Softail Rolls Into Our Colony
Softail (AKA Softy) was dropped off in the yard the day after his mother, Harley, first wandered onto Dry Creek Hill. Harley eventually brought 5 kittens to our clearing and the family moved into our colony.
As you can see, Softy was uncertain about being left while his mother collected the other kittens. But he settled down after some crying and happily rejoined the rest of the family after Harley brought them all.
Softy, Harley, and the entire Davidson clan stayed with us for years. Softy grew into a big, beautiful boy and spent many hours sunning in the oak trees on our hill.
It was easy to forget which cats in the colony belonged to what families because most of them established relationships outside their original litters. But the Davidson clan stayed together. They ruled the east side of our clearing and their lives revolved around Harley. Softy and the other Davidsons mingled and played with the rest of the colony at times but when it came time to eat or rest the Davidsons were like one large cat.
They were so reliably together that we came to refer to the feeding station in their area of the yard as “The Harley Platform.” That’s Softy’s rear on the far right, dining next to Harley. The other 3 cats on the platform are all Davidsons. The cat down front is Stoney – he knows he’s not a part of the Davidson clan and is letting them have their privacy.
You can read more about our experiences with the Cats of Dry Creek Hill in this book. Comment on this post or subscribe to DryCreekHill.com and we’ll email you a link to a free PDF copy. If you prefer a hard copy, it is available in paperback from Amazon.
