It seems like a bunch of you have added to your families in the very
recent past, and I've been further adopted recently myself by Jungle
Jack.  He's a light-coloured Siamese mix (gold- or flame-point, it's
been suggested) with some faint tabby striping on his face/legs/tail,
estimated to be two years old or so.  You can see him at
http://web.mr-happy.com/~jfb/ablum/pets/junglejack.php .  The outdoor
pictures make him look smaller than he really is, I think.  (Regular
readers of abpa may recognise those three outdoor pics.)

He started coming around my house earlier this fall, and one day, I
made a noise at him through the window as he was slinking through my
back yard.  To my surprise, he turned and meowed at me, so I went out
to see if he'd let me check him over, since I'd been concerned about
him and the rapidly-cooling weather.  He was nervous and kept his
distance but didn't run off.  I'd get close, he'd start walking away,
I'd retreat toward the house, he'd meow at me, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Finally it seemed like he'd had enough, so I went inside and got a
little food and managed to set it down without scaring him off, and he
ate it right up.  Afterward, I offered him a sniff of my fingers.  He
sniffed, he rubbed his face a little, I scritched his head a little,
and he was sold on me.  He seemed in good health (later confirmed by
the vet--no worms even), if a little underweight, not neutered.  No
luck finding his people, if any.

I've had one funny story about him since before he even came inside.
I was home from work for lunch, and he made his regular appearance in
my yard, so I set down a bowl of food for him on the deck and let him
eat.  When he finished, he came up and crawled into my lap for a few
minutes as I sat on the top step in my back yard (where he is in the
first and third outside pics).  Then he suddenly stood up, stared at a
spot in the grass for a couple seconds, and set himself flying through
the air.  He landed exactly on the spot he'd been eyeing, two or three
feet away, and SQUEEEEEEEEeeeeeeek!  Up pops his head immediately, a
now-ex-mouse in his jaws.  Very much a first for me, a cat jumping
directly from my lap onto live "dessert".  And that was my cue to head
back to work.

Anyway, I brought him inside two weeks ago today.  It was cold and
rainy, and I hadn't seen him all of that day.  I finally went to set
some food out in a makeshift shelter, a large pet taxi with the gate
removed, wrapped in a tarp to keep the rain out--only he was already
around, hanging out around the back of the house.  I couldn't take it
any more and got him inside, and so he remains.

Up now: integration.  It's going slowly, but I think it's going.  The
other three lawgivers in the house detest the newcomer, always hissing
and growling at him, but they seem to be allowing him to get a little
closer now before getting all fired up.  Grizzly will sometimes even
allow a brief nose-sniff before she reminds him what she thinks of
him, though I wonder if that usually happens when she's not expecting
the cat in her face to be Jungle Jack.  My main concern is that he
seems to be displaying some slightly aggressive tendencies at times,
striking a pose that reminds me of the other three during a play-fight
"strategy pause", or sometimes slinking-running after a retreating
cat.  I'd like to think he just wants to play when he's doing that,
but with all the hissing and growling from whichever cat he's sizing
up, it doesn't seem likely that he's expecting to play.  Usually,
though, he steers clear of those expressing distaste.  I keep him
isolated when I can't supervise the lot, so I don't think there's any
real danger to anyone at this point.  Neutering him could clear that
up, couldn't it?  I'm hoping so, anyway, but that's still almost two
weeks away. <drums fingers>

But most of the time, he's a happy cat, *extremely* playful and
energetic.  He just loves when he can crawl into my lap and roll
around while I scritch every inch of his back, head, and belly.  What
a cool guy.

In other new-cat news, my cousin went to his local shelter to get
adopted today, too, and came home with a very cute pair.  They have no
names yet, but there's a picture of them at [KFW KFW KFW]
http://andy.mr-happy.com/gallery/Loki/100_1326 [KFW KFW KFW].  What a
guy, my cousin, sticking pictures of kittens in his d*g gallery. <g>

Jeff