WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



over, after which she lay back and purred 

 harder than ever, purring the contented song 

 of a cat at peace with all the world. So 

 she had adopted the newcomer, perhaps the 

 strangest baby ever reared by a cat, for of all 

 things a rat is the natural prey of her kind, and 

 to make it more extraordinary this puss was a 

 most sporting cat and particularly good with 

 rats, having killed many. I must look for- 

 ward a little bit here and say that though she 

 killed many mice, and I regret to add rabbits, I 

 never saw her bring home another rat. Hence- 

 forward ratting was done with. I wonder if she 

 thought about the newcomer, whether, finding 

 it so mysteriously beside her, she thought it 

 was one of her missing kittens strangely 

 changed that had come back. But whatever 

 her opinions on the matter, the fact remained 

 that she not only had no intention of hurting 

 the little rat, but had completely adopted it, 

 and not only allowed it to suckle, but treated 

 it in every way as a kitten. For some days 

 I watched the queer family carefully, being 

 fearful that in some way the strange baby might 

 remind her that he was really her natural prey, 

 but no accident happened ; both rat and kitten 

 grew and flourished, and old mother cat was 

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