24 



must have been several times that number," Dr. C. L. Jones, 

 Falmouth. "Have seen a great many cats in the woods and 

 about abandoned farms and farm buildings that had not been 

 occupied in many years, and far from any occupied building," 

 C. Harry Morse, Belmont. "See many when shooting," Walter 

 P. Henderson, Dover. "Have run across many in woods. Last 

 year, killed three in one day far from any house," Samuel 

 Hoar, Concord. "Legions of abandoned, vagrant, or wild cats," 

 Bernard A. Bailey, M.D., Wiscasset, Me. "About one-half the 

 tracks in the woods are cats' tracks," J. K. Jensen, Westwood. 

 "In seven years I have destroyed thirty-five cats wandering in 

 or near an extensive woodland area," William P. Wharton, 

 Groton. "Often see wild cats in woods when hunting," Curtis 

 Nye Smith, Newton. "Many seen on hills and marshes," Sarah 

 E. Lakeman, Ipswich. "See plenty in the country when shoot- 

 ing," Vinton W. Mason, Cambridge. "Trap and kill about 

 thirty per year, trying to get at chickens and pheasants," William 

 Minot, Wareham. "Have seen many cats in woods. On any 

 fresh snow, however far and thick the swamp, find cat tracks 

 dogging those of rabbit and grouse, then signs of scuffle and 

 feathers tell the tale," Clarence E. Richardson, Attleboro. "This 

 fall and winter have seen about fifty to sixty," Harold K. 

 Decker, West New Brighton, N.Y. "Over a dozen here," Hugh 

 McCue, East Milton. "Constantly seen in the woods during 

 the open season," E. Colfax Johnson, Shutesbury. "Tracks 

 fairly abundant in the woods," G. B. Affleck, Springfield. "See 

 a great many," Walter A. Larkin, Andover. "Many tracks can 

 be seen after a light snow," Wm. B. Olney, Seekonk. "Neigh- 

 bors have thanked me for killing fourteen in one summer," Julia 

 W. Redfield, Pittsfield. "Too secretive to show themselves 

 much, but their tracks are everywhere," Arthur C. Dyke, Bridge- 

 water. "May be seen all over the woods, often shot by rabbit 

 hunters," Thomas Graves, Plymouth. 



The locations of these few reports, among many, show that the 

 stray or feral cat is distributed widely. On the other hand, Mr. 

 Hedley P. Carter of New Britain, Conn., says that he has hunted 

 and fished for twenty-five years, and that he "scarcely ever sees 

 a cat in the woods." Negative evidence, however, is of little 

 value in the face of overwhelming positive evidence. 



It is interesting to note the conditions under which this so- 

 called domesticated animal has reverted to the wild state and 

 spread over the country. It must be borne in mind that the cat, 

 while partly tamed, has not been fully domesticated. It has not 

 been subdued, confined or controlled, except in rare cases, but 



