If you're a feral cat, the space between you and human beings is a big issue, and one which has to be assessed and managed continually. They say that if kittens are not socialised with humans by the age of six weeks, they will be feral. But what does that really mean?
I guess it's about trust. If a kitten is exposed and handled by human beings at a young age, it learns that this will not endanger it. If they don't get that exposure, they don't trust humans. This is true even if you feed the cat regularly as it grows. The crucial window of socialisation has gone.
But there are degrees of feral-ness. I can get within a metre of Jessica if I am putting down some food and she is standing by ready to eat it. Others such as Ron (eating with Jessica and Bette Davis below) and this other ginger peeking out from behind the wooden chest (also below), are extremely guarded and will bolt if you come within 4 or 5 metres of them.
I guess it's about trust. If a kitten is exposed and handled by human beings at a young age, it learns that this will not endanger it. If they don't get that exposure, they don't trust humans. This is true even if you feed the cat regularly as it grows. The crucial window of socialisation has gone.
But there are degrees of feral-ness. I can get within a metre of Jessica if I am putting down some food and she is standing by ready to eat it. Others such as Ron (eating with Jessica and Bette Davis below) and this other ginger peeking out from behind the wooden chest (also below), are extremely guarded and will bolt if you come within 4 or 5 metres of them.
And there are some middling cases. Zorro, for example hisses at me when I go to feed him. Here he is with one eye on me while drinking water.
He is clearly conflicted as he really 'puts in the hours', investing his time in being present, staking a claim to the rich pickings of this particular hunting ground by hanging around under the car or under the horreo, until I come outside with some cat food. And then just as I pass him to put it in the bowls, he hisses. Much as I admonish him for biting the hand that feeds him, I do understand that he is actually both frightened of me and appreciative, all at the same time. How confusing for him!
The boys seem to be more feral than the girls. This is curious. The boys probably have a wider roaming range and therefore form less of an attachment to their village than the girls. Perhaps that's it; or maybe the boys have more to fear from humans. I suspect the odd aggressive male has been chased off by the odd human now and then. Certainly our neighbours do comment on how 'very, very bad' (malisimo) certain large males are when they bully everyone else.
Maybe the males have to be more guarded, generally. They have to watch their backs, that's for sure. They have a clear pecking order and if they do happen to be the alpha male (NoNeck probably at present - here he is, peering at me from behind the rock) there will be regular challenges; and if they are somewhere else in the pecking order, they are under threat from above and below, unless they are on the very bottom of that league table. Hard to get a good night's sleep either way! And best to keep one eye open, and one’s back against the wall. Perhaps you end up being guarded and suspicious about felines and humans alike.
The boys seem to be more feral than the girls. This is curious. The boys probably have a wider roaming range and therefore form less of an attachment to their village than the girls. Perhaps that's it; or maybe the boys have more to fear from humans. I suspect the odd aggressive male has been chased off by the odd human now and then. Certainly our neighbours do comment on how 'very, very bad' (malisimo) certain large males are when they bully everyone else.
Maybe the males have to be more guarded, generally. They have to watch their backs, that's for sure. They have a clear pecking order and if they do happen to be the alpha male (NoNeck probably at present - here he is, peering at me from behind the rock) there will be regular challenges; and if they are somewhere else in the pecking order, they are under threat from above and below, unless they are on the very bottom of that league table. Hard to get a good night's sleep either way! And best to keep one eye open, and one’s back against the wall. Perhaps you end up being guarded and suspicious about felines and humans alike.
As a feral carer you can use this knowledge to advantage. For example, TortiPizza is regular as clockwork with her 3 pm visits. She turns up when all the others are having a nice siesta in the jungle-like abandoned finca. She doesn't want to compete with the others, so she is clever enough to turn up at odd times to ask for food. But just say there is someone like Zorro around, he will push his way to the bowl I've put down for her and she will run off. However, if I hover between him and the bowl, she will come back and eat, happily. The reason is that his 'proximity tolerance' to me is around 4 metres; hers is around 2. Therefore, if I stand around 2 metres from the bowl, she will eat but he will not. Cool huh?
Of course the same dynamic can be unhelpful. If I want to trap a male to get him neutered, you can bet it will be the more relaxed (and already neutered) females who will explore - and hoover up - the tempting treats on offer, nonchalantly skipping in and out of the as yet unset trap. It may indeed seem like a game in which the human puts the delicious morsels carefully in the trap, Bette Davis or Jessica gobble them up as soon as back is turned, at which point the human shoos them away to put more delicious morsels in! What fun.
Short memory, given they have experienced that trap as the beginning of the TNR process. But I guess it's an affirmation of the fact that they don't think anything really terrible happened to them in that process!
Of course the same dynamic can be unhelpful. If I want to trap a male to get him neutered, you can bet it will be the more relaxed (and already neutered) females who will explore - and hoover up - the tempting treats on offer, nonchalantly skipping in and out of the as yet unset trap. It may indeed seem like a game in which the human puts the delicious morsels carefully in the trap, Bette Davis or Jessica gobble them up as soon as back is turned, at which point the human shoos them away to put more delicious morsels in! What fun.
Short memory, given they have experienced that trap as the beginning of the TNR process. But I guess it's an affirmation of the fact that they don't think anything really terrible happened to them in that process!
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