Not So Melodic Lullabies

The lively sounds of Tel Aviv at night are far from the quiet evenings of West Hartford, CT that I used to know. There are cars and motorcycles going by that like to rev their engines, there is the chatter from the café across the street and the occasional burst of loud singing or belligerent speech from whoever comes out of the bar next door.

One of the more haunting and bothersome sounds is that of cats crying. Tel Aviv has a feline problem- that is, there are too many of them roaming the streets. I was told that the city is dealing with the issue and “official” city cats are tagged and have been neutered. Nonetheless, it does not stop them from crying all night long. The disturbing part is that they sound exactly like babies.

Last night as I returned from the gym I heard two such cats wailing and I was convinced that someone had left two babies in bassinets on the sidewalk. I walked over to see for myself because even though logic told me that no one would do such a thing, I was ready to pull out my phone and call the police. Just as I peaked over to my neighbor’s driveway and saw that there were in deed two furry animals producing this racket, an older Russian man was walking by. I looked at the cats, then at the man, and then at the cats again.

“These are the creatures who are crying and not babies?” I asked him incredulously.
“Of course” he answered as if I was a novice to life in the city.

For the remainder of the evening and into the night I got to know another, not so pleasant, sound of the Tel Aviv night.

P.S. - the picture above was taken by a tourist who thought that cats in Tel Aviv were “cute.” She did not have them crying outside her window after midnight last night.