DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 55 



see many things that go back to the old, wild life 

 which they have left behind. 



Dogs chase their prey. This is true of the whole 

 Dog Family — wolves, foxes, and jackals, as well 

 as domesticated dogs. The members of the Cat 

 Family get their prey in a different way. They 

 slip up on their prey until they are near enough, 

 and then they leap on it. All the Cats do this— 

 lions, tigers, leopards, wild cats, and domesticated 

 cats. The Cats hunt by stealth ; the Dogs by fleet- 

 ness largely. 



But the domesticated cat eats out of a bowl, 

 like tlie dog. Many of them never have an oppor- 

 tunity to catch anything oftener than once a 

 month probably. But the instinct to catch things 

 in the old way still survives in domesticated cats. 

 And often you will see tliem making opportunities 

 of their own to satisfy the instinct to catch some- 

 thing. They will creep along the ground a little 

 distance, and then leap, as if they were catching 

 something. Maybe it is a grasshopper. Maybe it 

 is a fly. Maybe it is nothing. They are merely 

 giving an old, unexercised instinct an airing. 



The practice the cat has of going up to a tree 

 or post and scratching at it for a few moments is 

 probably an exercise which it goes thru with 

 in order to relieve uneasiness in the muscles ot its 

 feet and toes. The wild cat climbs trees a good 

 deal, and catches and holds things with its claws. 

 The cat's claws are different from the dog's claws. 

 They are retractile, that is, movable. They can be 



