Yeah, I've befriended more than a few wild animals over the years, and it does take a lot of time and patience. Though my grandmother was the champion in that regard.

She was so still and engrossed while she was reading, even on camping trips, that more than one critter climbed up to check her out. My grandfather took photos of her with a ground squirrel in her lap, as well as once with a skunk, and the look on her face in the latter photo was flat out hilarious. And no, thankfully, it never felt threatened, so no one got sprayed.

With feral cats, generally if they haven't been tamed by eight weeks of age, they likely never will be, though it's still possible that this little guy may just have been dumped or got lost in our area, and started off with humans. Time will tell.

S/he mostly stays out of sight, but I'm pretty sure is observing most of the time when I'm in the barnyard, and when I do spot it, it typically stays put unless I approach too closely, which indicates the beginnings of trust.

Let's hope, as my primary goal at this point is to catch, neuter and release it, so at least it isn't adding to the pet overpopulation problem. And I'd like our vet to check out its bum rear leg to make certain that it isn't infected.