The Newcomers

Two feral cats have taken up residence in our backyard. We’ve named one Hefty Bag because he’s a big dark male cat with a small harem. His main squeeze however is a pretty, green-eyed long-hair female. We call her Fluffy. Other female cats come and go, but Bag and Fluffy have made our backyard their territory. Except for one problem...

I feed them in the morning, and they can tell I’m coming because the sound my flip-flops make coming down the stairs. They greet me with anticipation but remain at arms length. There is no touching these guys.

The problem is the big, long-hair orange cat with orange eyes who lives in the first floor apartment and used to hang out on the window sill has discovered how to make it to the ground and apparently wants a small portion of the backyard to him (her?) self. I have offered Orange food in the past, but he eats well at home and has no interest in the cheap cat food I’m offering. 

The feral cats who are not so well-fed are happy to receive a meal. At any rate, I feed whoever shows their little face, and this morning there was Fluffy, Bag, and Orange. I gave them all food. Orange turned up his nose, but as Fluffy tried to eat her own food, Orange came up and swiped her. There was a brief hissing match and Fluffy ran away. Orange ignored the food and gave me a dirty look for trying to break up the fight. I took Fluffy’s food and put it over by Bag’s dish under a tree so she could eat in peace.

This evening, I thought about the cats again, and since I had to take the trash out anyway, brought down more food. This time Fluffy greeted me with tail in the air, followed me to the trash bin and followed me back to the yard where I fed her.

It turned out Orange was lying in the flower bed, but he didn’t bother her this time. I saw a cat that looked like Bag, but his name is Loud Mouth because he meows really loud. Oddly enough, he lets me pet him, but he seems dangerous like he might bite. He’s a semi-regular around these parts. I had to feed him and another cute little cat. I fed them around the corner so there wouldn’t be any argument about who’s eating what in whose territory.The