I have this one solid black feral cat that lives . . . well, that's up for debate. I think he spends most of his time by the garage door that has a direct line to the basement. There's a vent coming off the feed for the main and lower section of the house (another main goes to the "up 3 stairs"). All you have to do is crack that sucker a little and presto, the basement becomes a balmy 60-70F. The garage is substantially colder. Maybe low 60's. But apparently he's fine with that.
Anyway, we have a sort of cat-like, feral understanding. Feral cats don't meow. So I meow to signal the arrival of treats and/or wet food. If I hold up one finger, he takes that to mean go away. I'm not sure how he deduced that and it wasn't my intention, but it's still communication of a sort.
What I don't get is that he still runs away from me. I've been feeding him, his friends and etc. for at least 2 years now. I guess he figures that's how it's supposed to work. Either that or he expects me to play-chase him. Shrug.