It’s only been a little over two months since I moved back to Puerto Rico and I’ve been having a hell of a time trying to find a job, and the people from the local cat welfare org have been slow to set me up for training and such, so I’ve been trying to meet the neighborhood cats.

Right outside my condo is “Piñero Park”, as our newest mayor chose to christen it. It’s a small block that’s been designated exclusively for recreational activities, so it’s got a small basketball court, a couple gazebos, a kids play area, some outdoors exercise equipment and a designated dog park area with toys. The dog park is new but pretty much everything else was the same 7 years ago when I moved away to Germany. On that note, 7 years ago was when Hurricane Maria made landfall here and blew out all the greenery. It was a dreary sight. The cats weren’t around back then, but there were chickens. Shortly thereafter wild hogs arrived. Don’t ask me how or why, but they were there and supposedly they were a problem for several years.

Thankfully the hogs are gone now, and the chickens are still around, but a cat colony has moved in. I’m not complaining, obviously. I love seeing them hang around when I’m walking my dog, but I wish they weren’t so skittish. Thankfully, it seems a couple other people have been taking care of them for years now, though I haven’t had the chance to meet them personally. I know some of the cats are ear tipped, so I assume they’ve been doing TNR on them, but I’m not 100% sure how exhaustive they’ve been. If I catch them, I’ll be sure to take note and help with the rest.

That said, here are the cats I’ve identified so far: Two cats in the park. The one to the left is white and orange, sitting on the ground. The one on the right, a white long-hair, is sitting on a blue table with ears laid back.

I’m calling them by ice cream truck flavors until I get word from the other caretakers, so to me, these two are Creamsicle and Coconut, for obvious reasons. I don’t think Creamsicle’s been clipped (you can get a better look at his ears in the featured image), but Coconut has, despite his big old tomcat face.

Ice cream truck menu, laid out in rows and sections by brand. Sandwiches in the top-right corner, cartoon tie-ins in the bottom-left, and popsicles in the bottom-right.

Then there’s two black kitties I’ve seen around, though I’ve only gotten a good picture of one of them, this older tomcat: Crumpy black tomcat sat on a knee-high wall looking away from the camera.

The other little void seems to be more of a kitten, and he’s usually run off across the street by the time I spot him.

And that’s where things stand. Maybe I’ll buy tube treats to lure them closer and inspect their ears more carefully.