Mystic Elsie Missing in Leesburg Florida

Missing Cat in Leesburg, Florida -- Mystic Elsie went missing Sunday, July 21, 2019. She is a spayed, with tipped left ear, black and white female cat. Her body is white with large areas of black on her top back. She is a very sweet and shy young cat.

I have cared for this little cutie for almost two years. She was approaching her second birthday and seems to have just up and disappeared out of the senior park. I don't want to think that a nearby neighbor somehow nabbed her and that she is no longer with us.

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I pray to God if something nefarious happened to Mystic Elsie that she did not suffer. I've also been praying that she will return ... so I haven't been quite able to convince myself that a neighbor "took her out!"

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I had worried a lot about the safety of Mystic Elsie because she was just so conspicuous with her activity! I know the nearby neighbors would see her walking up my driveway and sitting in the front yard garden looking up at my kitchen window, waiting for me to see her to know she was hungry!!!

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

A few months ago I had contacted a woman from LEASH and secured a TNR trap. I trapped her and took her to the Lake County Animal Care facility to have her spayed. She is A030402 and was spayed on March 13, 2019 through the Caturday program.

When I brought her home from the Animal Care facility, later that same day, I kept her inside in my Florida Room for four days to see if she could acclimate herself to being an indoor cat. I really hoped that she would want to stay inside so that I could provide her with a better life than outdoors. She did not handle being kept inside and wouldn't eat. I was heartbroken that I'd have to release her back outside and hope for the best!

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I have cared for community cats for nearly twenty years, starting with a feral colony in Deercreek Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. At that time, I had the support of my husband as we probably cared for up to 4 dozen cats. It was there that we learned of what some neighbors will do to community cats and I don't mean good things!!! Several of the community cats which had been spayed and/or neutered were trapped by an outside trapper. Supposedly, he relocated them to Ormond Beach. I can't help but think that wasn't where they were taken!

Mystic Elsie in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I am heartbroken thinking about what might have happened to Mystic Elsie. I recently told a nearby neighbor how I worried about her because she was such a sweet thing and just so conspicuous with her activity.

MYSTIC ELSIE AS A KITTEN

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten in Leesburg Florida - March 31, 2018

In addition to having Mystic Elsie spayed, I was feeding her a couple of times a day. I know many nearby neighbors could figure that out without me telling them that. I just can't comprehend that someone could harm such a sweet animal.

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten in Leesburg, Florida - April 11, 2018

In hindsight, I should have intervened earlier to have Mystic Elsie spayed and brought inside as a pet. I have a senior female tabby cat named Boots who is just turning 11. Boots is the kind of cat that needs to be in a single cat household. That would be the reason I held back on trying to bring in another cat like Mystic Elsie!

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten with Litter Sibling Black Cat - May 9, 2018

Please God bring Mystic Elsie home ... I miss her. Please God don't let me know that my instincts are correct in that a neighbor harmed her. I need to get this thought out of my head; i.e. "What did YOU do?"

Thinking back over my time here in this senior park, I have heard a lot of stories about neighbors harming the community cats. A cat was found under a vehicle nearby after eating poisoned food that a neighbor put out. She told people she was allergic to the cats and had them walking through her carport ... so she decided to poison them!!

Another nearby neighbor told me how she knew that people in the other side of the park were trapping and killing the community cats. She learned that before she moved into the park over seventeen years ago!! She had a couple of cats and was warned to keep her cats inside.

I recently heard about how the TNR cats, because they have tipped ears, were being trapped and then dropped off in the Ocala National Forest!!! I'm telling you, it's sickening what's happening here.

This senior park has been touted as pet-friendly, but that just isn't so for community cats.

OTHER MISSING CATS

I moved into this senior park in December 2015. I've gotten familiar with well over a dozen community cats, and probably closer to two dozen. I've often wondered, "where did they go?" when I realized, "gee, I haven't seen that cat in a while!"

Gray and White Male Cat Missing - Probably Father of Mystic Elsie

There was a cute male cat that used to roam around the yards from the park office over through my yard and about a block area. It was a dark gray and white cat that obviously resembles Mystic Elsie. In that photo from August 2016 you can see his coloring. Many times, if I went walking over to the park office, I'd see him approach me as I walked, and then stop and look at me. He was quite a cutie! I'm thinking the last time I saw him was maybe September 2017 ... he just up and disappeared and then I realized "gee, he was just gone!"

Black and White Male Cat Missing - Probably Brother of Mystic Elsie

There was another black and white cat that came from the same litter as Mystic Elsie. He had a bit more black than Mystic Elsie with his left leg being black and more black markings on his face. In the photo above you can see him in my back yard along with a gray tabby with white paws. I would see this black and white cat usually passing through my yard or in the yards behind me or across the street. I assumed it was a male cat. I'm thinking it's coming up on a year since I have seen him around! Poof, just vanished!!

