big stray tom

I used to feed a white tom that haunted the neighborhood. He'd been around for years and 6 months ago he finally disappeared. He was moving pretty slow the last few times I saw him. A long life though! Judging from when I moved here I'm guessing around 14 anyway. Pretty good for a stray though I likely wasn't the only one feeding him.

Anyway...I think he has a son. Could very well be I suppose. There's a ragged burly tabby that's been slinking around so I decided he could stand a few extra bits of grub as well. Totally feral. Hilarious though. He'll tolerate me tapping the window and watching him eat but as soon as the door opens he quickly takes off...close to the ground and fast fast fast...like he just committed a terrible crime. Kills me. He'll stop once across the street and look back for a few seconds before padding off under a car or behind a house.

Anyway don't know where I'm going with this. It's just that we just had our latest encounter a few minutes ago. I'll call him when I put food out and usually he's there within a few minutes. We do have that between us...at least he comes when he's called! yuk yuk! His 'name' by the way is 'hey puss! pusspusspuss...hey puss!' Seems to work.

Be nicer now with warmer weather coming, I can put out some softer food. Strange...he's ignored the bit of tuna I put out a couple of times. Not so with the chunks of cooked sausage I tried on him. Little bugger polished the plate on those occasions. Mostly it's cat kibble and treats he gets. Not too much though because he doesn't look skinny. I'm just an insurance feeder in case he misses his daily elsewhere.

Well that's that. I'm still laughingis all. The way he takes off. Like someone running into an alley with a Rembrandt under one arm. Yo cat burgler! it's YOUR food. Relax willya? Poor old stray critter. Going to be an amusing spring summer I hope.

I used to leave salmon skin out for a cat named Keisha that roamed the condo complex. She was a homely combination of mottled brown and black and had a fierce attitude. She tolerated only a brief petting and then she would hiss to get you to back off. I liked that about her. That was about 30 years ago.

Most recently we got a visit from "Bailey" at our new location. He's a gregarious orange and white tabby very much like our own. He was attracted by freshly cooked salmon.
We found out that he lives two houses away, is nearly 20 years old and has cancer. So we keep an eye out for him. We don't put out food for cats, although we have a bird feeder, which attracts birds, rodents and bears.

My wife is a cat person. I'm more into bugs and things. Give me Katydids, Butterflies and (believe it or not) bees, wasps and hornets.