Feral Trio – July 31, 2017

This morning Mama Cat came out for rubs before breakfast.  Each day I try to rub her a little more–and in different places–and she was fine when I rubbed down her back to her tail.  She was “making biscuits” the whole time.

Orange Girl always watches when Mama Cat is twirling around my legs, and she probably doesn’t quite know what to think of it!  While she still talks to me each morning from a safe distance, I don’t anticipate her coming close enough for me to touch her–at least not yet. 🙂

And the pre-breakfast dance continued….

  

Cali-1 was taking it all in, too.

I’d set up the trail cam Sunday morning, hoping to see the black kitty (already a TNR baby), “Floofy Tail” (that I haven’t trapped) or other cats I’ve seen over the last 7 months.

I haven’t seen “Cali-2” (TNR – Jan. 2017) since late last May:

And I’ve only seen this kitty once, in late January 2017:

  

The large male I trapped in March was possibly spotted by one of my co-workers a week or so ago, but I haven’t seen him since the trail cam took this sweet picture of him with Orange Girl:

When I downloaded the trail cam pictures this morning, I only saw Mama Cat and Orange Girl, and the camera caught this “argument” between the two of them on Sunday afternoon:

Girls, girls!  You need to share!  There’s enough food in the bowl for several kitties!

I hope I can continue to feed them in one location, as I’d rather not set up additional feeding stations!

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Mama Cat – July 28, 2017

Look who came over to greet me when I was getting ready to feed the ferals!

  

Such a funny picture–almost looks like she’s saying, “Okay, if it’s so important to you, yes, you may rub me….”

  

This morning–for the first time–she talked to me, and there was a bit of “biscuit making” going on with her paws when I was rubbing her. <3

Sweet girl–really makes me wonder if she was someone’s pet at some point in her life, or if she just finally trusts me after 7+ months….

(Many thanks to Wayne for taking these pictures!)

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Funny Ferals – July 24, 2017

This morning I heard the orange kitty before I saw her.  She was meowing as she came up the hill, and she kept meowing responses as I talked to her.  She clearly wanted her breakfast, but she wasn’t willing to come any closer to me.

  

Just then Mama Cat came walking up the hill….

She paused for a second (to check out some activity in the maintenance area), then she walked past Orange Girl, walked right in front of me, hopped into the feeding station and started eating.

 

Sorry, Orange Girl. “She who hesitates” loses first dibs for breakfast. 😉

 

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More Progress with the Ferals – July 23, 2017

When we took food over today, the first cat I saw was Orange Girl, and she was very vocal!  I’ve heard it’s unusual for ferals to meow at a human, but this was the second or third time she’s “talked” to me.   This morning she responded by meowing each time I spoke to her.  Sweet.

Very quickly, however, I saw the Mama Cat, and I’m so glad that Wayne was with me to get these pictures!

“Oh, my goodness, pretty girl!  You’re right here!”

“Aren’t you the brave kitty!  Do you want to sniff?”

I didn’t try to touch her–and she didn’t touch me–but I had no idea that she’d ever get this close to me.

I backed up a few feet, and she went in to eat.  If you look closely, you can see the orange kitty between us near the small tree.  She moved next to the feeding station when I backed up a few more feet.

 

These girls have come such a long way from the terrified kitties I trapped last December!

  

 

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Mama Cat – July 21, 2017

Yesterday, I didn’t see any kitties, but when I turned around after putting a bowl of food in the feeding station, Mama Cat was right behind me, less than 10 feet away.  I was surprised that she was so close!

I spoke to her, then moved away from the food, and she walked past me into the feeding station.

When she finished eating, she again walked past me, just a few feet away.

This morning, I saw her as soon as I got there.  She watched (patiently?) as I set up the trail cam (which I’ve forgotten the past few days) before I set out the food.

I didn’t see anyone other than this “bold and beautiful” kitty, but she is really surprising me by how trusting she’s become.

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