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Sko. 13.] "WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 255 



wlio kept fourteen cats, keeping up tliat number lor more than a year, by 

 ■\vliicli means he got rid of all annoyance from rats, and they also hunted the 

 rabbits out of an adjoining gro\e. 



The variety of the felts tribe known as the domestic cat, once wild, easily 

 gets Avild again if neglected by man, and is then as great a pest as the rats, 

 and is given to tlie very bad habit of eating eggs and chickens, and catch- 

 ing pigeons and other birds. 



Toj^^t'voit cats killing chicl\'jis, Harriet Martineau gives the following as 

 a sure preventive both against the killing of chickens and birds by the cats: 

 "When a cat is seen to catch a chicken, tie it round her neck, and make her 

 wear it for two or three days. Fasten it securely, for she will make incred- 

 ililo eflorts to get rid of it. Be firm for that time, and the cat is cured — she 

 will never again desire to touch a bird. This is what we do with our own 

 cats, and what we recommend to our neighbors ; and wlieu they try the ex- 

 periment, they and their jtets are secure from reproach and danger hence- 

 forth. Wild, homeless, hungry, ragged, savage cats are more difficult to 

 catch ; but they are outlaws, and may be shot, with the certainty that all the 

 neighbors will be thankfid." 



The abundance of food and shelter obtained by the domestic cat makes 

 them much more prolific than in a wild state. She is generally, though very 

 tame and gentle, much more attached to the house than to its inmates, which 

 is quite the reverse with the dog. There are some remarkable singularitits 

 about cats. Gentle as they appear, they arc very nervo\is, and easily 

 startled, and act for a moment as wildly as though never tamed. They are 

 also accused of being very treacherous. Their affection for their own spe- 

 cies or ours is certainly doubtful. Their conduct at times, when a member 

 of the family dies, is singular. Their anxiety also to get at a corpse lias 

 led to curious sujjerstitions. In the f)pinion of the superstitious, the black 

 cat has ever been attendant upon witchcraft. It is our opinion that a jiortion 

 of this black-cat supei-stition originated from the fact that the liairs of a 

 black cat exhibit sparks of electricity to a remarkable degree, when the 

 atmiisphere is in the right condition. To sec this, take ^uch a cat into a dark 

 room, upon a clear, cold Novcndjcr night, and stroke the fur the wrong way, 

 and if you never have seen it before, you will be surprised at the effect. 



Cats, ]>articularly females, are generally very cleanly animals to keep as 

 house pets. They are fond of warm (juarters and soft beds, and their song 

 of satisfaction, called jiurring, is very pleasant to all who have a fondness for 

 cats. We have known this fondness become a cat mania. 



We look upon cats as a necessary part of farm stock, and they should be 

 properly treated as much as any other kind of animals. 



2^!'). Dors. — If there is any more unmitigated nuisaiico in a farming com- 

 munity than dogs, such dogs as farmers generally keep, we are unable to 

 name it. In the country where we live, there are some hundreds of farms 

 better fitted for sheep husbandry than any other purjiose, but upon wiiich 

 no sheep are kept, bcc»uso the country is bo full of worthless dogs. Thu 



