Canal Street ferry demolition creates damncat crisis

The folks down at the Canal Street ferry have a damncat problem of their own, I learned today from the New Orleans Advocate. Before they can tear the old ferry dock down for replacement, a colony of feral damncats must be removed to a suitable location.
It seems that the colony has thrived there for years with at least one ferry employee and other passersby regularly bringing food to the creatures. Now the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA) and other organizations are looking for a suitable home where they can be relocated.
Damncats, even feral damncats in colonies, are protected by city ordinance because they help curb the rodent population. The story said so right there in black and white print and I hoped that our damncat-fearing neighbors noticed.
The way LSPCA and other damncat rescue organizations handle the feral creatures is “trap, neuter and return,” bringing them back to where they were trapped because it is almost impossible to get feral damncats adopted. After all, they are wild animals. In our years of fooling with them, only ‘ole Sissy ever crossed the line to became tame and at best she’s just strangely tame. If a damncat is not handled by humans as a kitten — which usually means that its mama is tame — it is unlikely to accept human touch when it gets older.
So down at the ferry, there’s a colony relocation underway that I will follow with interest.
There was one other advantage the story cited for having a colony of damncats — keeps coons and possums away. I question that. We see possums regularly and coons occasionally, but our damncats are blind to them. If there’s a rat, mouse, bird, lizard, butterfly or whatever, they spring into action immediately, but if a possum comes sauntering up the way possums do, they just don’t see it. If it’s a coon, they back away but otherwise don’t act like they see the coon.
Meanwhile, our damncats intermingled with Rosemary’s flowers are often noticed by passersby on their way to the Cherry Espresso coffee shop down the street, especially passersby with small children. Sometimes there are even people with little dogs who seem to enjoy watching the damncats lounged about on the porch and steps, under bushes and so on.
My wife decided to seize on that interest in her campaign to mitigate such ill will among the neighbors that our concentration of damncats might create. Just create such a  showplace from flowers and shrubs with damncats among them that folks don’t notice or care about the overpopulation that has now become concentrated in our yard.
And that’s a report from Laurel Street, where the neighbors now vastly outnumber the hoods and for all we know we are probably numbered among the hoods our ownselves.