IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. Of 



light plank screens are hung up outside the cages, which may be let 

 down when occasion arises ; inside each cage is a box, open on one side, 

 wherein the creatures can retire. Thorough, and effective cleaning is 

 necessary to keep down the smell arising from the presence of so many 

 odoriferous animals in one place, and for this purpose one of the 

 compartments of each row is generally kept empty, so that, during the 

 time of cleaning and washing the cages in the morning, the animal 

 in the adjoining cage may be driven into it and the cage thus 

 emptied washed and. cleaned, the same process being repeated until the 

 last one is finished. Although this arrangement involves some waste 

 of space, it ensures more thorough cleanliness than could be achieved 

 with the presence of the animal in the cage, and saves it from exposure 

 to wet which it naturally dislikes, especially during the cold weather. 

 Moreover, it is not always safe to allow a keeper, and more particularly 

 if he is new to the work, to enter the animals' cages, as their temper 

 can never be perfectly trusted. 



The smell emanating from these animals cannot, however, 

 be altogether removed by the most assiduous efforts. Newly captured 

 and young cats should not be placed on arrival in a building with others, 

 but kept in a retired place unfrequented by visitors, until they recover 

 from their nervousness and cease to fret on the approach of the keeper. 

 These cats sometimes fight with other animals through the wire-netted 

 partitions of their cages ; it may be necessary to add planks to the 

 netting, but this should be avoided as much as possible, as being an 

 obstruction to ventilation. During the cold weather a thick layer of 

 straw is, in addition to the bedding, laid on the roof of each row of 

 cages to keep them warm. Once every week the sleeping boxes are 

 taken out and allowed to soak in the water for an hour or two and 

 then washed with soap. Dry earth is sometimes used with success as a 

 disinfectant during the winter and summer, but altogether discontinued 

 in the rains. 



Food. — Beef and fish constitute their principal food in captivity. 

 An adult cat should get about one pound of beef and about half a 

 pound of fish every evening. The cost of feeding a full-grown cat 

 is about Ks. 4 per mensem. Doob grass, sulphur, and salt should 

 be given them in the same way as to the lions and tigers. Like all 

 other animals, these cats require change of diet, so that chickens, pigeons, 

 and (rarely) rabbits are sometimes given them. Young specimens are 

 fed on milk, boiled meat, &c, several times during the day. Some of 

 the adult animals have been observed to relish land and fresh-water 

 snails. 



Breeding. — Fishing-cats once bred in the garden, but unfortunate- 

 ly both the young ones were devoured by the male parent. 



Transport. — A box 3 feet long, 2 feet 6 inches broad, and 

 2 feet or 18 inches high, made of deal planks on three sides 

 and i inch iron rods in front, will suit for the conveyance of a couple 

 of these cats. Such as are still wild, having only been recently caught, 

 rarely survive a journey by rail or sea. Care should, therefore, be 

 taken to send only those that have lived for some time in captivity and 

 become accustomed to the presence of men. Fish diet is not absolutely 

 necessary for them, so that it can be dispensed with in transport. 



