Maya the Wonder Cat (a.k.a. Spud, Meatloaf, and Motorboat) is a tortoiseshell domestic shorthair. I got her when she was about nine months old (she had recently had a litter, but she wasn't full-grown yet - I tease her about being a teen mom) through the good graces of the East Bay Animal Rescue people. She's rather affectionate, except to other cats. Her first two nicknames are due to her coloring and shape, and "Motorboat" is because she purrs most satisfyingly. She's usually quite mellow (the construction crew working on my kitchen reported that she barely batted an eye), although she does run and hide when the dawgs come to visit or I have more than about a half-dozen people in the house. When I get a good peecture of her, I'll scan it in.
When my friend Charlotte Lee was off in Greenwich Village at NYU, I fostered her cat Alex. Alex was a real handsome boy but he and Maya never did get along. He's much happier now that he doesn't live with Maya and all the other cats are on the other side of the window.
There is an Early (German) Shepherd Warning System on my block. They live next door and greet everyone who walks by. They also get in my yard occasionally. If I didn't have such a wacky work schedule, I might adopt one of the pups so Maya could train it right :-). (I know an Australian Shepherd dog who was "raised" by a pair of cats. Too bad he never learned to bury his own poop.)
There are a lot of other animals in my neighborhood. The birds use the puddle on the top of my garage as a birdbath, and the hummers seem to like the passiflora I planted on the front fence and the feeder I put up.
I was thinking of keeping some chickens - if anyone has ideas for how to build a raccoon-proof chicken coop, let me know. The 'coons around here are really fond of free-range chicken.