Just one more thought -- you might check with the feral cat experts, Alley
Cat Allies <http://www.alleycat.org/>. They deal with feral cat colonies,
policy, and caregivers daily and no doubt can give you plenty of valuable
information and insight.

Elizabeth

On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 12:10 PM, Stephanie Gilmore <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
>
>
> Thank you all for your responses.  I really appreciate your input and
> thoughts. My question was very preliminary, so I’m still unsure if anything
> will come of it. But I now have several great resources and thoughts to
> consider, should our museum decide to keep feral cats on site for pest
> control.
>
>
>
> Thanks again!
>
>
>
> *Stephanie Gilmore*
>
> Curator of Collections
>
> Colorado Railroad Museum
>
>
>
> *From:* Wiley, Cynthia [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> *Sent:* Monday, October 31, 2016 8:43 PM
> *To:* Stephanie Gilmore
> *Subject:* [GRAYMAIL] [MUSEUM-L] Feral Cat Colonies as Vermin Control at
> Living History Sites
>
>
>
> Hi Stephanie,
>
>
>
> At Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site in La Junta, CO, we have two cat
> groups - one domesticated, one feral. The domesticated include two cats
> that live in the fort - they have free run of the rooms and outside the
> fort during the day. The park does lock them in a room at night to protect
> them from raccoons and other predators. Food, water, and a litter box are
> provided. They do take care of our mice issues - we have few hanta virus
> concerns and are no longer required to wear respirators when cleaning. They
> will also kill the occasional toad, bat, or snake, but we consider that
> part of the living history atmosphere. It's reality. We use domesticated
> cats in this sphere because we want them to be able to interact positively
> with the visitors, which overwhelmingly they do. They have nipped the odd
> person that over-bothered them, but usually they just take off. They've
> been known to walk over to a seated visitor and just curl up in their laps,
> which is generally considered charming.
>
>
>
> The feral cats are mostly abandoned or transient cats that live around our
> maintenance building, a quarter mile from the fort and our domestic pair.
> We've participated in trapping and spay/neutering them, but they come and
> go so we do wind up with kittens sometimes. They live outside and other
> than the above occasional vet care and some cat food and water that staff
> puts out unofficially, they're on their own. But they do help us out with
> mice - we don't have a huge problem with mice anywhere in the park.
>
>
>
> As part of our living history situation, we do have chickens and peacocks,
> but none of the cats seem to bother them much. I did see one of the
> domesticated cats stalking a very young peachick this spring, but mama
> peahen dissuaded the cat from continuing.
>
>
>
> I'm not sure if this is the type of information you are looking for, but
> this is what we do. It's historically accurate for our setting and works
> for us. Let me know if you have additional or specific questions.
>
>
>
> Cynthia Wiley
>
> Museum Curator, High Plains Group
>
>
>
> Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
>
> 35110 Hwy 194 East
>
> La Junta, CO 81050-9523
>
> (719) 383-5025 (office)
>
> (719) 468-0020 (cell)
>
> (719) 383-2129 (fax)
>
>
>
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