Fancy Spots

Here we have a friendly inside/outside feline resident of Portland showing off her fancy coat of spots, a faint echo of her wild African roots.
However, it seems as if traces of this cat's primal nature begin and end with her coat pattern . . .

"Looks like we got a roller on our hands!" Always an unmistakable sign of a happy cat - reveling in the dirt, air and what little sun leaks it's way through the permanent cloud cover of a March afternoon. It's an invitation to join in on the celebration of the cat's feline nature, by offering pets and scratches.

Being civilized has it's perks, no doubt.

Benson

I ran into this handsome gent while wandering the neighborhoods of south east Portland; an area which I now consider to be ruled primarily by cats. His name tag read "BENSON".

Benson is a bit on the stout side with a coat that matches the color of Portland's sky. He carried himself with the air of a feline that lives with an older lady.

As soon as saw us, he ran down the driveway to greet us and receive pets. He quickly revealed himself to be a pro charmer of humans.

Even though his lazy googly eye made it difficult to tell what he was interested in at times, it only added to his charm, like an old drunken grandfather living in a cat's body. He is pictured above with his tongue retracted.

Lil' Feral

Here's another cat that likes to hang out in my backyard. One of my housemates dubbed him with the moniker "Feral" because he lives outside and doesn't trust humans.
I tend to call him "Lil' Feral", and eventually plan on upgrading to "Lil' Pharrel" because it sounds more like a proper noun.

Even though he won't let anyone lay a hand on on him, he is very curious about humans and likes to spend time in our vicinity, observing our habits presumably.

I suspect that this cat is brother to "Green Eyes" (see entry one 8/8/10). They have the same eyes and vaguely similar fur patterns. Their demeanors are quite different, however. Lil Feral lacks the quiet wisdom and grace of green eyes, but makes up for it with a youthful exuberance. Recently, I learned that mother cats can be impregnated by multiple tomcats, hence resulting in a litter of half siblings. That could explain the oceans of difference between the two little beasts.

My Siamese Neighbor

Here we have what I consider to be one of the finest looking felines in my neighborhood.

Usually I only catch glimpses of him hanging out on the windowsill as I pass by my neighbor's house.

But one day he somehow slipped out of the house and decided to pay us a visit.


I haven't seen the little escape artist out in the open air since these pictures were taken.

Loud small cat.

This high strung little beast summoned us to the front yard of his owner's home with the second loudest catmeow I've heard to date.


In spite of his persistent, urgent meowing, he didn't seem to be interested in or open to pets 'n' scratches from strangers.

He didn't curtail his meow siren as we approached, but it became obvious that he intended to avoid contact with us, which is not a very difficult thing for a nimble young cat to do.

Maybe his collar was on too tight.

Gentle Giant

I encountered this friendly cat as he was lounging in a wicker yard chair on a mostly cloudy afternoon.
He was notably longer and thicker than your average house cat, but not the least bit overweight.
He had an aged facial expression and a particularly relaxed droop to his eyes. Probably the type of cat who gets along with everyone.

He's takin' it easy for the rest of us out there.

Danger

Today I met Danger. He's a cheerful young black cat who wears a skull and crossbones themed collar.


I've seen him loitering around the neighborhood compost bins, rolling in the dirt and taking in the pungent ass odor of the mix in the bins.

I suspect that in addition to his rolling smelling loitering routine, he also makes it a practice to solicit pets from passerbys. He responded quite well to the attention that I gave him.


He's Alder street's handsomest compost connoisseur, that's for certain.