Firstly, he came into our bedroom, getting up on the bed and managing to do his usual scent-marking (urine) there. I really don't think he should be allowed on the bed any more, but I don't make the rules about that one.
The morning continued and I was downstairs, doing something or another. R called down and told me to look out of the window at the back. I did, and saw this:
You can see the reflections on the glass. Our first instinct was to chase it off, but I thought it would be interesting to see what happened.
They sat for a couple of minutes, this close to each other. I was mainly watching the ginger cat - his ears were flicking back and forth, the skin on his back rippling and he was staring at Nathan on and off. Nathan's tail was flicking back and forth, but not madly like when he's about to pounce on Natalie.
I decided to risk opening the back door. I did it quietly and slowly and got this shot.
You'd think they were getting on quite well. Then the ginger cat started meowing and hissing at Nathan. Pretty much "Back off, black kitty! BACK OFF!". I think Nathan may have given him a couple of meows back. But then he jumped off and backed off to the picnic bench. This is higher up, but he was definitely backing off. I think the next step would've been the ginger taking a swipe at him. I did notice that neither of them did piloerection (hair on end to look bigger). I guess Nathan knew he was beat, and the ginger cat didn't need to bother!
It's a good looking cat, and pure muscle. I wouldn't fancy Nathan's chances. We had never seen this cat until last night and I have no idea where it's coming from. I'm going to try to read up on territory disputes, as it seems really weird that so many cats have suddenly started something of a battle for our garden. But, I don't know enough about feline workings to judge.
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