Tree Nesting Cats

We have discussed cats up trees, once or twice before on this blog ....

Dead Cats Up Trees Are Rare

.... to whit, whether cats were or are really stuck up trees or not, and if they are, why don't we see dead cats in trees? ... the jury is out on that question, although as the fire department points out, it does seem strange that they can get up, but not come down.

But whether they can get stuck or not .... there's no denying that cats can get up them easily enough, and indeed seem to like doing so.

Container Yard

But I admit that I never thought I would be posting about tree nesting cats, but that indeed is the case on this occasion. In May 2021, volunteers from the Cats Protection charity in Amersham, Kent, had been alerted by workers that a newborn kitten, had been found dead at the back of some residential housing and a work site, with reports of a possible welfare issues regarding a 'colony of cats' living on or near the industrial site.

Team member Ruth Goller, from the charity’s Chiltern branch, started investigating, and managed to trace the mother cat to the work site, after a week of searching gardens, leafleting and even setting up camera traps. Once she had spotted the female cat (after she showed up with a male who seemed bonded with her), she befriended them both with food, and then followed them back to a tree at the back of the site.  

Nesting Cat And Kittens In A Bird Nest

She said: “I wanted to get a closer look so clambered on some containers and reached up into the tall tree. That’s when I saw a [bird] nest with mum feeding three kittens right in front of me. I was so glad to have found them. The male was watching from nearby.”

The animal welfare team then managed to catch the family of cats, and gave them medical attention and take them into the care of fosterer, Sue Buck. The cats were all been named after birds, in honour of their former home, with the mother named Oriole, the male named Willet and the kittens Bran, Jay and Lori.

Mum And Kittens At Foster Home

Ms Goller added that “They’re a lovely little family. Willet behaves like a doting dad to the kittens, even grooming them. Oriole and Willet are clearly bonded, and we would love to think we could re-home the mum and male cat together.”

However its very rare for a male cat to stay near the female when she's had kittens, and Kathryn Graves, the secretary of Cats Protection’s Chiltern Branch, confirmed this when she said: “It is very unusual for a tom cat to stick around after kittens have been born. In fact, I’ve never seen it before.”