After the August 2021 clearcutting of their backyard habit and sale of the property two months later, I assumed that kitties Mimi and daughter Sweet Pea would make their home elsewhere—particularly in the outdoor space provided by the woman who cared for them. But as grass, plants, shrubs, and trees regrew, the Maine Coons clung to the territory where they had lived for the better part of a decade. Mimi unexpectedly posed for me on Jan. 2, 2022. Vitals for the Featured Image, captured using iPhone 13 Pro: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/126 sec, 77mm; 11:17 a.m. PST.
I saw one or the other longhair in the yard several times a week, last month; now, likely no longer. Looks like the new owners won’t raise the house to build a massive multi-unit structure on the massive lot—increasingly commonplace for San Diego real estate. Instead, renovation is underway, and it is structurally extensive. Debris and building materials currently occupy portions of the backyard where roamed the cats. The foundation is being massively reconstructed, which surely is sign the house will remain.
But the renovation turns the Coons’ beloved habitat into hostile territory. For how long, which could be forever, depends on factors like: Length of the noisy, outdoors-obstructing modernization; the cats’ adapting to another, and smaller, space; eventual disposition of the backyard; and the new residents’ attitude about the cats (the gentlemen who resided there previously permitted the community ferals’ presence).
Despite the increasing number of coyotes, community cats can live long lives in University Heights—Southern California climate is major, but not only, reason. Among some of the others about which I am aware (and several have passed away after many years on the streets): Alfredo, Burglar, Cocoa, Norman, Roadie, and Shadow.