Napoleon has had a good summer. He was more beautiful than ever and has a larger territory to enjoy. With the new houses across the road and another under construction he made the rounds and checked in every day. He is a nosey old guy and likes to know what’s going on.

He didn’t spend as much time calling for a mate in the spring. My guess is he’s getting older and figures it’s never going to happen so why lose sleep over it. Of course that’s just “my” guess. We have had one of the hottest summers (on record) so he found lots of ways to cope. With the abundance of bushes and trees in the yard he had a wide choice.

He’s getting a little cranky at times which is not like him. If he sees the cats eating he bullies them away from their food and eats until he’s satisfied. It’s surprising because the cats have been his companions forever. It only happens once in a while so I figure we can put up with a moody boy when he gets an ornery streak.

Speaking of cats, the white cat that always chased Callie up a tree in the front yard has suddenly disappeared. He hasn’t been here for about a week which is not like him. He was always hanging around to ruin the day for the other cats. Very mysterious….the thing with outside cats is they are prone to a lot of dangers. If they have been in a fight with another cat and are seriously injured they usually just go off and die somewhere. I’m happy he’s gone but afraid it wasn’t by choice.

You can see Napoleon has lost most of his feathers. Soon they will begin growing back and he will be gorgeous once more. Nature has a way of keeping things looking beautiful and reproductive….. even if we have to lose our feathers once in a while.

Essentially Esther