Ptld.Condo Wtrfrnt w/View; low rent, free food.
If you can read this, don’t bother applying. It’s not meant for humans. Down on Portland’s Union and Widgery wharves, Paul and Kim Fischer take care of their feline neighbors.
They’ve set up insulated shelters, which they call condos. They feed the cats, and know which flavors and brands the cats prefer.
It all started 14 years ago when Kim and Paul saw Spotty eating in a dumpster. Now Spotty lives in a warm box over the engine of KIMBERLY J, the Fischers’ lobster boat. On a warm day, she suns on her pillow on the boat’s dash.
Paul is a lobsterman, and Kim works as his sternman; in the fall they go scalloping. Occasionally, Paul will harvest urchins.
“Especially in the summer, we practically live down here,” says Kim. Frankly, Kim wouldn’t mind if you don’t know what they do. There has been occasional vandalism of the condos by Saturday night drunks. And there’s no room for abandoned cats.
But Kim and Paul respect the cats that have always lived there. When a “Mom Kitty” – and there are two or three of them – has a litter, Paul and Kim nab the kittens, take them home to get used to people, and then find good homes for them. With some litters, they are up several times night bottle-feeding the tiny kittens.
When a storm high tide sweeps through the condos, Kim and Paul clean up.
When they can catch an adult cat in their “have-a-heart” traps, they pay for spaying, fixing and shots, and then bring the cat back to the wharf. The veteran “Mom Kitties” are experts at avoiding the traps.
Molly, Sadie, We and Spotty live on Union Wharf.
Over on Widgery Wharf, the 20-room condo houses Wannabe, Olivia, Sonia, Tippy, Scarecrow, Blue Eyes, Triangle Nose – and the rest, whose names I’ve forgotten.
Fishermen look out for the cats, each with its own personality. And these cats, they say, look out for the fishermen’s pet seagull as well.
They aren’t really feral cats, and they certainly don’t belong to anyone. But if there is a cat heaven on earth, it’s right here on Widgery and Union wharves, thanks to the Fischers.
– Joan Amory