Letter: Coyotes, cats and kitten fostering

EDITOR:
I agree with all Tove Beatty said (“Cat-eating coyotes worse than nuisance”, Sept. 2, Page 6), applaud her efforts to figure out what to do about the coyotes, and would add the following: I live near the library, and this week I found on our property the remains of a cat that lived at the far end of the Farmer/Cooper neighborhoods on Clearview. I assume the coyote brought its prey here because otherwise the cat would have had to wander more than four blocks and cross Felton Empire Road to get here.
I’m aware of a coyote den near us, but like Tove Beatty, I don’t know what to do with that information other than encouraging pet owners to get their pets inside by dusk; the lost cats I know of were out at night, and I’ve heard our local coyotes yipping when it’s just dusk.
I also want people to know the coyotes’ hunting territory extends to the Cooper/Farmer/Clearview neighborhoods as well as those between the post office and Henry Cowell. After our cat was taken last summer, we fostered kittens (kept inside!) to honor her memory. Kitten fostering can be easy and fun if someone in your household is around during the day to give them attention, and it helped us with our grief about our cat. You can either foster pre-weaned kittens, which involves bottle feeding every two hours and litter-box training .For the heroic-type volunteers, or you can foster weaned kittens, which mostly involves playing with them, monitoring their well-being, and keeping them fed, watered and safe. Fostering lasts until they are old enough to be neutered and put up for adoption.
To foster kittens, contact Animal Friends Rescue Project, 333-0722 or Santa Cruz County Animal Services at 454-7202. After fostering, AFRP puts kittens up for adoption at PetSmart, and County Animal Services as well as the SPCA has kittens and cats for adoption at their locations in Santa Cruz.
Joni Martin, Felton