Mosby the Cat

This is a feral cat visiting our deck. I photographed him from a window after one of our dogs raised a ruckus, having spotted him through a glass door. Neighbors tell me his name is Mosby and he is one of the cats living in the woods on the other side of the lake.

The feral cats around there are looked after by people in our neighborhood who took them to be neutered before releasing them back into the wild. Animal rescue experts say that this is a good way to handle a feral cat colony because if you turn them in to the animal shelter, other stray cats will move into the very area that they vacated. Cats are territorial and apparently quite opportunistic

Last year Mosby was mysteriously shot with a BB gun and a woman took him for treatment and nursed him back to health. Now he's back in his old territory but he's not so shy of people that he avoids houses.

I think Mosby is an appropriate name for a cat on a raiding mission, likewise one who was wounded but recovered. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Virginia's Civil War history, Mosby was the last name of a Confederate officer who became famous as the most successful partisan leader in this part of the country. (See all my Mosby posts.)

Sharing with: Sepia Saturday and Saturday's Critters