Phantom

Today my patience was rewarded with one of the many wild cats that often winter in the barn finally, came down into the barn to eat from the food dish with me still in the barn.

It is the third year this large male cat has been coming here when food is hard to find.

He has grown a lot from the first year, when all I would see is a glimpse of this small ball of fluff in the mow as he quickly disappeared from sight.

Or at a distance, in the barn paddock before he went under the fence and slipped away like a phantom.

The second year he was a lot bigger and not quite as afraid of me, often taking his time to look at me before disappearing in the mow, but I would often find him watching me through the opening in the loft door for my cats to get into the main barn.















This year he stayed at the opening in the loft door and I started putting food on one of the steps to entice him to come down while I was still in the barn.

Perhaps next year, I will have gained his trust to the point where he will allow me to touch him. Time will tell.