The last week to ten days has offered a new sight ’round the xenogere wildlife sanctuary.

That’s al-Zill, a new cat who’s been showing up often to enjoy a free meal (or several).

As for the name, al-Zill is Arabic and means “the Shadow.”  I felt it appropriate given this feline’s color and skittish personality, both of which help make the predator quite sneaky and oft times unseen.

But al-Zill was not alone while trying to enjoy some breakfast.

That’s Larenti crouched in front of me as she watches al-Zill eat.

It should be said that Larenti has essentially claimed the patio as her own.  She’s here every day, she spends most of her time lounging about, she greets me almost every time I go outside regardless of the time, and she’s grown quite accustomed to me.  She trusts me quite a bit—but not completely.  The way she reacts sometimes, I’m fairly confident she was abused.  But more on that later…

al-Zill and Larenti aren’t exactly friends, but neither are they enemies.  They tolerate each other to a great degree and have only scuffled once or twice when one surprised the other.  Not to be unexpected with unfamiliar cats, I’d say.

Despite Larenti’s watchful eye, however, al-Zill went right on with his meal (and I’m assuming it’s a male, although I could be terribly wrong as I’ve not been able to get a close look).

And as he ate, Larenti edged closer and closer.

It was as if she thought she really was sneaking up on him.  Considering I saw every one of his surreptitious glances as she moved in, I knew otherwise.

Finally, though, she got close enough to interrupt the meal.  Either that or he’d had enough for breakfast.

With her continuing to get closer and closer, he finally stood and walked away.  She didn’t follow.

That space in the fence in front of him is where I accidentally put my foot through the wood slats.  I had been leaning against the fence and had my foot propped up in one of the small spaces.  Unbeknownst to me, both the wood and the nails had long since become weak with age and weather.  The moment I shifted my weight and put a little too much force on that leg, my foot went right through the fence and took the corner of the structure with it.

Oops.

[on a side note, I’ve not seen Aethon, Chira, Clance or Henko in a few months; I worry about all of them and hope they’re doing well; Psiwa, on the other hand, continues to visit; in fact, he was here when I arrived home from work today; I stood quietly on the patio as he gobbled up some kibble for his evening meal]