Help with stray cat behavior - ? [View All]

There's a stray, I believe a male (simply b/c he seemed to tangle a lot with the stray we've adopted who is a big (now neutered) male; the fighting has ebbed considerably since Ivan's defrocking, so to speak) who hangs out around our house and meows pitifully. He waits until you get about 50 feet away and then takes off so quickly I can't follow. We live close to a lake, and the backyard is pretty steeply sloped with high grass/weeds until you get to the road that runs alongside the lake, so I really can't follow. This isn't our home, we're just renting thru the winter and while I've seen this guy around ever since we moved in, I haven't noticed the meowing too much until recently (it's gotten cold here the last week or so, though no snow or ice so it can't be too hard to catch mice or other food).

So, I usually just try to put food out where I last saw him sitting as he meowed at me. Any other suggestions? I think he's feral, though when he sees me he starts meowing (he doesn't meow too much until he sees a person). We're only here two more months and i don't think I can catch and tame a feral by then (took me 18 months to get the feral baby back in Virginia - who I adopted out - to let me pick her up for 5 seconds).

I'd hate to think I was totally misinterpreting what he's trying to tell me. If it's a she, I hope at least I'm feeding her often enough so that she'll have strength for her babies.