Saturday means Caturday, checking in with the feral cats we care for.

Two cats sleeping inside the cat house shelter:

Reaching for a bug on the wall below the feeder camera:

Up close:

The alien gray cat and Poppy; she just wandered off, and let the gray cat finish eating:

Three cats looking at something (probably Rory on the deck):

Sleepy cats:

Chasing a moth:

Three cats inside the shelter, when the gray cat visits after midnight:

Three snuggly cats:

Still three upstairs, when one more arrives:

Spud staring at a bug:

Four cats inside; I also saw Spud in the feeder again at this time. It’s rare to see all five cats, but I’m glad when I do; it’s nice to confirm that they’re all still alive:

Those aren’t cats: two raccoons inside:

The alien gray cat arrives, followed by the alien orange cat:

Both are probably pet cats of neighbors. We’ve named the orange cat Pumpkin, but haven’t named the gray cat (which has a collar, so is definitely a pet). Since he looks like an outdoor edition of our cat Paladin, maybe we should call him Paladout? 😉

Orange and gray cats:

Two cats, doing the feral startled stare:

The gray cat arrives when one of our ferals is sitting next to the deck; they seem to be somewhat getting used to each other:

Two cats sniffing noses in greeting:

Poppy has been spending several hours each night sleeping in the shelter, which makes me happy; she was a very good mother to her kittens, and deserves a comfortable retirement:

Welcome to Caturday!

Three cats, with the one coming out of the shelter having a good stretch:

Peeking around the corner, while waiting for breakfast:

Snuggles:

A raccoon walking down a tree; they are really good at climbing:

Four cats:

Dinner queue:

More snuggles; they haven’t been using the shelter very much of late, so I enjoy seeing when they do:

Three cats:

A fourth arrives:

Porcini looking at a bug on the wall below the camera:

Four cats:

Raccoon:

Possum:

Pumpkin, the alien orange cat:

Daytime raccoon:

Pepper in the shop:

Two cats, with chairs in the field for our party today:

I expect the cats will avoid visiting tonight, with more humans and dogs roaming around. Hopefully they’ll fill up before that.

Pansy reaching for kibble in the back of the shop:

Raccoons are usually only active at night, but one has been visiting after dawn, raiding the breakfast dispensed for the cats:

Two cats:

Two cats drinking from fountain; there are more convenient (and cleaner) water sources, but maybe they like the tadpole flavor:

A cat laying on the ground, and another arriving for dinner:

Porcini chasing a bug while waiting for breakfast:

Three cats at breakfast time:

Porcini cautiously watching me as I come out the front door:

A twin relaxing on the front steps:

Two cats at dinnertime:

Two cats the next day:

A late raccoon again (probably the same one); licking its lips at the raided food:

Two cats inside; they haven’t been in there much recently:

One reason why, perhaps: a raccoon inside:

Three cats for breakfast:

The raccoon again, at 07:23 this morning; I don’t think I’ve ever seen one about that late:

I had adjusted the feeder schedule to dispense after dawn, to avoid the raccoons, but this one seems to have learned that. And learned the sound of food being dispensed; I’ve seen it come back after food appears. I’m not sure what else I can do; I can’t manually dispense food when I see a cat (which is what I often do in the evenings, as I try to avoid leaving anything by dusk). It’s frustrating.

This morning I did keep a close eye on the feeder, though, and rushed out there with Rory to chase it off several times. Hopefully I can discourage it, but I doubt I’ll have much success. I’ve thought about a remote-controlled door to close off the feeder at night, or a door to trap the raccoon, but I don’t want to trap the cats.

I also have a design for a barrier to place in front of the cat house, with a platform to jump into it, that cats should be able to manage, but raccoons and possums shouldn’t be able to do. I might try that one day, though I have too many other projects.

Let’s start Caturday with a cat climbing a pole behind the cat house:

A raccoon and possum have an encounter on the deck:

Three cats:

Actually, there were four cats; one more inside the shelter, as seen in this screenshot:

In another screenshot, we can see a raccoon in the feeder while two cats are in the shelter:

Not content with that, the raccoon came in the shelter with the cats, who gently suggested it might want to be elsewhere, with much hissing and growling:

Surprisingly, they didn’t evacuate after that; they just curled up for more snuggles:

A possum also visited (yes, the same night), and was also directed towards the exit:

More snuggles:

As if the raccoon and possum weren’t enough for one night, Pumpkin, the orange cat, also paid a visit, and was more forcefully told he wasn’t welcome; they were more vocal with him than the wildlife:

Why won’t they be my friends?

Porcini looking at the camera on the way in to breakfast:

They’ve been using the shelter more this week, despite the unwelcome visitors:

What’s this? Another cat update?! How unexpected. Or something.

Three cats in the feeder:

The alien orange cat has been hanging around a lot recently. So much so that we’ve decided to give him a name, in keeping with our convention of giving “P” names to cats: Pumpkin. We wonder if he’s feral, stray, or someone’s pet. Here he’s peeking into the feeder, while Poppy eats:

He was noticed:

A rapid egress:

He went into the feeder and Poppy came back to watch him:

That evening, a sleepy Poppy:

We had some other alien visitors, including a raccoon:

The gray alien cat:

A possum:

In the front of the shop, here’s Pepper:

In the back of the shop, Pansy makes a funny face:

A better picture of Pansy:

The orange cat, Pumpkin, in the feeder again:

And in the shelter, where he slept for several hours:

Two cats in the feeder:

Pumpkin sleeping in the shelter again; he’s really been hanging out a lot:

A cat in the feeder, waiting for breakfast:

Two cats almost colliding in the feeder:

When I was refilling the bird feeders, I flushed Porcini out from the grass under the feeders. She watched me from under the deck:

Pumpkin in the shelter again:

He popped out of the shelter when a feral was eating:

In the feeder:

Watching a feral arriving to eat:

The feral cat wasn’t thrilled to be watched:

Screenshot of cat cams, with Pumpkin sleeping and Porcini eating:

I really think Pumpkin wants to be friendly with the ferals, but they aren’t so accepting. I hope that he doesn’t (unintentionally) chase them away. I don’t mind him hanging around, but would be sad if they left. I’m hoping that they all learn to get along one day, though I know that’ll take a long time, if ever.