60 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
When in anger, it is by no means a despicable 
antagonist, and very few dogs would like to 
engage in a combat with one single-handed.” 
THe Common WILD Cat 
The WiLp Cat was once fairly common 
all over England. A curious story, obviously 
exaggerated, shows that traditions of its 
ferocity were common at a very early date. 
The tale is told of the church of Barn- 
borough, in Yorkshire, between Doncaste1 and 
Barnsley. It is said that a man and a wild 
cat met in a wood near and began to fight; 
that the cat drove the man out of the wood 
as far as the church, where he took refuge 
in the porch; and that both the man and 
cat were so injured that they died. Accord- 
ing to Dr. Pearce, the event was formerly 
commemorated by a rude painting in the 
church. 
Mr. Charles St. John had an experience 
with a Scotch wild cat very like that which 
General Douglas Hamilton tells of the jungle- 
cat. He heard many stories of their attack- 
ing and wounding men when trapped or 
when their escape was cut off, and before 
long found out that these were true. “I 
was fishing in a river in Sutherland,” he 
wrote, “and in passing from one pool to 
another had to climb over some rocky ground. 
In doing so, I sank almost up to my knees in 
some rotten heather and moss, almost upon 
a wild cat which was concealed under it. I 
was quite as much startled as the cat itself 
Vii NAM iad could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast 
caine a rush so unexpectedly from between my feet, 
SERVAL CLIMBING : : 
Note the active, cat-like method of climbing with CVELY: hair on her body _ end, making 
her look twice as large as she really was. I 
had three small Skye terriers with me, which immediately gave chase, and pursued her 
till she took refuge in a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a kind of recess out of reach 
of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, spitting and growling like a common 
cat. Having no weapon with me, I laid down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, and pro- 
ceeded to dislodge her. As soon as | was within six or seven feet of the place, she sprang 
straight at my face over the dogs’ heads. Had I not struck her in mid-air as she leaped at me, I 
should probably have received a severe wound. As it was, she fell with her back half broken 
among the dogs, who with my assistance dispatched her. I never saw an animal fight so desper- 
ately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat has nine lives, a wild cat must have 
a dozen. Sometimes one of these animals will take up its residence at no great distance from a 
house, and, entering the hen-roosts and outbuildings, will carry off fowls in the most audacious 
manner, or even lambs. Like other vermin, the wild cat haunts the shores of lakes and rivers. 
[Berlin 
