94 



RECREATION 



Mass., has been conducting a remarkable 

 study of the ruffed grouse in captivity. By 

 his investigation of its foods, habits, in- 

 stincts and natural history Dr. Hodge has 

 not only made unique contributions to our 

 knowledge of the grandest game bird we 

 possess, but has solved the problem of its 

 domestication. Starting with eggs under a 

 bantam hen he has reared the grouse chicks 

 in captivity, has seen them come to maturity, 

 mate, and produce in turn strong and 

 healthy offspring — an achievement long con- 

 sidered impossible, but in its fruition full 

 of promise to those who have looked with 

 dismay upon the growing scarcity of a bird 

 that has no rival in the sportsman's es- 

 teem. 



The greatest difficulty which Dr. Hodge 

 has encountered has been the unexpected one 

 that the birds offer strong attractions to 

 cats. As it is through this circumstance 

 that the writer has had his attention focused 

 upon the cat problem, a few incidents may 

 be cited. 



During the entire course of Dr. Hodge's 

 investigation, at all times of day or night, 

 the family was likely to be startled by the 

 birds flying wildly about the enclosure, al- 

 ways to find and chase away some blood- 

 thirsty cat that was climbing about over the 

 wire netting that shielded the birds. After 

 losing two young grouse by being snagged 

 by cats reaching through the inch mesh of 

 the netting, and later an old bird that died 

 with a burst crop, the plan was adopted of 

 catching the -cats in box traps, chloroform- 

 ing those that appeared to be strays, and re- 

 turning to neighbors those whose ownership 

 happened to be known. 



Ultimately ,of course, matters came to a 

 crisis. A neighbor's cat, a persistent of- 

 fender, was "put out of business" upon Dr. 

 Hodge's premises, but by one of his as- 

 sistants while he was out of town. The 

 irate owner, with more feeling than wis- 

 dom, incited the S. P. C. A. to bring the 

 protector of the birds into a local court. 



In discharging the defendant, the Magis- 

 trate, Judge Samuel Utley, took occasion to 

 say: "If there is one animal that is uncon- 

 trollable it is the common house cat. There 

 is no wilder animal in Christendom, and I 

 maintain that a man on his own premises 

 has a right to exterminate cats that destroy 

 his property and encroach on his good na- 

 ture." 



There is but one thing further to say in 

 connection with the above incident. On the 

 following Sunday morning all of Dr. 

 Hodge's partridges were found dead — poi- 

 soned by acorns charged with arsenic 

 thrown into the enclosure by some person 

 unknown at this writing. 



It would be easy to dwell upon the des- 

 picable character of this act of the cat 

 ownei, to enlarge upon the exhibition af- 

 forded of a type which dwells in every com- 



munity and who, cast as he is in the same 

 criminal mould as the dog poisoner and the 

 incendiary, abhorred by all decent men. But 

 our real concern is not with him. It lies in 

 the problem of the cat, and it is the manifest 

 duty of every sportsman, every lover of 

 birds, to cover the question fully and in 

 possession of the facts to wage relentless 

 war upon every roaming, predatory cat he 

 may chance upon in his days afield. 



We may fairly state the claims of the 

 cat under two heads : first as a household 

 pet, second as a foe to rats and mice. The 

 first claim I oppose on the grounds of un- 

 healthfulness and unresponsiveness. Science 

 tells us the cat is a well known, thoroughly 

 proven carrier of contagious disease. Diph- 

 theria, tuberculosis, eczema, ringworm, 

 grippe and scarlet fever are among the more 

 common diseases in which the contagion has 

 been traced to the cat. Practically every cat 

 we examine is diseased. Nearly all are 

 mangy, all of any age have catarrh of the 

 nasal passages, tubercular lungs are com- 

 mon, all are infested with fleas. All these 

 things indicate that the cat is an unwhole- 

 some animal for a child to have as a pet. 



Few. cats are determined rat catchers — 

 food comes easier in other ways and the 

 war against vermin never "being carried to 

 the point of extermination is of slight value. 



Against the cat an array of charges ap- 

 pear, among which I cite : 



i. The suffering of the animals them- 

 selves by fighting, starvation, disease and ex- 

 posure. 



2. The annoyance, especially in cities, of 

 their nightly caterwauling and their offens- 

 ive habits about buildings. 



3. Carrying contagious diseases from house 

 to house. 



4. Killing chickens, game, song and insec- 

 tivorous birds. 



Only No. 4 demands further comment in 

 a paper addressed to sportsmen. 



In the past few years, especially since ac- 

 tive work for the protection of birds has 

 been instituted, the cat problem has entered 

 upon an acute phase. This work for the 

 birds is determined and widespread; it is 

 entrenched behind beneficial laws and 

 founded, in part, on the fact that insect rav- 

 ages — largely due to scarcity of birds — are 

 taxing the resources of the country heavily, 

 a recent estimate placing the annual damage 

 of insects to forest and agricultural interests 

 at $795,000,000. The situation demands that 

 a solution of the cat problem fair to all con- 

 cerned be reached as speedily as possible. 

 Clearly every cat owner should provide 

 means to keep the animal on his own prem- 

 ises, so that cats found running at large 

 should be known as strays and could be 

 dealt with accordingly. This is practically 

 the solution of the problem reached in Ger- 

 many, where in many cities official provision 

 has been made to destroy all cats which are 



