Ahh, if only it were as simple as a Tom Jones song to live in harmony with a neighborhood full of feral felines.

Here's the thing: I just finished mowing my lawn, sidestepping my own dogs' little land mines along the way. I can live with that; I have no choice - they're my dogs. But there's something that really bothers me when I'm walking in my own yard (which is fenced, by the way), and I step in something left not by my dogs but by one of the numerous neighborhood cats that roam freely through the streets and the yards of Mount Greenwood.

I actually don't know if they're ferile or not, because they're too quick to catch to see if they are tagged. But I do know this: While I don't like cats, I can't stand their owners who see nothing wrong with letting the cat out for the evening. My dogs are always leashed because, you know, it's the law.

If only there were a similar law to keep the neighborhood cats on their own property (or at least a way to "discourage" them from stopping by my house) life would be a little better.