Feral Fur Ball Photo

Photographer’s Note

When I went down to the beach this morning at sunrise, and while it was still freezing cold, I surprised a feral cat that was getting ready for the day, making its morning toilet. After looking at me once, it continued with its "business"... This feline appears to have made her home under my boathouse and has likely wiped out the resident red squirrel population...

I shot this from an elevated location < frozen compost heap >. The stick in the bottom is a dead branch of a wild rose...
< No cloning here. > The rest of the material on the ground is the vegetation which of course in February is all dead. Amazingly there is NO SNOW on the ground.

PS Shot dedicated to Silke. Previously caught as Feral Green Eyes aka "Patches" ...

tigra, Silke, anniejo, Viv007, MLINES, Mondaychild has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

tigra (2968) 2007-02-10 18:07

Hello Jay
Funny capture! He must have studied yoga;)
Katia

Silke (3023) 2007-02-10 20:49

What the heck?
I critiqued this one earlier and now my critique is gone!
What I said was: I was not sure whether I should consider myself complimented by a shot dedicated to me and entitled "furball" -- Nonetheless, (^0^) Great POV and comp
TFS
Cheers
silke

anniejo (0) 2007-02-12 23:31

At first glance, I thought this was a rabbit!!
THEN I read the photographer's notes, and looked again...INDEED, a cat!!

Cats play such an important part in our daily lives,(if we're lucky enough to have a cat) and they surely brighten up an otherwise dull day!!

This one is a beauty!! You've photographed it well...capturing it in its "toilet" as you say!!
Grooming is essential whether or not you're a cat!!

Good job of getting close enough to this furry feline!!

Clancys (145) 2007-02-18 23:28

Jay,
good detail with this ball of fur and surounding foliage.

Cheers:)
Roy

Viv007 (0) 2007-03-23 15:55

Interesting capture. Too bad that ppl let their cats go wild, and they end up having to fend for themselves... Nice morning light in this shot. Tfs, Viv

MLINES (10948) 2007-04-14 5:27

Hi Jay. Good to see more from this cold part of the word. Good clarity and colours. TFS. Murray.

Mondaychild (1513) 2007-06-12 7:28

Hi Jay,

this is very nice photo telling about a cat´s behavior. It shows us that house cats and feral cats use to have the same need for cleaning. Many people would wonder why the cat wasn´t afraid of you - and why it didn´t run away. But during its morning toilet, a cat neither sees nor hears anything else, the animal is too busy. Well captured, good morning right. The background fits very well, too.

Uhu (7434) 2009-02-20 5:20

Poor squirrels! But big kittie like that one will surely cast them away, if not eleminate them all.
Very good photo of this smug animal - no reaction towards you at all, ha, it's kind of - yeah, smug one!