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THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



When in anger, it is by no means a despicable 

 antagonist, and very few dogs would like to 

 engage in a combat with one single-handed." 



The Common Wn d Cat 



The Wild Cat was once fairly common 

 all over England. A curious story, obviously 

 exaggerated, shows that traditions of its 



ferocity were common .it a very earl}' date. 

 The tale is told of the church of Barn- 

 borough, in Yorkshire, "between Doncasterand 

 Barnsley. It is said that a man and a wild 

 cat met in a wood near and began to fight; 

 that the cat drove the man out of the wood 

 as far as the church, where he took refuge 

 in the porch ; and that both the man and 

 cat were so injured that the) - died. Accord- 

 ing to Dr. Pearce, the event was formerly 

 commemorated by a rude painting in the 

 church. 



Mr. Charles St. John had an experience 

 with a Scotch wild cat very like that which 

 General Douglas Hamilton tells of the jungle- 

 cat. He heard main - stories of their attack- 

 ing and wounding men when trapped or 

 when their escape was cut off, and before 

 long found out that these were true. " I 

 was fishing in a river in Sutherland," he 

 wrote, "and in passing from one pool to 

 another had to climb over some rocky ground. 

 In doing so, I sank almost up to my knees in 

 some rotten heather and moss, almost upon 

 a wild cat which was concealed under it. I 

 was quite as much startled as the cat itself 

 could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast 

 rush so unexpectedly from between my feet, 

 with every hair on her body on end, making 

 her look twice as large as she really was. 1 

 had three small Skye terriers with me, which immediately gave chase, ami pursued her 

 till she took refuge in a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a kind of recess out of reach 

 of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, spitting and growling like a common 

 cat. Having no weapon with me, I laid down my rod. cut a g 1-sized stick, and pro- 

 ceeded to dislodge her. As soon as I was within six or seven feet of the place, she sprang 

 straight at my face over tin- dogs' head-,. 1 [ad 1 not struck her in mid-air as she leaped at me, I 

 should probably have received a severe wound. As it was, she fell with her back half broken 

 among the clogs, who with my assistance dispatched her. I never saw an animal fight so desper- 

 ately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat has nine lives, a wild cat must have 

 a dozen. Sometimes one of these animals will take up its residence at no -real distance from a 

 house, and, entering the hen-roosts and outbuildings, will earn - off fowls in the most audacious 

 manner, or even lambs. Like other vermin, the wild cat haunts the shores of lakes and rivers. 



Photo by Ottomar Slnnhiitx] 



SERVAL CLIMBING 



Note the actii-e, cat-like method of climhing 



