Feline Update

The cats are settling in well in the new neighbourhood. For several months now both of them have been happy and relaxed about the house, and have identified favourite places to sit (the sofa, the empty shelf above the satellite TV unit, the hamper my brother and his girlfriend gave us for Christmas two years ago, etc.), but haven't been going outside much, except to sniff at the grass occasionally and come back in.

During the past week, though, Mulder has taken to spending most of his evenings outside, popping back briefly to check that we're still in and then buggering off again before we shut him in. I don't know where exactly he's managed to find some territory to claim as his, but it's evidently out of earshot, because he doesn't come when called[1] and we don't hear his bell.

Yesterday, the Evil Cat whom we've seen occasionally in the area came and sat outside the catflap, and he and Mulder spent quite some time yowling at one another. (Scully stood by with her tail fluffed up like a duster and provided moral support.) Shortly afterwards, Mulder came trotting upstairs to the study to be stroked, seeming very perky, and we've not seen the Evil Cat since. Apparently Mulder is managing to hold his own among the neighbourhood moggies despite his relative smallness and his lack of testicles, which is a good thing.

Scully, on the other hand, just lounges about the house all day. She likes it that way.

[1] Yes, I know -- coming when called isn't exactly a widely-observed behaviour among cats. Mulder isn't terribly bright, however, and almost always does.