The cats who came from the fields were seasoned, resourceful ferals, quick-witted cats who were skilled in hunting. They were fed by local farmers who needed cats to keep the rodent population at manageable levels but there were also local people who were happy to leave food and water in their gardens for passing cats who would repay the compliment by discouraging mice, rats and snakes. Of course, if this was the reason for feeding feral cats, humans would make sure to put enough food out to tempt the cats to visit regularly, but not so much as to discourage them from hunting to supplement their diet.

The fields on the opposite side of the road were mostly used for farming and were a prime hunting area, and some of the cats who came to eat in The Cat’s garden, the path and the drive were based over there, while some of The Cat’s family would go exploring in the fields opposite.

This was The Cat’s son Fred on a visit as a kitten. He was quite an adventurous boy although sadly his pioneering character eventually led to his downfall as he fell victim to traffic on the road.

In the summer months, the grass would be harvested leaving the stubble behind. This was a time of good hunting with a lot of rodents left without their usual protection from the high grasses and it was noticeable that less cats came to eat whenever the fields were mown – their preference was hunting, with the food bowls a useful back-up in scarcer times.

The farmers who worked in the fields on the other side of the road also fed the cats and there were cats who waited for them to arrive each day – cats who we never saw on our side of the road. There is at least one black cat waiting in this photo.

And of course the dry stone walls held their own appeal for the cats as there were rats and rodents living within the fabric of the walls. While this was good for the cats, it could be a mixed blessing as rat poison would be put down by our local Council and there was always the risk of contamination for the cats, or their eating a poisoned rat. The cat in the following photo is Syllabub, one of Twilight’s sons.

So, although the garden, drive and path were regularly visited by cats looking for food, most of them, given the choice, would have settled for a nice rat or a few smaller rodents. For our part, we rarely saw any live rats (although there were quite a number of dead ones, some left on our terrace or in the feeding bowls) and snakes and other rodents were kept to a minimum.