Nature  Notes 
Cowardice  of  a  Cat 
May  I  give  you  my  experience  of  a  cat 
being  afraid  of  a  rat?  We  had  in  our 
grain  a  rat  which  seemed  to  be  smart 
enough  to  keep  from  the  cat,  which  was 
an  excellent  ratter — or  was  it  because 
the  cat  knew  he  was  not  equal  in  strength 
to  master  this  old  veteran?  We  used  to 
call  him  (the  rat)  Grandfather.  I  was 
afraid  of  him.  and  used  to  caution  my 
children  about  trying  to  drive  him,  as  I 
feared  he  might  jump  and  bite  them. 
Finally  he  was  caught  in  a  box  trap, 
brought  to  the  house  and  shaken  out  in 
the  hall  where  the  cat  was.  Kitty  actu¬ 
ally  showed  fear,  crouching  in  a  corner 
by  the  door.  (We  were  watching  from  a 
window.)  We  called  the  dog  (a  shepherd), 
who  loved  to  kill  rats,  opened  the  door 
and  then  it  was  the  rat  that  showed  the 
fear.  A  jump,  a  grab  and  shake,  and 
that  rat  never  frightened  me  again.  Now 
this  cat  was  a  splendid  specimen,  and  I 
know  he  caught  many  rats,  as  he  brought 
them  to  me;  also  mice,  and  have  seen 
him  watching  in  grain ;  never  saw  any 
sign  of  fear  before  or  after.  When  my 
cat  catches  a  rat  or  mouse  he  generally 
brings  it  to  me  and  expects  to  be  praised. 
I  allow'  him  to  eat  the  mice,  but  always 
try  to  coax  the  rats  from  him  by  giving 
him  a  piece  of  meat  instead,  as  the  rats 
generally  make  cats  sick. 
Last  year  we  had  quite  a  number  of 
rats,  but  I  put  a  spoonful  of  cayenne 
pepper  in  any  hole  I  sawr.  and  this  Win¬ 
ter  have  not  heard  once  a  scampering  in 
the  wall,  and  puss  has  brought  but  one 
from  outside  to  me,  but  my  husband  says 
there  are  none  in  the  barn.  I  have  been 
told  that  rats  do  not  like  to  be  in  places 
that  cats  frequent ;  they  seem  to  scent 
them  and  leave.  S.  L.  H. 
Carlisle,  Mass. 
Another  “Cowardly  Cat” 
No,  indeed,  the  cat  was  not  a  coward ; 
she  simply  knew  that  the  barrel  did  not 
give  space  for  possibly  needed  maneuvers. 
Once  upon  a  time  I  liberated  a  large  and 
vigorous  rat  from  a  catch-’em-alive  rat- 
trap  and  invited  some  half-grovtn  kittens 
to  take  part  in  the  game.  They  came 
eagerly ;  his  ratship  turned  on  his  back 
and  fought  them,  squealing  and  biting. 
They  tired  of  the  conflict  first,  and  stood 
back,  discouraged.  Along  came  their 
mother,  an  old  and  experienced  cat,  and 
took  charge  of  the  situation.  She  made 
no  attempt  to  seize  the  rat,  but  walked 
behind  him,  with  first  one  paw  and  then 
the  other,  gently  directing  his  progress. 
At  length  he  thought  he  could  make  a 
getaw'ay,  and  turned  on  his  feet.  In¬ 
stantly*  she  seized  him  by  the  back  of  the 
neck,  *  End  of  the  rat  and  my  story,  but 
that  cat  was  not  a  coward.  o.  w. 
New  York. 
The  Coach 
A  Hudson  for  Every  Need 
The  Greatest  Super-Six  Values  of  All  Time 
Hudson  has  outsold  all  fine  cars 
for  eight  years. 
But  never  have  its  values  led  by 
such  margins  as  now. 
All  models  are  lower  in  price.  And 
today’s  Hudson,  with  the  experi¬ 
ence  and  refinements  taught  by 
140,000  earlier  Super-Sixes,  is  in  all 
ways  the  finest  ever  built. 
