This photo was taken during one of my favorite sessions. I was able to get some amazing shots of three generations of formerly feral cats – Mr. Tom, his daughter Stash, and her daughter Iris. All were successfully TNR’d long before this shoot, but when I took these photos, the only one of the three that I could approach was Mr. Tom. Stash and Iris still ran from me, although they would come up and eat close enough for me to touch them. NO FOOD was involved in taking these photos.
This one is early in the set, just as Stash and Iris were coming onto the scene. They eventually assembled themselves into an amazing arrangement.
(I’m new to making videos out of photos)
Mr. Tom is a formerly feral cat. He showed up as a fully mature feral tom cat, shortly before I started doing TNR (Trap, Neuter, and Return). His daughter Stash was born here, to a very wild mama cat. Stash was the only one out of her litter that I was unable to trap during my first round of TNR. I was able to trap her the next year, but not until after she had given birth to Iris.
When Mr. Tom started visiting, he didn’t bolt like the other ferals when I came outside. He walked away confidently. He wouldn’t let near him, but when other toms came around to fight over his food we had an agreement. I would stand watch on the porch so he could eat in peace a couple of feet away.
It took six years for him to let me touch him at all. After that it only took a couple of weeks for us to become best buddies.
