Prodigal son is alive and well?!

This morning's relay transport was like any other. As I was headed to the pick up location, I was running early so I pulled off the highway to check (again) for the missing LBT from last year.

He (pretty confident about that) would be full grown by now - about a year old. As I began to snake my way around the empty parking lots and abandoned buildings, I decided to start by passing right by that antique store. This time, I turned onto the road/lot immediately in front of the store front as opposed to cruising by on the main through road like I've done on all previous occasions.

The second I turned to coast by the store, ALL THESE CATS started popping out of the shrubs and out from behind the piled and stacked antiques! 

Well, hello there!

Fancy seeing you here!

What a nice place you have!

Why the shock? I knew there was a colony there. The day I lost LBT I saw a bunch of kitties wandering around. The lady at the hotel told me she fed them. Also, thanks to that article, I knew there was a caregiver based at the antique store, and that some trapping had taken place. However, after 10 months now of doing slow drive-bys almost every time I passed this exit, and NEVER seeing any cats, or signs of cats, my hopes were decidedly low.

I was so excited, I stopped the car and grabbed the only animal-friendly food I had on hand-a sample bag of holistic/real ingredient dog food. Not ideal, but ok. Several of this gang were very gregarious and walked right up to me chirping and rolling on their backs...I mean...I can't leave without offering them SOMEthing (#sucker #softie)! That'd be rude...😄 I didn't notice any bowls or a formal feeding station, but didn't go up against the building among the antiques. So, I dotted several piles of the food around in case not everyone there got along as well as it seemed. I hated putting the food on the concrete. I made a mental note to add kitten food and tortilla bowls to my shopping list to keep in the car. I would not be unprepared next time!

"Yum! Thank you, lady!"

There were about 12-13 cats that I saw, and 4 that were ear-tipped. One of the tipped was a calico-I was really happy to see that! No babies for that lady! It was a relief to confirm that somebody was caring for these guys! Hooray! And they all did look pretty healthy, except for 1 skinny Siamese, but I digress. I was giving an extra long eyeball to the 2 brown tabbies in the bunch but they were too approachable. And one of them was all over this white guy with an ear tip. It didn't seem likely that LBT would have become that friendly with another cat in the colony. Plus, these 2 seemed big/older. Then...moseying out from behind a row of shrubs...I saw him. Brown tabby. ✅ Smaller but adult. ✅ Standoffish. ✅ Giving me the stink eye. ✅ My brain, "IT'S HIM!!!". My heart soared. I "knew" it! 

I know that face...

...it's GOTTA be...

...I'd better get several photos...

...to check against the pictures from last year.

But! I tempered my enthusiasm. I'm a scientist by training after all, so I didn't want to commit to the idea until I had a chance to compare today's photos with last year's. He insisted on giving me a wide berth, and kept our distance to about 30 feet or so. The photos I got would have to do.

Once I arrived back home, I immediately settled onto the couch and scrolled back to my June 2019 photos. I created a couple of side-by-side images. Ooooooo, it's damn close!

Brown nose. White eyeliner.

Vertical dark lines over the eyes. White muzzle.

I dashed off a message to the "Wednesday Transport" Facebook chat set up last year, and the woman who's father lived in the area and kept a lookout for a few months. With no prompting or suggestion from me, they all saw what I saw. True, we could all "want" it to be him. Regardless, I'm now comfortable in saying this IS LBT. At least, he will be until proven otherwise! 😉

Now, this exit will be a regular stop EVERY time I pass by. I will ensure that I have an extra 30 minutes built in to all of my transports that use this route so I can stop and leave some treats. It's dicey. I know the colony is not wanted there. Yet, they are still there, or some of them are. Perhaps they have a new caregiver(s). I may leave a note at the antique store next time-begging forgiveness for bringing extra food/treats. Maybe my contact info. If they are still trying to trap I don't want to "ruin" those efforts by feeding when the cats are being fasted. Though I'd hate for them to be caught and euthanized. Perhaps I could assist with relocation? 🤔

In all, what an uplifting day! Losing LBT was awful. Though, the experience did allow me to learn a valuable transport lesson, and some new essential tricks to keep my passengers secure. In the moment, I was somewhat consoled by the fact that there was a colony in the area. At least I tried to be consoled by that. I hoped this feral baby would ingratiate into the gang. It seems he did. 

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