NATURE NOTES 
52 
STRAY CATS. 
AY I be allowed a little space in your magazine for a few 
words on behalf of stray cats ? In the particular 
suburb in which I live my sympathy for these poor 
unfortunate animals is continually being called forth. 
Perhaps it is not always the cruelty of their owners that has 
rendered them homeless and friendless ; but in some cases I fear 
— nay, I know — it is. People will go out for weeks for their 
summer holidays, or remove from one residence to another, 
deliberately leaving poor pussy behind, to starve, or be worried 
by dogs, or tormented to death by mischievous boys, for aught 
they care. Perhaps no animal is more dependent on the warmth 
and shelter of the home than the domestic cat ; and my e.xperi- 
ence shows that no animal is more intelligently and affec- 
tionately grateful for kindness received when left destitute. 
At the present time I have no less than four cats (besides our 
own old family one, Tim) which have come to me as waifs and 
strays ; and each has its own interesting and pathetic history. 
The first one, a fine old tabby, was very wild and savage 
when he first began to haunt our garden, and had acquired a 
bad reputation all round the neighbourhood for stealing. He 
seemed a feline Ishmael, his hand against every man, and every 
man’s hand against him. He was suspicious of all the human 
kind, and consequently very slow to appreciate and trust my 
friendly advances. When I called him, in the most gentle and 
coaxing tones, or tried to get close enough to stroke his shaggy 
fur, he would spit and snarl at me most fiercely. Even when I 
brought out little dainties to offer him m the way of food, he 
would eye my movements from a distance with a suspicious 
curiosity which might have become Vergil’s Laocoon when 
gazing at the fatal wooden horse, and uttering those warning 
words,"'’ “ Ouidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.” 
But gradually, under the softening influence of continued kind- 
ness, pussy lost his distrust, and showed a most grateful and 
affectionate disposition, which had only been obscured by long 
neglect and unkindness. Nothing pleases him better now than 
to be nursed on our laps, and to eat from our hands. Never- 
theless we have christened him Diogenes, both on account of 
his original cynicism, and also because of the tub that we have 
arranged in an outhouse for his accommodation during the 
nights. 
Time and space would fail me to tell of Brownie, and Topsy, 
and Kitty, not to mention the little tabby for which I succeeded 
m finding a home a few days ago. But will the members of 
the Selborne Society interest themselves in stray cats, and use 
all their influence to prevent the desertion of these poor 
ii. 49. 
