There were times when there were more than one alpha-male in the neighbourhood, each with his own domain. Of course it was inevitable that their paths crossed occasionally and there were fights, and it was also inevitable that they would sometimes pick out the younger males who they perceived as potential threats, the up-and-coming alpha-males, in order to teach them a lesson and dissuade them from persuing their ‘wannabe’ ambitions.

With Mr Grey and Ana Half-Tail gone, Saturday had little competition. But of course things change. Cats come and go, and the people who feed them come and go. Fields are ploughed, habitat changes, buildings are demolished and erected. All these things affect animals living on the land, and that includes cats. Saturday had a big domain, similar to that of Ana Half-Tail. And a big domain brought with it the opportunity for other males to muscle in. Saturday was still a force to be reckoned with, but he was going to have to work harder to maintain his position at the top of the table.

Within six months of Saturday’s arriving, two new alpha-males turned up, both big, orange cats. As there were a number of orange cats around, they were named G5 and G7 (G6 was not around for long enough to feature). G5 was completely feral and this photo, taken from the first floor terrace, was as close as we got to him.

G7 seemed to be more relaxed. He came into the garden to eat and, although he was not friendly, he was not as wary as G5. It looked likely that they had come from different places. (He is also shown in the header photo, just about to climb up the olive tree and leave the garden after eating).

Later that year, there was another new arrival – an older, chunky male who we felt was probably an ex-alpha-male looking for an easier life. Unusually, he wasn’t orange so, as he had arrived on a Sunday, we named him Sunday. It was only later that we realised that Sunday was in fact Mr Grey in his later years, less interested in fighting and more interesting in eating and sleeping. He still had his aspirations to be an alpha-male of the neighbourhood, but he wasn’t as bothered as he had been about defending any territory he might acquire.

So, at the end of that year, an audit of alpha-males showed that there was a selection of orange cats passing through the garden, plus Sunday. The Cat was still happy, and that was all that mattered.