u/celestialpeacock

A stray black cat has recently started hanging out in my old garage.

It's rarely used, so it's mostly quiet, but it's dusty and has a couple of parked bikes and motorcycles. The cat seems comfortable there and sometimes just sits or sleeps inside.

I'm wondering if it's actually a safe place for a stray cat, or if I should try to encourage her to stay somewhere else. There aren't any obvious chemicals or traps in the garage, but it is bit 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

Would you leave her alone, or is there anything I should do to make the space safer for the cat?

Edit: 𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲—𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐩, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭.

Edit 2: 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐲𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐢𝐢: 𝐧𝐨.

Edit 3: 𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐈'𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨—𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Edit 4: 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭?

Edit 5: 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, "𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞." 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚'𝐚𝐦, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.