Brandon Released

 Mid-day Saturday after spending time sitting with Brandon, I felt that keeping him in a cage longer would not be beneficial. I checked for any more messages from people wanting to adopt him and there were none. It was time to let him go. He calmly walked out the back door. Thomas saw him and started growling. I got Thomas to calm down and Brandon walked away to the west. 

In the evening I brought Thomas inside and watched for Brandon to return. He didn't. I set the trail camera up to watch through the night, but a raccoon knocked the camera over before 8 pm. I'm not sure if Brandon ever showed, but the raccoons ate all the leftover food.

 I thought that might be it and he would not return. He's a cool cat and I was hoping he would stay and integrate into the colony. Tonight (Sunday) I noticed that Patrick was looking up the hill as I was coming back into the yard from putting some food out for the foxes. Following his gaze I saw Brandon coming towards us. I grabbed a food bowl and set it part way up the hill towards Brandon and away from the other cats. Brandon stopped his approach and sat with his side towards me. I slowly took the bowl and moved it closer, half the distance between us. I talked to him, using his name a lot and he meowed back. He came closer and laid down facing me. Soon there were four more cats beside me, watching. Pedro crouched next to me and started taking an aggressive stance towards Brandon. I spoke calmly to him and started grooming some of the burrs from his fur. He loved that and seemed to forget about Bran', circling around me to offer me his other side and his tail. 

It looked like Bran' would get to eat in peace, but the Thomas approached, hunched with ears down. Brandon held his ground and also took a fighting stance. Fortunately Thomas understands most of my words and body language. I told him to back down and that Brandon was okay. I stood with Tom and took a few steps away from Brandon. Tom kept a ready posture, but moved with me. We rounded the corner of the shed and Thomas relaxed. I bent down and stroked the sides of his head and neck and did a gentle pinch on the back of his neck, thanking him for not escalating. He followed me to the back door where I rewarded him with a saucer of milk. We left Brandon to find his own way through the rest of the night. I hope he returns in the morning.

Here's a pic of Thomas and Pedro from the morning, relaxing after breakfast.