Bartleby the Vanguard

Back during the Great Depression when many unemployed men took to the roads and rails, hoboing around the country, they developed a set of mostly uniform signs, a code, they would scratch on fence posts, trees and even porch pillars, advising or warning the next guy to come along where to go, where to stay away from, who to beg from and who to avoid. 

I think the local cats may have a similar system and have placed their code somewhere on our property.

Or maybe it's a coincidence the sign for a soft touch (Kindhearted Lady) is a cat.

We have a new visitor in the lanai room. He (I'm presuming here) is young and sleek, a rich velvety gray except for white socks (knee highs in the back, anklets up front) and a white bib which tapers to a point before opening up again on his stomach making it look very much, when he sits up, as if he's buttoned his jacket. I believe he's at least part Siamese being rather low to the ground and slinky with a smallish pointed face and relatively large ears. He's very handsome.

He's also extremely vocal and cries to come in continuously once he knows there is someone around to listen. And bangs on the sliding glass door, pawing at it as if to show he knows how it works.

My brother has started feeding him. He also put out a box stuffed with a towel which the cat has started nesting in. It is an extremely affectionate and friendly kitty and much more reactive to his surroundings than Bartleby. I warned my brother that this is how crazy cat collectors start but he just shrugged and said he'd had two before. The visitor and Bartleby are aware of each other and Bartleby, at least and in character, couldn't care less.

It's only a matter of time now.

And then a little more time after that, when the gray is well and truly assimilated, before another comes along and sees the signs.

"Camp Here"               "Kindhearted Lady"               "Sky's the Limit"
(O.K.. the gender's off. The result is the same.)