I was appalled to find out end of last week that the cats here and in the area are being round up and put down simply because no one wants to be bothered with them. So I sat down and wrote a letter to our complex manager and included some information about TNR and http://www.alleycat.org/. She wrote me back, and said that over the last ten years they have made no dent in the numbers of cats running around and that we can try TNR. She said that I was free to contact any of the residents and put out feeders and shelters if it would help keep the cats off the porches and balconies and out of the garbage cans. She estimates that we have 200 cats, but surely it can't be that bad. I'm kinda excited because it's good news for the kitties and because it gives me something else to do. (I've been struggling alot with being lonely and homesick.)

However, despite setting traps each and every night all we have managed to catch is raccoons. Infact last night we caught two. So I thought I'd give it one more shot and who did we find in the smallest trap up on our balcony this morning, but this pretty grey/brown/silver mackerel tabby and boy is he talkative. I've been trying to come up with a name all morning for him, but none of the names about talking or speech seemed to fit. Then I decided on Silas meaning "To borrow or tree-dweller, forest god." The other grey tabby running around I dubbed Solomon so Silas seems like a good name to me. Besides he must live in the woods, because I have never seen him before this morning.
Good news is that Brodie really likes him. They've been sitting here talking incesantly, like they are old friends or something.