One by one, the pampered cats in Sue Ralston’s neighborhood have been disappearing without a trace.

“We know of five cats in a three-block area that have turned up missing since July,” said Ralston, who with her husband, Jim, lives near 26th Street and Lawrence Avenue.

Someone or something is playing havoc with cats in the neighborhood around 26th Street and Lawrence Avenue, where five cats have disappeared in the past couple of months. Neighbors, from left, Orval and Nancy Engling and their daughter Natalie talk with Sue Ralston about their lost cats. The feline held by Natalie is Grey, the Ralston family's new cat, recently adopted from the Lawrence Humane Society.

Ralston’s 12-year-old Siamese cat, Samson, was added to the list Aug. 14.

“I let him out at 9:30 that night and never saw him again,” said Ralston, a teacher at Schwegler School.

Nancy and Orval Engling’s 14-year-old orange tabby, Aslan, vanished after dark Aug. 25.

“The last time I saw him he was in the front yard, watching the front door,” said Nancy Engling. She and her husband live at 3004 Flint Drive, across the street and up a hill from the Ralstons.

“He’s part of our family,” Nancy Engling said. “For us, it’s like he’s a human being, and for him to be gone like this we are in mourning.”

Other neighbors who’ve reported missing cats include:

Gregg and Melissa Frost, 3100 Flint Drive.

Ray and Pam Mehl, 3029 Rimrock Drive.

Bert and Vicki Hull, 3009 W. 27th St.

Engling and Ralston each said they’ve searched high and low for their cats.

“If it was a dog that got them, you’d think there’d be blood, some fur or a carcass,” Ralston said. “But we’ve gone over every square inch of our property, and there’s nothing and there aren’t any dogs running loose.

“We’re hoping there’s not something unsavory going on,” she said.

Wily coyote?

At the Lawrence Humane Society, operations manager Stacy Hoobler said she hadn’t noticed a spike in the number of missing-cat reports.

But “somebody could be setting live traps it could be that, it’s legal to do that,” Hoobler said. “But they’re supposed to call us or Animal Control if they catch (cats).”

Sgt. Doug Bell, who oversees the Lawrence Police Department’s Animal Control Unit, said dogs were the most likely culprits.

“Anytime you let a cat out, its worst enemy is a dog,” he said.

But, he added, “the possibilities are endless. Somebody could be stealing them, or it could be a coyote or a fox they’re faster than dogs.”

The latter explanation seems more likely to Jerry Schecher.

“Oh, definitely,” said Schecher, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks manager at Clinton State Park.

Coyotes and foxes “have adapted to human-type settings very well,” he said. “In fact, just last weekend my wife and I were going to see her folks they live near Shawnee Country Club in Topeka and just before we got there, a fox ran across the road with a cat in its mouth.”

At night, Schecher said, a fox or a coyote wouldn’t think twice about plucking a cat off the back porch.

“I hate to say this because I know people love their pets, but a big, soft, spongy, well-cared-for house cat makes a pretty tasty tidbit for a coyote,” Schecher said. “My suggestion is not to let your pets out after dark.”

Wild animal behavior

The fact Ralston and the Englers have been unable to find blood, fur or carcass is in keeping with coyote and fox behavior, Schecher said.

“If it’s a domesticated dog that gets the cat, you’ll find a carcass because the dog won’t eat it,” he said. “But if it’s a fox or coyote, you won’t find anything because they’ll take it home and eat it.”

Nancy Engling said she’s praying that’s not what happened.

“I’m hoping that someone out there knows something or saw something and will call the police,” she said.

Asked whether he’d ever seen a coyote in the neighborhood, Orval Engling replied, “Yeah, if you get up early enough I’ve seen a coyote.”

He paused. “Fox, too.”