. FOR WATER THOUGH, HE COULD HAVE COME RIGHT BACK INTO OUR YARD WHERE THERE'S A FISH POND WITH BETTER WATER THAN THE STANDING RAIN WATER IN THE CEMETERY] Here's what puzzles me. . .he probably knows what direction home is and yet he still goes (what sounds like) in the opposite direction to the cemetery [YES], but when scared he runs to the woods where there are scary foxes.. .I guess I wanna know what is so enticing to cats that they would show themselves even when in a state of fear? To know what motivates these funny furbabies of ours helps gauge where they may be. [I CAN ONLY GUESS THAT HE RAN TO THE WOODS FIRST OF ALL BECAUSE THAT'S THE PLACE WHERE THERE IS GOOD "COVER" FOR HIM - LOTS OF BRAMBLES AND VINES AND FALLEN TREES. AS I INDICATED ABOVE, ACCORDING TO MY HUSBAND, HE RETURNED TO THE HOUSE AT LEAST ONCE ON SATURDAY AFTER GETTING OUT ON FRIDAY NIGHT, BUT HE RAN TO THE WOODS AGAIN WHEN MY HUSBAND TRIED TO GRAB HIM FROM UNDER A ROSE BUSH BY THE HOUSE. I CAN ONLY GUESS AGAIN THAT THE TWO SIGHTINGS THAT WE'RE PRETTY SURE WERE HIM PRIOR TO TRAPPING HIM -- IN THE CEMETERY JUST ON THE EDGE OF THE WOODS -- WERE DUE TO HIM BEING "FLUSHED OUT" BY EITHER MY HUSBAND OR THE FOX GETTING TO CLOSE TO WHERE HE WAS HIDING. THE CEMETERY IS UPHILL -- A SLOPE OF ABOUT 20 FEET OR SO --FROM WHERE WE TRAPPED HIM, WHILE COMING BACK HOME WOULD HAVE MEANT COMING DOWNHILL, THEN INTO THE YARD WHICH IS WIDE OPEN SPACE. PERHAPS UPHILL AND STILL CLOSER TO THE WOODS SEEMED SAFER TO HIM?? IT'S SO HARD TO FIGURE OUT. THERE ARE ALSO BURROWS AND TUNNELS ON THE SLOPE WHERE THE CEMETERY HAS DUMPED FILL DIRT ON TOP OF ROCKS AND FALLEN TREES THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ATTRACTIVE TO HIM FOR HIDING]

Foxes and Trapping:

Did you intentionally trap the fox on Thurs? [NO, JUST GOT LUCKY] If so, did you use a different bait? What size trap were you using? The ones we have are Havahart Large animal traps. [YES, OURS ARE HAVAHART "LARGE" SIZE, 32" LONG, 10" WIDE, 12" HIGH. HAD SAME BAIT WE'D BEEN USING OTHER TIMES]

Did you change baits? [NO, USED SARDINES AND SOME DRY CAT FOOD ALWAYS] or stuck with one bait? Does Sunshine like fishy things like sardines as a rule? [YES, HE LOVES FISHY SARDINES - HOWEVER, ONE OF HIS FAVORITE THINGS, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IS ANYTHING WITH TOMATO SAUCE - HE'LL ALWAYS BEG -- AND I EVEN TOOK A LARGE BOWL OF SPAGHETTI SAUCE OUT ONE DAY WHEN I SAT IN THE WOODS FOR 7 HOURS WITHOUT ANY LUCK. I SAT FOR 7 HOURS WITHIN WHAT WAS MAYBE 20 FEET FROM WHERE HE WAS TRAPPED, WITH NOTHING AT ALL - NO SOUNDS, NOTHING THAT DAY. I TRIED BOTH CALLING AND THEN SITTING VERY QUIETLY SO HE MIGHT SMELL EITHER ME OR THE TOMATO SAUCE. LATER USED SARDINES THAT DAY TOO, BUT NO RESULTS THEN]

How many traps did you routinely use in the woods area? Did you move the trap around? [WE USED THREE TRAPS, BORROWED ONE AND BOUGHT TWO. YES, WE MOVED THEM AROUND A BIT FROM RIGHT BEHIND OUR HOUSE TO BEHIND NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS HOUSES - ONLY A FEW YARDS AWAY EACH TIME. AFTER SEEING THE FOX CHASING "A YELLOW CAT", MY HUSBAND MOVED ONE TRAP BACK TO RIGHT BEHIND OUR HOUSE -- IN AN ABSOLUTE DIRECT LINE -- ON THE HILLSIDE WHERE HE WAS POKING AROUND WHEN HE THINKS HE FLUSHED BOTH OF THEM OUT. DURING THE LAST WEEK OF TRAPPING, THOUGH, WE ONLY HAD TWO TRAPS - HAD TO RETURN THE BORROWED ONE. THE ONLY THING DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT THAT DAY, OTHER THAN PUTTING THE TRAPS OUT DURING DAYLIGHT, WAS THAT MY HUSBAND WASHED THE TRAPS THOROUGHLY BEFORE HE PUT THEM OUT, THINKING THAT THE SMELL OF THE RACCOONS AND FOX PREVIOUSLY CAUGHT MIGHT SCARE HIM AWAY. MAYBE THAT CONTRIBUTED TO HIM BEING CAUGHT????]

