This absolutely gorgeous boy is probably the most vicious killer in the neighborhood, but you would never know it from his appearance. The first time I saw him he gave a soft meow and rolled over on his back looking for affection. He’s obviously a well-cared for family pet. Someone is brushing all that long, beautiful fur on a regular basis. However, it didn’t take long to discover that he spends much of his time outdoors lurking under our bird feeders. As someone who likes all sorts of animals, it’s not always simple to figure out how to respond to predators. Should I feed birds at all? We keep our own cats inside. We don’t know who owns this boy and we call him Red to distinguish him from Blackie, the feral cat. Despite his incredible effectiveness as a killer, it’s hard to not admire this boy’s beauty.

We have too many animals around here called Red. We also use that name for a Red Bellied Woodpecker and a pair of Red Tailed Hawks. We need to get more inventive.