Tom cat hissing and growling

Question
I have a tomcat (not neutered) who is a little over a year old.  He is an outdoor cat, but stays in the garage at night.

Tigger has occasionally come back after dark with very bizarre behavior.  He didn't see to know the other fixed male.  He panicked, and I got all scratched get him in the garage.

He comes back hissing and growling.  Sometimes he will sit with me on the bench outside.  He will keep looking all around.  He will hiss, growl and purr all at the same time.

What is going on?

Answer
Candy,

It sounds to me as if two things are happening.  First, there are numerous females in season, and his hormones are probably raging.  Secondly, if he got a terrible fright outside (by who knows what?!?!?!?), it may take him a number of weeks to settle down.  When cats get frightened, they often do not react the same to members of the household (2 footed or 4 footed) until enough time goes by (usually a few weeks) to get it out of their systems.

This hissing, growling, purring behavior is indicative of a frightened, unsure cat and is not at all unusual, given the probable circumstances.

Even as an outdoor cat, he would do better and be more even tempered once he was neutered.  By the way, neutered cats fend for themselves better in the wild then whole cats do, since they are not fighting those hormones.

Best regards... Norm.