About a year and a half ago a local spay and neuter
organization asked for volunteers to help feed a local feral cat colony. I didn’t know anything about feral cats, but
being a cat person, I called the volunteer in charge of the colony. 
I learned that there is a colony living behind a nearby
hardware store, and that volunteers feed and manage the colony. I also learned what makes a cat feral rather
than stray. Basically, stray cats are
cats that have become lost or been abandoned.
They’ve had interaction with humans, and can be approached and
petted. Feral cats are much more wary of
humans, and usually cannot be approached or petted. They are often cats who are the offspring of
stray cats.
Because feral cats cannot be adopted into homes the goal is
to humanely manage a colony through providing adequate food and water, a TNR
(Trap-Neuter-Release) program, and providing medical care for any cats that may
become injured. The goal is basically to
keep them healthy, and to keep them from reproducing.
Estimates vary as to the number of cats in our local colony,
but most of us believe there are somewhere around a dozen cats. One gentleman who is retired largely heads up
our little group of feeders, with about five of us taking a day or two a week
to feed the cats. He’s also the person who coordinates with the local T-N-R
group to make sure any new cats are spayed/neutered, and to get medical care
for any cats that any of us notice with an injury.
Most of us have never met in person; we just exchange emails
to work out feeding schedules and to discuss what’s going on with the
cats. We’re all cat lovers, so we’re
happy to work together to get them fed, adjusting the feeding schedule as
needed to make sure they’re fed on holidays and any time one of us is out of
town.
We’ve all managed to find a favorite cat, or two, and we update
each other whenever we haven’t seen a particular cat in a while. One volunteer builds shelters for the cats
during the cold weather, and most of us take them treats when we feed on a
holiday.
It’s not a complicated or official system, but it seems to
work. The cats look good, and the colony
doesn’t seem to be growing. While none of us are able to pet the cats, or even
get very close to them, they do seem to know and expect us. They sit and wait just a few feet from the feeding
area in the mornings. It seems like they
know we’re coming, and maybe know they can trust us, even if it’s only to bring
them food every day. 
