Durham was approaching the bridge that crosses Saratoga Creek at Crestbrook Drive when he says he was confronted by a woman who yelled at him for disturbing cat-feeding time.

"The next morning, I drove by the bridge, and that bridge was totally covered with cats," he said.

Durham thought someone was fostering a colony of feral cats, which he understandably saw as cause for alarm. What he didn't know was that the woman with whom he crossed paths, Marion Wentzien, was feeding the cats to earn their trust so she could trap them and take them out of the city's growing homeless-cat population.

"I've lived here for 40 years," Wentzien said. "Over a period of time, I had noticed there were quite a few feral cats. I had talked with one woman who said she was feeding 12 of them, and it was too expensive."

So Wentzien and her husband began feeding the animals, trapping them and taking them to her veterinarian. Those with serious diseases such as feline leukemia were euthanized, and those who were generally healthy were vaccinated, spayed or neutered and taken home to be placed in homes or "no-kill" shelters.

She estimates that they have spent thousands of dollars over the last three years feeding, capturing and treating the group of about 10 cats. She said she believes she has finally caught the last of them.

"It was a real commitment and it was very expensive, but I think it was worth it," Wentzien said. "I love animals."

But Durham did not understand what she was doing at the time and worried that the cats were reducing local bird populations and presenting a potential health hazard. He talked to several city and county agencies in June 2003. But he said none of them seemed to have authority over animals in the area.

After a more recent confrontation with Wentzien, whose name he still did not know, Durham wrote a letter to the Saratoga News expressing his concerns. City Manager Dave Anderson responded, but Durham was still concerned. He wrote another letter, prompting Anderson to contact him and explain the situation.

Anderson said he hopes more people who notice cat-overpopulation problems will step forward and help eradicate them from their neighborhoods. Since Saratoga is a minimum-service city, he said it cannot afford to take care of such animal issues.

"We don't have a really good mechanism to deal with the problem," Anderson said. "This is an opportunity for informing a band of individuals that care about pet overpopulation that there is a problem in all kinds of neighborhoods."

Christine Benninger, president of the Humane Society Silicon Valley, said cats are harder to catch in the wild than dogs, since they are smaller, more reclusive and tend not to be aggressive toward humans.

"They can have as many as three litters in a breeding cycle, which goes from about February or March until October or November," she said.

Benninger said concerns such as Durham's are certainly valid, and that Wentzien's effort is exactly the kind of thing that needs to happen to control feline overpopulation.

"We received nearly 20,000 cats last year," Benninger said. "The challenge right now is really controlling that population. It does affect other wildlife, reduces the bird population, creates health issues ... the fact that there are people who are willing to get out there and help manage this problem is fabulous."

Though feeding the cats may be expensive, traps can be rented from the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority for a $35 deposit and either $3 per day or $15 per week. Benninger said trapped cats may be brought to the Humane Society, where they are held for five days in case an owner is looking for them. After that, they are evaluated, treated if necessary and placed in homes.

Durham was still unclear about Wentzien's intentions after meeting with Anderson, but he said he now he understands the situation. Though he said Wentzien should have explained it at their first confrontation, he is happy Wentzien is helping solve the feral-cat problem.

"If that's what she's doing, it sounds like a good thing," he said. "It took me a year to get that, but it's great."