Feral Cat Fridays: The Water Hole Monster
New kids on the block feel their way around long-time residents until they learn how the neighborhood works, and it’s no different in a feral cat colony. This little interchange between Rosenkrantz, Georgette, and Fuzzy Tux happened not long after Rosenkrantz and Georgette arrived.
And, yes, the third kitten in the litter was Guildenstern. I’ll say more about all the principals in this little drama in later posts, and also introduce mother Herkemina. You can tell the cats were enjoying the weather just after a rain by the mud splatters on the tub and the damp ground. The photos are sometimes a little blurred due to moving cats, but that’s the price of letting events unfold without interruption.
First, we see Rosenkrantz making use of the booster seat at the water tub.
After seeing Fuzzy Tux, Rosenkrantz hustles away.
And we learn he was going to warn sister Georgette about the monster at the water hole.
But maybe she spoke too soon.
A puzzled Fuzzy Tux has never considered herself to be a monster.
And Georgette heads for home.
Georgette and her family were among the last kittens in the colony. We first saw their mother Herkemina a few days before she brought them out of the woods. Fuzzy Tux was a litter mate of Tux; you can barely see her tipped left ear in one of the photos, indicating that she had been trapped and spayed as a part of our TNR program by the time of this little drama.
Watching one cat can be a great deal of fun. Add a few more, and the fun increases exponentially. I got a kick out of Georgette’s ‘Halloween cat’ pose. What do you suppose they’d think of this one?
It’s my bet that Georgette imagined she looked just like that ferocious Halloween cat in your link. Fuzzy Tux likely had a different opinion. She just seemed puzzled about this new kid that was acting strangely.
Watching the colony out the windows occupied a lot of our time when we were managing a large crowd of ferals and it was an entertaining and educational show. On the other hand, it’s a real relief to have the population down to 2 old-timers these days. We miss the characters and are very glad we could do something to make a dent in the larger problem, but it was often hard (and sometimes emotionally draining) work. But I have to admit the cats seemed to appreciate what we did for them and their improved well-being was ample reward.