Patches, my pre-dawn writing companion, is our house cat who enjoys the wild through windows. Other domestic felines roam the ravine -- about one for every five houses in my neighborhood -- despite rules against it. People don't let dogs run loose, so why cats? Some don't buy a license requiring a rabies vaccination, so how can I know if a cat is safe? When we had a rabies outbreak and trapped seventy-three cats in the ravine, only fourteen had identification. We caught one cat per two-and-a-third acres, which is partly why ground nesting birds don't live here anymore. Domestic cat density was five hundred times the density of native bobcats, who can't live here anymore. Neighbors complain bitterly if their cats are missing, and I suggest they ask the coyotes about it. Many owners cannot accept the fact of their pet's fur amid coyote tracks. "We need to call animal control," they say, and I respond that they are animal control -- out of control. Some who've lost roaming cats still let replacements range. Obviously, these folks don't mind their cats killing the small native animals that our nature preserve is supposed to protect. Based on the local density of free-ranging cats and their free-range predation rates elsewhere, I estimate four thousand wildlife kills per year in the ravine.