322 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



some of which find their way into the show- 

 rooms on more than one or two occasions. 

 Of course, the cougar or mountain lion our 

 biggest species is out of court on account of 

 his size ; but still, if history is to be believed, 

 this fine animal was never injurious to man, 

 and has not been known in recent times to 

 attack man, though he is fitted by size and 

 strength to do a great deal of damage. The 

 next in order is the lynx, and though this 

 animal is pictured as very fierce, there is as 

 much evidence to show, in other ways, that 

 if taken young and domesticated, the lynx 

 is amenable to reason and is very intelligent, 

 full of humour, and not afflicted with excessive 

 nervousness. I have seen specimens exhibited, 

 and one in particular that was the constant 

 playmate of a little child ; and this cat spent 

 four days in a show playing most of the time 

 with all the children that came along, and 

 was the coolest and most unconcerned cat 

 in the hall. Evidently the lynx shares the 

 great brain power of the cat family which 

 those who are well acquainted with cats 

 are willing to concede to them, added to a 

 calmness of temperament foreign to some of 

 our so-called domesticated breeds that ought 



to have inherited by how, perhaps, more 

 savoir faire under show conditions. 



When on a ranch in the wilds with a few 

 cats and dogs, where quarters were limited, 

 I could never see that there was a natural 

 antipathy between cats and dogs, for the 

 bitches would rear kittens and vice versA, and 

 the friendship was great between them so 

 much so that they would play together for 

 hours, and there was no danger in leaving 

 dogs and cats together, shut up in the house, 

 when we were absent. In later times I have 

 had twenty cats or more running around with 

 as many dogs, and never had a cat killed, and 

 only two or three occasions when any trouble 

 started. The supposed antipathy between 

 cat and dog seems to be an acquired taste in 

 a certain measure, and personally I do not 

 believe in the antipathy being natural or a 

 fact, for the two will live together in peace 

 if not set upon each other by man. 



From a few observations I believe the lynx 

 is capable of domestication ; of course, his 

 size precludes his being numerous, but in this 

 variety there are possibilities as yet not suffi- 

 ciently tried out. 



Of other cats, in contradistinction to this, 

 we may mention that beautiful cat the ocelot. 

 This cat is fairly plentiful, and is not very 



MRS. CLARENCE HOUCK S CATTERY, 

 "ORCHARD RIDGE," NEW SCOTLAND, N.Y. 



