missing feral
I have not seen one of the ferals in several days. One of them, an older, tail-less, uber-feral "aunt" of the pride I unimaginatively named Bob, regularly disappears for a day or so before reappearing, hungry, at feeding time. But it's not her. It's the teen I mis-named "Skittish."
I named all the ferals in a hurry one day, so that I could keep track of the 7 of them and have ways of telling them apart. It turns out that Skittish is not at all skittish. He is a a young tom, a brat prince. Skittish is always around. This is his territory. As long as I am not between him and the exit, he will come right in the house if the door is open.
He plays with toys. There are various bits of frayed rope and string and rubber bands that show up in the water dish, or other places around the porch and yard, because he drops them there. I bought the ferals some jingle-y balls, but Skittish is the only one who regularly uses them. There's a box on the back porch where I toss any toys I find, and he will fish them out so he can bat them about and carry them around and later leave them elsewhere. Sometimes I leave the back door open a tiny bit and dangle a bit of nylon rope out through the crack and snake it around for him to catch. Or I'll skitter my fingers on the inside of the window, while he sits on the cat fort/windowsill outside and debates whether or not to bat at my hand. Bob will do a love dance when she is hungry, and Captain will meow &/or hiss at me when I come out on the back porch, and the other cats will watch with interest when I play with Skittish, but Skittish is the only one who interacts with me so directly.
I realize it is spring and time for young male cats to be off tom-catting, but all the cats in this pride have been spayed/neutered by the local alley cat group, so he should have no interest.
I have wandered the neighborhood calling, with no luck. If calling were going to work he would be showing up for food. My only hope is I'm fairly certain someone else has been feeding them in the last month or two. The pride shows up and just aren't as hungry, even though I've been feeding them less. So perhaps he decided to move in on someone else. I hope so. I hope he is ok. I am trying not to to be crazy about the fact that he is missing, but ... I am a little crazy. :/
I named all the ferals in a hurry one day, so that I could keep track of the 7 of them and have ways of telling them apart. It turns out that Skittish is not at all skittish. He is a a young tom, a brat prince. Skittish is always around. This is his territory. As long as I am not between him and the exit, he will come right in the house if the door is open.
He plays with toys. There are various bits of frayed rope and string and rubber bands that show up in the water dish, or other places around the porch and yard, because he drops them there. I bought the ferals some jingle-y balls, but Skittish is the only one who regularly uses them. There's a box on the back porch where I toss any toys I find, and he will fish them out so he can bat them about and carry them around and later leave them elsewhere. Sometimes I leave the back door open a tiny bit and dangle a bit of nylon rope out through the crack and snake it around for him to catch. Or I'll skitter my fingers on the inside of the window, while he sits on the cat fort/windowsill outside and debates whether or not to bat at my hand. Bob will do a love dance when she is hungry, and Captain will meow &/or hiss at me when I come out on the back porch, and the other cats will watch with interest when I play with Skittish, but Skittish is the only one who interacts with me so directly.
I realize it is spring and time for young male cats to be off tom-catting, but all the cats in this pride have been spayed/neutered by the local alley cat group, so he should have no interest.
I have wandered the neighborhood calling, with no luck. If calling were going to work he would be showing up for food. My only hope is I'm fairly certain someone else has been feeding them in the last month or two. The pride shows up and just aren't as hungry, even though I've been feeding them less. So perhaps he decided to move in on someone else. I hope so. I hope he is ok. I am trying not to to be crazy about the fact that he is missing, but ... I am a little crazy. :/