I hope this is the proper section for these photos since they are of ferals. If it should be moved, I apologize in advance.

These pix are from a feral colony of about 15-19 cats at a park 5 minutes from my home. Apparently it has been here for 10+ years and I never knew it!















Now a woman has been feeding them for the past several years and they are well sheltered. They have fresh water daily as well ass dry and moist foods. In the event all their water freezes, they have access to a free flowing stream behind them. You can see the pet carriers and such set up for shelter and they are filled with straw. Some have thick blankets to act is windbreaks. So they are keeping relatively warm. They are well fed and are as big as housecats. And growing up as ferals, they do not seem to be all that bothered by the cold as I saw them yesterday just laying down in the packed snow and not even caring. They know to go into their shelters and snuggle against each other for warmth if need be.

Being a feral, they will not let you touch them unless they are totally preoccupied with their food. But at a certain time of day, they will come out when they see a car approach and will come within a foot of me. Try to pet them and they scoot away. :D That is good though because it keeps them safe from anybody that would do them harm.

Aw, how wonderful! I miss the colony I used to feed back in Texas. They had been around for over 10 years, too! :shock:

:luv2: I've never seen a feral colony in my life. :(

Bless that lady for looking after them :hug: ....they all look in great shape. :thumbsup:

I have never seen a feral colony befor either. I have seen lots of wild cats by them selfs but never a colony. Awesome Pics though

We live in the city and about a 10 minute walk to the top of our street, there lives a colony. I call it Carter's Colony...the street is Carter's Rd. The Carter family lives all along it...the grandmother takes care of all the cats. I must go takes pix too, if the kitties will let me. :) It's been around for years too...as long as the road has been there. I think it's attractive to the stray cats b/c there is a huge patch of woods on the street.

Great pix BTW!! :thumbsup:

If anyone ever visits Ottawa and specifically Parliament Hill, take a walk behind the building and you will see a feral colony that's been there for years as well. It houses cats and racoons.

Here are some more pix from the feral colony. It was a relatively nice day. Sunny if a bit chilly.





















They were having a ball today!! Can you see anything unique about the final photo? :)

The ferals are very smart. When the people that feed them everyday at 4pm arrive, they know their cars and they come running out for them. For anybody else's car, they may come and peek but that's it. And they will practically rub against the couple's legs. Yet for others, they may get within 2-3 feet.

:luv2: That's neat!

Is that a raccoon eating with the cats?

The cats all look pretty healthy.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! This racoon often comes out to eat with the cats and most of them accept it. Only two of the cats swatted at the racoon and it just would walk away. The racoon would pretty much sniff most of the cats there and most did not care. However, the lady that feeds them put out a bowl of dry food just for the racoon. :luv1:



Aleigh, the people that feed them have put down various canned cat foods as well as dry food and even some tuna. I have also seen milk there from others that feed them earlier in the day. The one cream colored cat, the one in the 3rd photo down, seems to have raspy breathing. But every one of them is alert and full of vigor. While they will not let me touch them, they appear to have good body mass.

Thats neat that the cats let the raccoon eat with them!

:wave:

Those are great pics!! Thanks for sharing.....

Are the cats spayed/neutered? It's great what the woman is doing, and YES, I saw the racoon! It's interesting that the racoon has befriended the cats; one Thanksgiving our cat was attacked by a racoon....luckily he survived.

Aww, how great!

I miss the ferals we used to feed in NC. :( They loved to listen to me talk to them - I could only get a few feet away from them, but they truly enjoyed me being around.

Gaby, I suspect that being ferals, they tend to be more accepting of racoons than housecats. Being around other animals since birth probably accounts for their acceptance of the racoon, groundhogs, opossums, etc. Also, I feel that the racoon will not try to harm the cats unless as a last resort because if the entire colony attacked the racoon, I am sure they could bring it down. Besides, we know that racoons are not aggressive animals as a rule. They only tend to fight when cornered. And since there is plenty of food for all the animals out there, food-based aggression is sure to not be an issue.

Crystal, aside from the benefits of food and other goodies, I think that ferals do enjoy human contact of sorts. It is almost as if they are showing off their hardyness i adverse conditions. I also like to watch the ferals play a lot. Hmmm, maybe I should go buy a couple catnip plants and plant them down there! :D

Oh I agree - they enjoy being paid attention to. I used to talk to the ones around our place and they would roll around and just love it. And the last few days Erik and I were there, we were cleaning up the apartment and making trash runs to the dumpster. Everytime we'd walk out there they'd run along with us, a few feet away - or they'd watch us and wait for us to come back to the apartment. :)

I miss those cats.

Those are wonderful photos!! I love the raccoon, too funny!

I LOVE the buff & white cat...it's beautiful! :luv2:

That is the one the woman calls Scoops. He (I assume it is a male) likes to take his paw and scoop out some of the food onto the ground before eating it. My cat Willie will do the same thing a lot. Scoops however has very raspy breathing. Sometimes it sounds like he is "gurgling" when he breathes. Yet he is still as active as any of the others.

I really need to get down there with my 7mp camera. I would like to get more of the racoon dining with the cats. :)