The first known siting of the cat who became Moose. January 24, 2013.  I thought he belonged to someone and was mooching from the feeder (hence his original Mooch nickname)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I caught images of him since then (May 13, 2013):

 

 

 

 

 

 

And more (June 15, 2013) See the rough area under his right ear? That was an open sore when I caught him yesterday.  I think he was sick even a year ago:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 22, 2014:

January 24, 2014:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 1, 2014:

 

March 21, 2014:

March 30, 2014:

April 7, 2014:

April 12, 2014:

April 18, 2014:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 18, 2014:

Mr. L asked me how I could miss a cat I couldn’t even touch, but he grew on me. He seemed to feel comfortable here. I liked seeing him sleeping on the front porch, in the side yard, and other places around the property.  He and Sneaky seemed companionable.  Was he infected with FIV when he first showed up here? If I could have trapped him sooner, would he have been safe?  I’ll never know.  He was always a little unkept, so it’s likely he’d been ill from when I first saw him.

We’ve seen two or three other cats in the yard from time to time. Not regularly enough to know if they belong to someone or not. I expect at least one will be here more regularly soon now that there’s a “vacancy.” That’s the value of a stable feral population.  They can do beneficial things cats do without the over-population of an unstable colony.