We first saw clover in Oct 2022. He was sleeping in a box of Clover we kept in the garage landing for our Guinea Pig. We thought maybe he belonged to our neighbor. But she said no.
We started to leave the garage door open a bit and putting out food. That soon grew to a box of hay, a heated water dish and a heated pad for winter.
For a year he was our garage cat. Sometimes he would run if we were in garage, sometimes not. But he was feral and could take care of himself. Sometimes he would disappear for a week, then show up again.
As a second winter was coming, we decided to try and get him inside. We started by waiting near the food, then tried feeding him by hand, then opened door to house near food to entice him to come in. He only came in a foot.
After many a month, I lucked out when I put some sardines in the back of a cat carrier with me next to it. He actually wen in, and I managed to get the door closed. We had him. We already had a room ready for him and brought him in.
Right from the start we knew we were very lucky. He was nervous, but well behaved and learned very quickly.