For the Swimming Pool Gang, it's a BLACK AND WHITE WORLD

And if Sebastien joins them, it will be even more so. In this collage are Sheba, Gus, and Buddy. Buddy is the all-black cat, and Sheba is the long-furred black-and-white. Sheba and Gus are sister-brother, and Buddy is a close cousin or half-brother (different litter, same mother quite likely).

If you ever need a guard kitty for your beer

Gus is your man. Actually he just wants to make sure all your 'empties' get back to the distributor for the refund.

Gus is Sheba's brother. He prefers to eat with her. So if you set down two dishes, he will eat with her and then wait for her to start on the second one and join her for that too. He isn't trying to keep her from getting the food. Indeed, he waits for her to eat first. Once she gets going, then he joins in. Gus used to be a very nervous cat, but now he is quite used to people--at least the people who feed him and don't harass him.

New Breed of Urban Guerilla Chic Cats

Sheba and her brother Gus now rule the Swimming Pool Gang. They are joined by Buddy, an all black cat who has a brother, also all black, named Richie (50s rockers being one source of naming inspiration here).

I can see the tiger-stripes and three-color calico combinations making great natural camouflage. When the orange tabby Orange Blossom hunkers down in leaves, I sometimes nearly step on him. It's about the same for the orange-and-white Caramel, his brother.

But we keep getting more and more black-and-white cats, who seem to be perfectly colored for night activity in an urban setting. They are the hardest to see at night, truly! Even harder than all-black.

 

 

Sheba is on the left and Gus the right.

Sheba is long-haired, Gus is shorter-haired

and looks like he is wearing black trousers. 

MISCELLANEOUS PORTRAITS TWO

It's Gus, Sheba's brother and constant companion. I think Sylvester, the big black-and-white tom who lives just outside the SE corner of campus is their father. Gus is such an agreeable cat. He doesn't hoard food or fight. He just wants to hang out. He has been a hard cat to photograph, but now that he trusts me to get very close, I will try for some better day-time portraits and action photos of him. He is a very unusual cat in appearance because of the way his black-and-white colors are distributed on his body.

Below it's Shaun. He thinks he is the boss of the Dining Hall Troop, except no one honors his leadership. Still, he is a really fun cat to interact with (as a human anyway). He is physically the largest cat on campus.





Last are four glimpses of Pushkin, who posed for me in the winter dusk.

GUS, of the Swimming Pool Gang

Gus is the brother of Sheba. Both are black and white, but Gus is a very long lean cat and his fur is short, so he is easy to tell from Sheba. Also, Gus is a 'patchwork' boy, his black and white being more unbalanced on his face, with the left side being more black while the right is more white. Also, his legs (when you see him from the rear) look like they are in black trousers. He has a sweet disposition--never fights with any of the other cats, is always out waiting to meet me everyday. He is very shy, though, and I have only ever touched him once, right when I gave him some of his favorite food. He can usually be found spending time with his sister, Sheba. He has a bond with her somewhat like Tiger Boy and Maya Girl (also of the Swimming Pool Gang, which we will get to later in a future post).