Cat loving tourists praise Catalina Island guardians

October 4, 10:38 PMGreat Destinations Travel ExaminersWayne and Judy Bayliff

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Catalina is a favorite island getaway conveniently located just off the coast of southern California. While doing on- site research for our travel series about the island, we ran across a unique individual with a very big heart for cats. Her name is Dianne Stone, and she is a permanent resident of the fairytale town of Avalon, the main port of Catalina Island.

One recent balmy evening, we were taking twilight photographs of the Catalina Casino. We noticed a fine-looking adult Himalayan cat wandering among the landscaped plants just east of our subject building. Where we come from, one never sees handsome domestic felines walking on the loose – so we were curious.

The furry face with big blue eyes stopped walking as we approached. We thought he was probably not feral, because when he saw us heading in his direction, he did not make a dash for parts unknown. 

We were within ten feet of an attempt to pet our little friend when we observed four more of his companions coming down from the hill just to the back of the Casino, then another seven, then five more! 

We did not know it at the time, but we were observing the nightly migration of one of several colonies of "homeless" cats trekking to the Casino for their evening vittles. They were heading for Dianne’s well-provisioned golf cart, full of palatable goodies for the furry set.

Not everyone approves