While a black cat might be a superstitious sign of bad luck, the presence of such a feline is an everyday occurrence for merchants in downtown Coupeville.
The black cat that calls Front Street home goes by multiple names, but to several of the merchants he’s TC — or Town Cat.
“Tourists get so concerned about him,” said Dena Royal, whose yarn shop moved to Front Street earlier this year. “I tell them, it’s the town cat and everyone takes care of it.”
TC’s origins aren’t exactly known, but he’s been downtown for years.
Royal said he’s been a presence around her shop from day one, though he isn’t allowed inside.
“I only had to tell him ‘no’ once and he’s complied,” she said.
Every morning he sits outside Far From Normal and waits for the shop to open.
One morning last month as Ed Walker opened the novelty shop, TC waited patiently trying to get inside.
Walker said he tries to come in all the time.
While Walker didn’t let him in initially, within moments the feline slipped in with a customer.
“He spends a lot of time next door (in Far From Normal) or at Kingfisher books,” Royal said.
On Monday morning the friendly feline sat on the hood of a parked car outside the building. Both of its usual sleeping spots were closed for the day.
TC also has a friend, a silver cat, that apparently only comes out at night.
For a while Royal had a chair she kept outside her shop.
“I’d come by in the evening and they’d be snuggled on the chair,” Royal said. “They’re friendly, but definitely independent.”
Ask other merchants downtown and they will tell similar stories of TC.
Gary Leake of Penn Cove Gallery said the cat used to come in and curl up under the desk and take a nap.
Jennifer Swenson at Seaside Spa said both cats hang out behind the building and have left dead rodents as presents near the back door.
She said for a while both cats would spend days sitting out on the front porch.
Where these cats came from doesn’t seem to really be a cause for wonder with the merchants. The cats are just accepted as part of the community, though Royal does have some guesses.
Years ago there was an ongoing problem with feral cats downtown. Cats were breeding and overpopulating and polluting the area with waste, much to the chagrin of some residents and merchants.
Many of the cats were rounded up, spayed and re-homed or released.
Royal said during that time she heard the cats that were fixed had notches put in their ears to identify them.
Take a close look at TC, and you’ll find a notch a in its ear, leading some to believe TC was once a nuisance cat that stuck around and wormed its way into having a home with many different loving hands.