MYSTIC ELSIE RETURNS 4 DAYS LATER

July 25th, four days later, I was more than a little surprised to be standing in my carport early morning and then hear a sweet little meow. I looked to the front yard garden, and there was Mystic Elsie. She usually gets her first feeding of the day at 7:09am. And, here she was, like usual ... BUT with an injured paw as she was limping. I'm not sure if she got fire ant bites or maybe stepped into a thorn from someone's garden.

Mystic Elsie Returns July 25, 2019

As I know a neighbor has put out poisoned food and killed a cat previously, every day that I don't see Mystic Elsie, I get concerned for her welfare! Since she went missing and returned, I am not seeing her like I usually do. She is later in the morning and sometimes not till early afternoon does she come by to feed. I'm thinking somebody has coaxed her inside and is keeping her. They probably don't realize that Mystic Elsie has a caretaker!!

UPDATE! It is January 19, 2020. I have heard much being said in our senior park by some of the residents claiming there are a lot of cats again. It has been mentioned that someone is now trapping the cats and relocating them. Another person has voiced their support offering that they have given that trapper $10 for gas money. I've heard about community cats being trapped and dropped off in the Ocala National Forest and now some mysterious island in Eustis, Florida. Such inhumanity to these community cats is more than a little concerning!

When I first moved in, several neighbors told me about a resident putting out poisoned cat food and poisoning at least one cat that was found dead under another resident's vehicle. I then heard about someone putting out dixie cups with peanut butter and poison in the bushes on the main boulevard. Somebody found a dead cat under a golf cart near the office and clubhouse. Another cat was found nearby the office that appeared to have been hit and killed by some vehicle.

Somebody has been trying to trap opossum. And then squirrels have been the target of trappers ... supposedly being drowned if not poisoned! Cats, and now opossum and squirrels OH MY. It doesn't stop there. Ducks!! Supposedly it is ONLY the Muscovy ducks being aggressively targeted after the golfers in the park complained about poop on their 9-hole golf course. The Muscovy duck eggs were being smashed. Someone remarked about not seeing any more of those Muscovy ducks. How about the other birds and ducks? I've personally seen a wood stork with a wounded foot ... did somebody put out some kind of trap that snagged that bird? We've also got Sandhill Cranes, Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks and Mallard Ducks ... are these people also stomping on their eggs?

It sure doesn't sound "friendly" to community cats, birds and wildlife in this senior park.

Florida Ringneck Snake

On the morning of July 9, 2019, as I happened to glance out my kitchen window, I saw it. "Hmmm," I wondered "could that be a juvenile black rat snake?" I couldn't tell from the distance so I came outside with my camera. I tip-toed to the snake at the side of my driveway and it quickly recognized my presence and started to scoot.

Florida Ringneck Snake in Leesburg, Florida

I've previously seen a Juvenile Black Racer Snake on that same driveway, but this one looked a bit different. I was thinking it was a juvenile snake that I hadn't seen before.

Florida Ringneck Snake in Leesburg, Florida

I had noticed that it seemed to have a light necklace-like band or ring around its neck. After trying to approach the snake a few times, it started to behave most curiously.

Florida Ringneck Snake in Leesburg, Florida

The snake began to crinkle-up with little waves throughout its body. And, then I noticed how the tail was curled up as in a corkscrew or trying to look like a rattle of the rattlesnake. I could then tell that it had an underbelly that was red-orange.

Florida Ringneck Snake in Leesburg, Florida

I left the snake at the edge of my driveway near the street, hoping it wouldn't take flight across the street and get run-over by a golf cart or car.

Coming inside, I Googled "black snake Florida" and glanced over the search images. I immediately spotted a similar snake with a red-orange belly. Ah! Florida Ring-Necked Snake, according to the University of Florida reference. There was or is no doubt in my mind that this is my snake!

I learned that this snake is generally six to seven inches to a max of ten inches. I didn't measure the snake per se, but can easily say it was definitely ten inches if not a little more. I'm not sure what it had been eating, but it has a diet of "earthworms, slugs, insects, tadpoles, small frogs, salamanders, small lizards, small snakes." I can say pretty much all that is in my front yard garden and yard with the exception of salamanders ... not sure I've seen any of those here in Leesburg, Florida!!

PREVIOUS SIGHTING

I didn't remember right off that I had previously seen a Florida Ringneck Snake here in Leesburg, Florida. Going back through my snake photos, I came upon this one and now knew it was a ringneck snake. It was back on October 16, 2018. I also saw this one on my driveway. Looking at the ring on this previous snake, it appears to be a different one.

Florida Ringneck Snake in Leesburg, Florida

"Diadophis punctatus, commonly known as the ring-necked snake or ringneck snake, is a harmless species of colubrid snake found throughout much of the United States, central Mexico, and southeastern Canada." --Ring-necked snake Wikipedia reference.

The Florida Ringneck Snake is a secretive snake known for its nocturnal behavior. It was later in the morning that this snake appeared on the side of my driveway. Since we had some very strong downpours, it probably came up for air. This snake is slightly venomous with rear-facing fangs. I could see the feisty posture of the snake as I approached it.