The  four  models  cover  every 
motoring  requirement. 
For  those  who  love  the  freedom  of 
the  open  car,  where  are  such  values 
as  the  Speedster  at  $1425  or  the 
7-passenger  Phaeton  at  $1475? 
The  Hudson  Coach  gives  every 
closed  car  utility  and  comfort  at 
at  little  more  than  the  cost  of  open 
models.  An  ideal  car  for  year 
round  service. 
The  Speedster  $1425 
Freight  and  Tax  Extra 
Hudson  Sedan  $2095 
Freight  and  Tax  Extra 
Our  Method  of  Killing  Rats 
After  trying  all  known  killers,  we  de¬ 
cided  to  try  something  new.  We  built 
a  light  but  rat-proof  board  partition 
across  one  end  of  our  cow  stable.  Stable 
has  cement  floor,  but  board  sides.  We 
built  in  this  division  a  small  trap-door, 
and  ran  the  string  to  the  sliding  door  out¬ 
side  the  stable.  Then  we  plugged  all 
holes  in  the  sides  and  scattered  some 
grain  in  corners.  After  supper  wre  went 
out  and  very  quietly  let  down  the  trap¬ 
door,  and  killed  15  rats  for  the  first  catch. 
This  catch  included  two  or  three  old  gray- 
beards.  We  found  the  rat  population  of 
our  barn  to  be  between  20  and  60.  By 
this  means  we  have  killed  every  rat  in  our 
barn.  s-  w-  K- 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
The  Hudson  Sedan,  all  aluminum 
body  is  built  by  Biddle  &  Smart, 
famous  custom  body  builders.  Their 
production  is  now  entirely  devoted 
to  this  one  body. 
All  Hudsons  have  the  new  Super- 
Six  motor.  All  possess  unusual 
attractions  of  price  and  quality. 
HUDSON  MOTOR  CAR 
7-Pass.  Phaeton  $1475 
Freight  and  Tax  Extra 
COMPANY,  DETROIT 
License  for  Cats 
I  have  read  several  letters  in  recent 
issues  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  regarding  the 
licensing  of  cats.  This  would  turn  out 
to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  an  impossible 
thing  to  do,  and  would  be  the  most  cruel 
thing  that  has  ever  happened  to  any  of 
our  animals  if  passed.  In  the  first  place, 
a  cat’s  neck  was  never  made  to  put  a 
collar  on.  If  it  is  put  on  tight  the  cat 
would  get  caught  on  wires  of  all  sorts 
pertaining  to  fences,  in  bushes,  on  twigs 
and  many  other  places.  If  the  collar  is 
put  on  loose,  then  the  small  boy — or 
larger  one — would  certainly  steal  the  col 
lar  and  sell  it.  and  then  the  cat  would 
be  picked  up  by  the  cat-catcher — as  we 
should  have  to  employ  one  of  these  men. 
There  would  be  no  end  to  it  all.  Think  it 
over,  you  who  wish  this  license  to  pass. 
General  automobile  traffic  is  gradually 
driving  the  birds  away,  and  to  this  only 
can  be  attributed  the  decrease  in  birds, 
unless  you  want  to  add  the  man  with  the 
gun  and  the  boy  with  the  rifle.  We  have 
had  this  bill  come  up  here  in  Massachu¬ 
setts.  and  simply  laughed  down,  under 
the  Fish  and  Game  Commission.  I  hope 
it  continues  to  be.  Rats  are  becoming 
more  and  more  of  a  pest,  and  the  more 
neuter  cats  we  can  keep,  the  safer  will 
be  our  lives  and  our  live  stock  and  our 
homes.  B.  B.  P. 
Massachusetts. 
A  man  from  the  East  boarded  a  street 
ear  in  the  South.  A  Southerner  got  up 
to  give  a  lady  his  seat.  The  Eastern  man 
beat  the  lady  to  it.  The  body  will  be 
shipped  back  East  for  burial. — The  Nash¬ 
ville  Tennessean. 
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