u/c00kie_

Skunk lives under my patio. he comes out every night. When he sees me he waddles away so slowly with his big butt. He doesn’t cause any trouble except sometimes I smell mild skunk smell 2x a week that doesn’t last long lol.

This took almost a year to trap mom. During this time, she has 5 kittens, including 4 in the newest litter(~9 weeks old). Probably the most stressful event I’ve experienced lately. I had to catch babies before mom because she was so hard to catch. Seeing the fear of mom and kittens eyes in the drop trap, them hurting themselves to escape and watching mom and babies screaming for each other through the windows when they were briefly separated was so hard. (I could only catch babies first, don’t worry I caught mom later so they were eventually together). Finally, all were TNR’d and I found a few of the babies homes. I cried and couldn’t sleep for 4 days until they were released. I commend all the TNR people and those in this subreddit dedicating your life to this. This was so mentally and physically draining.
Mom has always been special to me, and she visits everyday. I’m happy to know she’s no longer mad at me. It was all worth it in the end. Even though I have grey hair now, I would do it again.

Pic of the culprit. He also walked in in and walked all around the office lmao.

Papa was a fighter and his territory was around my house. I found him injured after a rough tumble with a much stronger and younger cat. I brought him
back to health and neutered him. He showed up less and less as the younger male cat took over territory. He came back but every 3 weeks, then never again. I feel sad that maybe he felt betrayed or that his lack of testosterone made him not as competitive to stay near me. I miss him and feel guilty.

Is it common that your TNR cats just leave you?