There are people, believe it or not, who only come to this blog to see my occasional reports on animals in my backyard. If you are such a person, this one's for you.
Things have changed and to explain this, I need to review the Cast of Characters, all of whom are feral felines. More than a year ago here, I told you about the Stranger Cats, as we called them — two strays who I think were brother and sister, who came around every night in search of food. There was the Stranger Cat (male) who was bold enough to come onto the porch at any hour and demand to be fed. There was also the Stranger Stranger Cat (female) who usually but not always was timid and shy. She'd hang back at a distance, waiting 'til the Stranger Cat got some food into the bowl and then she'd creep up and nibble on whatever her brother (?) was willing to share.
In the last year, the Stranger Cat has obviously found other sources of free eats. He comes around — alone — every week or three. I think the last time I saw him was about two weeks ago…but then I've been away and even when I'm here, I only check the back yard occasionally. Perhaps he's here more often than I think. On the other hand (paw), the Stranger Stranger Cat is definitely here a lot, but always too shy/skitterish to come near me, even when I'm putting chow out.
More recently, as you've read here, a small feline I named Lydia became Top Cat of my yard. She's the one I had to trap and haul in for a kitty abortion and spaying. She was coming around all the time and sleeping on an old chaise lounge I have out by the pool. Also coming around occasionally was a black-and-white cat I haven't named but which seems to have some connection to Lydia. This is the cat I accidentally caught in my trap when I was trying to catch Lydia.
Still more recently, Max began showing up. Max, as I call him, is a very large male. When I first saw Max, I briefly thought I had another seriously-pregnant, about-to-pop cat on my hands. That was before I noticed the testicles. Max is a widebody, perpetually-hungry cat, not unlike the one whose cartoons I write. If I fed both Max and Lydia at the same time, Max would devour a full can of Friskies, then go over and start helping himself to whatever portion of Lydia's dinner was unconsumed. When I was present, I'd referee such disputes and make sure Lydia got to eat.
So what's happened lately is that Max and the Stranger Stranger Cat are an item. More than an item, they're just about inseparable. That's them in the photo above.
Max and the Stranger Stranger Cat have taken over that chaise lounge — the one Lydia used to sleep on — and I often see them on it, napping practically on top of each other. When they spot me, Max is instantly on the porch, insisting on food for the both of them. He protects her and feeds her and nuzzles her and licks her face…and all of this would be quite commendable except that some of it involves chasing Lydia away.
Max doesn't mind the occasional possums or raccoons who wander into my yard to help themselves to the cat food. In fact, I've seen Max out there just watching them dine, waiting until they leave so he can hop back up on the porch and howl a howl that seems to say, "Refill, please!" But let another cat get near the bowl? Unthinkable.
So once or twice an evening now, I go downstairs and chase Max away so Lydia can come in and eat. I sit out there guarding her 'til she's done and leaves on her own accord. I just did that…and tonight, Lydia brought the black-and-white cat along for dinner! It's the first time I've seen the black-and-white cat in at least a month.
That's how it works out there now. I have two teams of cats eating in shifts and I have to stay out there to make sure the visiting team gets their Friskies Sea Captains' Choice, which I gather is a lot of leftover fish parts from somewhere, involving no Sea Captain and very little choice. If I can't get them to live in peace, I may have to move my computer out there and blog from the back yard while I play Traffic Cop at the cat dish.