284 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Keep Your Cats and Dogs at Home. 



I )< > \ ■■ »u 1' '\ e cats and di igs ? 



"1 es." 



So do I. I like to care for them, 

 observe them, read about them, talk 

 about them and write aboul them. 

 And all these things I believe I have 

 an absolute righl to do, and in this you 

 and I undoubtedly agree. Bui I do not 

 believe I have any right to lei my cats 

 loose on your birds, your garden, your 

 plants nor your midnight slumbers; 

 nbr do 1 believe that 1 have any right 

 to let my dn^s loose on you, on your 

 sheep, your hens, your cats, your 

 children, your children's children, nor 

 any other thing that you may have. 

 Nor do I believe that you have any 

 more rights with your cats and clogs 

 than I have with mine. 



"But our dog won't hurt you he's as 

 gentle, why just as gentle and kind as, 

 as" — as gentle and kind as a panther 

 is to one who feeds and cares for it, 

 and sometimes in about the same 

 degree ! 



FEAR, as much as danger, is an evil, 

 a fact that the prayer book recognizes 

 when it says, "Defend us from all dan- 

 gers and mischiefs, and from the fear 

 of them." 



The inherent principle of what Pro- 

 fessor L. H. Bailey ("Manual of Gar- 

 dening") says in the following applies 

 not only to cats but to dogs, and in all 

 the depredations of both : 



"The birds will need protection frd'm 

 cats. There is no more reason why 

 cats should roam at will and uncon- 

 trolled than that dogs or horses or 

 poultry should be allowed unlimited 

 license. A cat away from home is a 

 trespasser and should be so treated. A 

 person has no more right to inflict a 

 cat on a neighborhood than to inflict 

 a goat or rabbits or any other nui- 

 sance. All persons who keep cats 

 should feel the same responsibility for 

 them that they feel for other property; 

 and they should be willing to forfeit 

 their property right when they forfeit 

 their control. The cats not only 

 destroy birds, but they break the peace. 

 The caterwauling at night will not be 

 permitted in well governed commun- 

 ities any more than the shooting of 



fire-arms or vicious talking will be 

 allowed; all night-roaming cats should 

 be gathered in, just as stray dogs and 

 tramps are provided for. 



"1 do not dislike cats, but I desire to 

 see them kept at home and within con- 

 trol. If persons say they cannot keep 

 them on their own premises, then these 

 persons should not be allowed to have 

 them. A bell on the cat will prevent it 

 from capturing old birds, and this may 

 answer a good purpose late in the sea- 

 son ; but it will not stop the robbing 

 of nests or the taking of young birds, 

 and here is where the greatest havoc is 

 wrought. 



"It is often asserted that cats must 

 roam in order that rats and mice may 

 be reduced ; but probably few house 

 mice and few rats are got by wander- 

 ing cats ; and, again, many cats are 

 not mousers. There are other ways 

 of controlling rats and mice; or if cats 

 are employed for this purpose, see that 

 they are restricted to the places where 

 the house rats and mice are to be 

 found." 



Tax the Cat. 



The excellent suggestion of Dr. Emily 

 G. Hunt of Pasadena, to tax the cat, 

 should be followed up. The plan would 

 furnish a goodly sum of money to be 

 divided among politicians of hundreds 

 of towns and villages. Bird-lovers every- 

 where would be pleased, and, last of all, 

 an incalculable amount of good would 

 follow for our agricultural interests, 

 which depend so laigely upon the good 

 deeds of birds. If a nuisance cannot be 

 eaten, tax it. These two ways are very 

 effective. Please do not consider that 1 

 am not a friend of the cat. We always 

 have some darlings about the house. 

 Last year there were two Angoras, and a 

 large gray Maltese, all famous ratters. 

 The Maltese brought sixteen dead rats 

 to the house in the country in the one 

 month in which a record was kept. 



"When the supply of rats and mice ran 

 low, the enterprising cats became hunt- 

 ers in the woods about the house. Hav- 

 ing been petted for bringing in the 

 earlier game, they continued to bring in 

 their quarry of all sorts. This consisted 

 chiefly of rabbits, red and gray squir- 



