More than 20 cats have been reported missing on the west side of Mackinaw City over the past three months, said Mary Talaske, executive director of Cheboygan County Humane Society. Many of the cats were released outdoors by their owners and never returned.

"I have not run into a problem like this before," Mrs. Talaske said.

Missing cat reports are common, but such a large number of calls in a short time span is unusual, she said. There appears to be no pattern in the types of missing cats, as they run the gamut from black to calico.

Sonia Riemer of Mackinaw City lost two of her cats in August. She discovered several of her neighbors had lost their cats, as well, when they let them out.

"We know we're not going to get our cats back. We want closure. We want to know what happened," Mrs. Riemer said.

Lori Frohoff's cat vanished Saturday, August 8. When she let her cat out, a storm approached and most likely frightened her pet. Days later, her cat's collar appeared on her porch, undamaged. She learned three weeks later her neighbor found the collar and returned it, although her cat is still missing.

"It's not knowing that's the hard part," she said.

Mackinaw City Police Chief Pat Wyman said foxes and coyotes prowl the village at night and in the early morning. He expects wild animals to be the cause, although the matter is still under investigation. Foul play is not suspected at this time, he said. He encourages owners to make a report if they lose their cats.

Mrs. Talaske has also heard of foxes in Mackinaw City. The society received a coyote report on Tuesday, September 22. She advises cat owners to exercise caution with their animals.

"All cats should be kept indoors -- that's where they're safest. If you get a new cat, don't let it outside. Statistics say indoor cats live three times as long," she said.

Mrs. Reimer is concerned that if foxes or coyotes are the cause, the village may have a problem with wild animals. She also fears someone may be trapping their pets and not returning them.

Trapping cats is not illegal in Michigan, Mrs. Talaske said. Once a cat has been trapped it must be returned to its owner or to an animal shelter. Releasing them into another area is a bad idea, she said, as many pet cats have been declawed and would have difficulty surviving outdoors.

The disappearances parallel a similar case in the St. Ignace and Les Cheneaux areas in 2006. More than 30 cats were reported missing over a span of six weeks, with foxes and coyotes tapped as the primary suspects. The prevalence of feral cats also declined in the areas at that time. There were no unusual disappearances reported in Mackinaw City at the time. The cause of the St. Ignace and Cedarville area cat disappearances was never determined.

There have been no spikes in cat disappearance reports this year in Mackinac County, said Ginger Valentine, manager of the Mackinac County Animal Shelter.