The image of an alpha-male cat squeezed into a box and napping peacefully is not something that would strike fear into the hearts of the other males. And yet some of the biggest males loved to sleep in the fruit boxes in the garden in the shade of the trees, napping the hours away in the sun. Presumably their reputations would have been ruined had the other alpha-males known, but maybe they were too busy napping in their own boxes to care.

First, here’s Saturday, a firm favourite of The Cat’s, a big, chunky, orange alpha-male whose very presence could strike fear into the heart and soul of a lesser male. He doesn’t look quite so fearsome here, filling out this box nicely on top of the feeding station in the dappled shade of the olive tree and citrus trees. Saturday is also featured in the header photo.

Next is Mr Grey aka The Evil aka Sunday. Just his names are enough to tell you what sort of alpha-male he was. And yet, here he is curled up and soudly asleep in another box in the same place as Saturday (obviously not at the same time – that would have been asking for trouble).

Mr Tiffin preferred to be a little more in the open and his favourite box was this one, half way down the garden. He was one of the alpha-males but not as big and strong as Saturday and Sunday so maybe their scent on the boxes on the feeding station would have cautioned Mr Tiffin against using them.

And finally, G4 aka Durante. This box was next to the water tankand frequented by The Cat, so maybe her scent is what attracted G4 there. Again, he was not one of the biggest males and was generally content to ‘shadow’ the alpha-males, watching and learning but not seeking confrontation.

Not so fierce when they’re tucked into boxes, are they? But in the blink of an eye, that could all change.