GUILDERLAND — Nacho was a paradox — a wild cat, a friendly cat; a cat that belonged to no one, a cat that belonged to everyone.
"He belonged to all of us at the community garden," said Jerry Houser, who was his chief caretaker.
Nacho died on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 10. "He was found by several gardeners just outside the rear barn door," said Houser. "It did not appear that he suffered any physical injury but died from natural causes." He was at least 15 years old.
Nacho had been part of the scene at the community garden behind the rock-climbing barn on Route 146 for as long as Houser has gardened there. "I came in 1995 and he was there before that," he said.

The gardening project — where families and individuals tend their own plots — began in 1989 when the town purchased the 97-acre dairy farm from John and Elizabeth Houck.

The first year, there were a dozen gardeners tending 15 or 20 plots; now there are 50 gardeners tending 90 plots. Houser has made a map of the garden, with 14 flags designating the different countries that the gardeners are from. They are from all over the world — Norway, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, China, Vietnam, Jamaica, and Argentina.

They all speak cat.
"Nacho came with the farmhouse....When a fellow moved in that was allergic to cats, we adopted him," said Houser. "We fixed up an apartment for him inside the barn with beds, feeding dishes, a heated water dish — otherwise, it would freeze in the winter — and a night light."

The apartment was in the front part of the barn, in the old milk house. Darlene Neva and Houser were Nacho’s primary caretakers.
"The gardeners would bring in food for him," he said. "They all loved him. You could do anything to him and he’d be peaceable."

Except once.
"He resisted getting into a cage and going to the vet," said Houser. "He was a wild cat." Neva tried it just once, but never again. He seemed content with his life as it was.

Nacho earned his keep and the affection of the gardeners by catching voles and mice and other garden pests.
"He caught hundreds of voles. We counted over 50 one summer," said Houser. "He’d sit down like a gourmand and eat them. And with all the great food I bought him," said Houser with a chuckle.

Although Nacho was wary of the busy traffic on Route 146, he would come up to greet the gardeners who parked behind the barn.
"There was nobody he didn’t go to," said Houser. "He would follow you 300, 400 yards, up the path, where you were going."

Neva dubbed him The Wonder Cat, the name used on the section of the community gardens’ website devoted to Nacho.
"In its integrated Pest Management Program," the website says, "one of the foremost display gardens in the world, ‘employs’ cats to perform a very important function." Each cat at Longwood Gardens maintains "a vigorous rodent patrol," a marker explains, and, in return, has a home in one of the shops located throughout the gardens.
"The Community Gardens is honored to have Nacho with us for these same purposes as well as providing wonderful companionship to the gardeners," says the Guilderland site.

The site is also loaded with pictures of Nacho — being stroked beneath his chin, eyes closed in contentment; ready to pounce from a ledge, a bundle of muscle; nestled snugly in a round bed; stalking prey, tail rigid and aloft; vigilant in a barn door. And it also has e-mails addressed to Nacho.
"Thank you very much for your hard work in the garden," says one message from November of 2004. Kunyang goes on to call Nacho "lively and friendly," and says, "Do not hesitate to take vegetable at my lot since there is not much greens left now. Wei and Stephanie say hello to you. (Meow)."
Houser said he was "very grateful" to the town’s supervisor, Kenneth Runion, for "allowing us to keep him there." Municipal worries about a cat scratching someone and the town being held liable could have prevented something wonderful, he said.
Houser last saw Nacho alive on Saturday. "He was spotless," he recalled. "Nacho always took good care of himself and looked healthy."

Nacho was the color of a cheese-filled tortilla, as his name implies, and had white paws and a white patch on his chest.
"His paws were bright white," Houser recalled of Saturday. "He didn’t look sick."

His body is being cremated at the Guilderland Animal Hospital, Houser said, and his ashes will be buried in the community gardens. Houser will notify the other gardeners of the burial date.
"What better example is there of the expression ‘to know him is to love him’ than our late friend, Nacho," House wrote in an e-mail. "Our friend served us well these many years...."

Neva responded by e-mail from Florida, where she is living now, said Houser.
"She said, it was probably a good way for him to go," said Houser. "He went peacefully. He died where he lived, where he was loved."