94 



saying about a singed cat. Chaucer has immortalized the prac- 

 tice in verse. It was beheved that the cat was vain of its ap- 

 pearance, and that if the fur were well singed, shame would keep 

 the creature at home. The Dundee (Scotland) "Advertiser" 

 states that the French National Society of Acclimatization has 

 taken up this cause of the destruction of game and birds, and has 

 tried to find a remedy for it, "The society now informs us in 

 its bulletin/' says the "Advertiser," "that in order to keep the 

 cats away from a bird's nest we have only to place a cloth or 

 rag saturated with 'animal empyreumatic oil' in the bush or on 

 the trunk of the tree where the nest is situated." Cats have an 

 unconquerable repulsion for the smell of this oil. One correspon- 

 dent having caught a mouse in a trap rubbed it over with empy- 

 reumatic oil and then let it go in the presence of his cat. The 

 cat took no notice of the mouse. Whether the odor had been 

 caught by the other mice in the house, or whether the cat kept a 

 disagreeable reminder of the experience, he absolutely gave up 

 chasing the mice which swarmed in the house. This method is 

 worth a trial. ^ For additional cat guards see Plate XIX. 



Keep only White Cats. 

 This suggestion, given by one observer, is good, as a w^hite cat 

 may find it diflBcult to catch full-grown birds in the daytime, but 

 the color will not save the young birds in the nests or those learning 

 to fly. 



Air Guns, Torpedoes, Etc. 



There is nothing more effective in frightening a trespassing 

 cat than a well-directed shot from an air gun, a large torpedo 

 thrown and exploded close by it, a tin pan thrown so as to clatter, 

 or a drenching from a hose. These rather cruel expedients may 

 not, however, prevent the same cat from returning at night and 

 marauding at will. Mr. John Gould of Aurora, O., says that if a 

 cat is shot with a charge of salt it will avoid the place ever after, 

 but that is torture. 



Electrocution. 



This has been practiced on marauding cats by running heavily 

 charged wires about the tops of hen pens or pheasant pens. It 

 is too dangerous and expensive for general use. 



Dogs. 

 A large, active, fearless dog may be trained to drive cats off 

 premises, to tree them, or even to kill them, but must be on 

 watch night and day, and may, meantime, eat eggs or molest 

 some birds. 



■ Sixth annual report of the Massachusetts State Ornithologist, annual report State Board of Agri- 

 culture. 1013, p. 267. 