What time of day did you routinely trap? [WE HAD BEEN TRAPPING ONLY AFTER DARK, AROUND 9:00 OR 10:00 UNTIL AROUND 6:00 A.M. MY HUSBAND WOULD GET UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND GO CHECK THE TRAPS, BUT THEN REMOVE THEM BEFORE HE LEFT FOR WORK. I FINALLY CONVINCED HIM TO PUT THE TRAPS OUT DURING THE DAY LAST SATURDAY WHEN WE FINALLY GOT SUNSHINE] I noticed that Sunshine was caught at 7:00 pm — is that dusk where you live? [YES] And you picked the time because you had seen him dusk to evening time previously? [I ONLY PICKED "DAYTIME" OVER "NIGHTTIME" TRAPPING BECAUSE SOMEONE WITH A LOCAL RESCUE GROUP HAD SUGGESTED WE TRY IT BECAUSE HE MIGHT BE LESS AFRAID OF THE FOX THEN, AND OUT OF DESPERATION BECAUSE NIGHTTIME TRAPPING HADN'T GOTTEN ANY RESULTS. MY HUSBAND WAS HOME ALL DAY AND AVAILABLE TO CHECK THE TRAPS PERIODICALLY, SO I THOUGHT IT WAS CERTAINLY WORTH A TRY - AND LO AND BEHOLD, IT WORKED!]

Sunshine:

And the most important question is how is Sunshine doing?? Did he lose a lot of weight? [HE SEEMS FINE, A BIT SUBDUED AND SLEEPING A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL FOR HIM -- UNTIL FINALLY LAST NIGHT, HE BROUGHT A TOY TO DADDY TO PLAY FETCH - ONE OF HIS FAVORITE GAMES. HE WAS CLEAN ENOUGH WHEN WE FOUND HIM, BUT HAD DEFINITELY LOST WEIGHT, ALTHOUGH NOT AS MUCH AS I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT AFTER 3 WEEKS] Do you think Sunshine was hunting? [IT'S HARD TO SAY. IF HE WAS, HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO MOVE AROUND A LOT IN THE WOODS OR GO UP IN THE CEMETERY I WOULD THINK, WHICH WOULD HAVE EXPOSED HIM] Vet visit checked out ok? [YES, I WAS PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT WORMS, NOT KNOWING WHAT HE MIGHT HAVE EATEN, BUT GOT A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH] How long did it take for him to drop the scaredy cat mode and do the purr mode? [NOT LONG AT ALL. ONE OF OUR OTHER CATS STARTED TO HISS AT HIM WHEN WE FIRST LET HIM OUT OF THE TRAP, AND HE GOT A CONFUSED, DAZED LOOK, SO I GRABBED HIM UP AND TOOK HIM TO OUR BEDROOM AND LOCKED THE OTHER CATS OUT. AS SOON AS I CUDDLED HIM AND DID HIS FAVORITE THING OF RUBBING MY CHIN ON TOP OF HIS HEAD, AND TALKED BABY TALK TO HIM HE STARTED PURRING. I KEPT HIM WITH ME AND ISOLATED FROM THE OTHER CATS UNTIL THE NEXT DAY SO THAT HE AND I COULD HAVE SPECIAL TIME WITHOUT THEM INTERRUPTING. HE SNUGGLED CLOSE RIGHT BETWEEN MY HUSBAND AND ME ALL NIGHT, AND I ALSO STAYED HOME ALL DAY THE NEXT DAY WITH HIM. HE WOULD COME TO ME PERIODICALLY, MEOWING, JUMP UP FOR A LITTLE REASSURANCE AND A CUDDLE -- MAYBE A NAP -- BUT THEN HE'D GO EAT/DRINK AGAIN AND WANDER FOR A WHILE. HE REPEATED THIS THROUGHOUT THAT FIRST DAY. EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE BACK TO NORMAL NOW, THOUGH WITH NO MORE HISSING FROM THE OTHER CATS, AND HE'S BACK TO SLEEPING ON HIS FAVORITE OTTOMAN IN FRONT OF A WINDOW LOOKING OUT ON THE BACK YARD AND THE WOODS WHERE HE WAS LOST.]

IT'S SUCH A STRANGE THING THAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE KITTIES GET LOST, I'M WONDERING IF I SHOULD PUT HIM ON A LEASH OR SECURE HIM IN SOME OTHER WAY AND WALK ALL AROUND THE YARD AND THE EDGE OF THE WOODS WITH HIM TO SHOW HIM HOW TO GET BACK AND TO THE DOOR -- AND THEN SOMEHOW TEACH HIM THAT WE'LL LET HIM IN AT THE DOOR. ANY IDEAS?

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL,
BARBARA