By Mary Stoudt
Every now and then, a little gray cat is spotted around the Stanley Library at Ferrum College. His name is Elgie and he was first spotted in 2016 by Library Attendant (Evening Services) Danny Adams.
(Elgie, the library cat hanging out at his favorite spot on Ferrum campus, the Stanley Library. Photo credit: Mary Stoudt. )
After initially spotting the cat, Adams had him neutered, given vaccines, and named him Elgie. Elgie’s name comes from the acronym LGC, which is short for Library Gray Cat or Little Gray Cat.
“He [Elgie] lives in a crawl space that for as long as I've been here, since October 2002, was a home to feral animals, often cats but sometimes mice and rats,” said Adams. “He was a feral too, and I honestly didn't expect him to survive any more than any of the others had but was happily surprised.”
Since 2016, Elgie has made the Ferrum campus his home and can be seen sunbathing by the Stanley Library and occasionally letting students pet him. If you look close enough, you’ll find that Elgie also has his own little cat house under the library where he is known to hang out.
“Since he's been here he's been our anti-feral security guard, and keeping things like mice and rats out of the library,” Adams said.
Adams continues to have Elgie vaccinated and takes good care of him throughout the school year. If you want to stop by and say hello, just stop outside of the side of the library and let Elgie come to you.