Feral Cat Fridays: Boots Stomps Into The Colony
I wrote earlier about Smudge arriving with his undeniable name pasted to his face. Boots was another colony member who came with a name that could not be denied.
We first saw Boots hanging out under a Rosemary bush in the middle of the yard. She was quite skittish and aloof. In fact, she stayed in that part of the yard so much that we started calling the feeding station near the Rosemary bush The Boots Platform. This differentiated it from The Harley Platform that I mentioned in the post about Softy. Boots eventually became more comfortable near the house, but her Rosemary bush and platform were always home base.
Boots was a prickly cat and quite defensive for most of her life. If we were out in the yard and heard a cat disagreement beginning, we often said “Oh, come on, Boots,” without even looking to see who was involved. We were right more often than not. At the same time, Boots sought comfort from other colony members. Here you see her using the aptly named Fluff as a pillow.
Boots’ defensive nature translated into being a very good and protective mother to the kittens she had before we could trap and spay her. (If you look at the flat tip of her left ear in the second and third photos you can see the sign that she has been spayed.) Here you see her before spaying in her favorite flower bed with Sheridan, her daughter. That’s her Rosemary bush in the upper right corner.
Both the photo of Boots and Fluff and the one showing her with her kitten are delightful. I will admit I didn’t expect to be thinking of Nancy Sinatra this morning, but that’s what a pair of white boots will do.
Fluff gave us a lot of entertainment and good photos. She was friendly with us and nearly every cat in the colony – if Fluff could get along with Boots, she could get along with anyone. I often heard Nancy Sinatra playing in my head as I watched Boots stalk across the yard, but I’d forgotten that album cover. It fits Boots’ “Come hither and I’ll walk all over you” vibe perfectly.