Good advice and wise words from everybody, thanks.

I know she's still wild (and likely to stay that way) and will be wearing protective gear if/when I have to catch her. I still have to see if the vet's willing, or if I have to go further - our vet, the nearest, is forty km. away.

Joe, I'm well aware of the ramifications, but I cannot watch this cat die on my property without taking that responsibility and getting her fixed and needled at least. I live in a very rural area, with few near neighbours, all of whom would be reasonably sympathetic (I've spoken to most of them, making sure no one else had decided to take on responsibility for this cat - no such luck). We're quite LALL - I put up with the wandering Saint Bernard, they put up with the occasional cat.

I'll add that environments differ. Cats in Australia are a huge problem. Cats in cities can be a huge problem, or in small towns. Out here, their numbers are more than controlled by our burgeoning coyote population. Those same coyotes are problematic, as some think they are a useful new predator (they prey on everything from mice, birds and rabbits to full grown deer) and others think they are already out of hand.

On the subject of bird predation by cats, at least here in Nova Scotia, I am inclined to think the frighteningly extensive clearcutting of forest both here and in the migrating birds winter homes, plus spraying of forests with pesticides and herbicides, plus two-cropping of hayfields, and other human activities, are far more deletorious to bird populations than feral and domestic cats. I suspect the cats are as much a scapegoat now as they were in witch hunting days.