But Did It Have To Be Black?

About six weeks ago (as I wrote here ) one of our barn cats, Gray, disappeared.  I predicted that it wouldn't be long before another cat showed up to fill the vacancy.  It's a balance that seems to work for our little farm - two female barn cats, Sophie and Zoe, and one male.  The male cats have come and gone (or in TC's case, moved into the house and annointed himself king.)  It's possible the next barn cat has arrived.

This evening as I did barn chores I walked out of the stalls in time to see a cat scuttle away from Sophie's food dish to hide under the Murder Car.  A black cat.  There are two solid black cats that could possibly be in the barn - Zoe, who I'd just tucked in with the chickens for the night, and Nicky, a big indoor-outdoor cat who would probably run from me because he knows I don't want him in the barn.  Except he was currently in the house.  And this cat looked smaller, about the size of Penny, an exclusively indoor black cat.

Sounds like a lot of black cats, doesn't it?  We seem to specialize in them.  For instance, this was the scene in our family room this evening, where the cats bask in front of the fireplace:

That's Nicky at the left, keeping a suspicious eye on Harley.  Penny and Ella (sisters) are behind them.

All nice cats.  But come on, what are the odds that the next stray to show up here would be solid black? 

Updates as they happen.