THE CAT AND THE SMOKER.

 

 

 

WE all know about pussy and her playful, prankish family; and many stories are told of the wisdom of the cat.

We can tell you a story about a very sensible cat, which we know well. She had one kitten, and she had her home in a little room or closet, where her kitten stayed. It was a snug, cozy place, but she did not like her quarters very well.

A stranger came to the house, who, used to go into this little room every day and smoke. This pussy did not like, as she was a well-bred cat.

One day her kitten seemed stupid, and puss thought something must be done at once. So she took her kitten by the neck, and carried it up-stairs into a nice, large airy bedroom.

The people who lived there thought that was no place for a kitten, and carried it back. But puss thought differently, and pretty soon the kitten was in the bedroom again. He was carried back time after time, but the wise old cat had no thought of having her kitten learn to smoke; she was a minister's cat, and was too well brought up to have a smoker in her family; and so she carried that kitten upstairs by the neck five times in one day; finally the people of the house were so amused that they let her put her kitten where she pleased.

So the little chap grew and climbed and frolicked about the house; and when the man who smoked heard about it, and found how the cat and all the rest of the family disliked tobacco smoke, he stopped smoking! So you see even a cat's good example may be useful.

Did you ever think why we call the cat puss?

A great many years ago, the people of Egypt, who have many idols, worshiped the cat. They thought she was like the moon, because she was more active at night, and because her eyes changed just as the moon changes, which is sometimes full, and sometimes only a little bright crescent, or half-moon, as we say. Did you ever notice your pussy's eyes to see how they change?  So these people made an idol with the cat's head, and named it Pasht, the same name they gave to the moon, for the word means the face of the moon.

That word has been changed to pus, and has come at last to be puss, the name, which almost every one gives to the cat.

Puss and pussycat are pet names for kitty every-where. Who ever thought of it as given to her thousands of years ago, and that then people bowed down and prayed to her?

What a strange thing that the men who built pyramids, and great temples, and obelisks which astonish the world to this day, should worship cats!

But the wisest men are but fools without the knowledge of the true and living God.

 

 

 

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CAT and Robin

On June 6, Caston heard an unusual chirping in her backyard. When she went to investigate, she found a juvenile robin, which appeared to have a wounded wing. She wanted to give the little dude a chance at life, so she took it into her home and began tending to it.

At first she kept the bird in a cage, isolated from her cats for obvious reasons. But she discovered after a few days that the robin, whom she'd taken to calling Peeps, really enjoyed nestling in her cats' fur.

Amazingly, the cats accepted the baby bird's presence and decided that it wasn't prey.

 



The robin nesting in a cat's fur.  

 Karen Caston  

Caston's photo of the juvenile robin cuddled in the fur of one of her cats touched people around the country and around the world.

Last week, Caston released Peeps back into the wild at Otsego's Brookside Park.

"He's brought me a lot of joy, and it's been an amazing couple of weeks," she said. "I'm sad, yet I know it's a wild animal and needs to return to nature."

Peeps has also brought a lot of joy into the hearts of people all over. Thank you, Karen Caston, for caring enough to rescue a wounded bird, and thank you to the cats for setting aside their natural hunting instinct and helping to nurse the little thing back to health.




 




 Cat Pets


The cat that you have for a pet is very similar to the big cougar out in the wild.  His habits and build and the way he eats and catches food can resemble what goes on in the wilderness only in a smaller scale and less vicious surroundings and activity.  They have the same kind of teeth and claws.  They can see in the dark and do their hunts at anytime.  Sometimes I hear cat squalls outside my window in the dark.  I can’t see them but I sure can hear the fight that goes on with all the screams and growls of the cats.  For sure you have seen a cat crouch and slowly move its tail back and forth and the rest of the body is as still as can be and then suddenly pounces on the mouse or the bird or even a toy you are giving him to play with.  They can hear sounds that you cannot hear and smell things that you cannot smell.

We had an apple tree that never seemed to be able to grow a nice smooth tree trunk because the cats always kept sharpening their claws on it.  It had numerous grooves all the way around it to a certain height, as far as the cats could reach while standing on the ground.

The mother enjoys her many blind, baby kittens and she is always licking them and keeping them as clean as she knows how as they are nursing for their food and enjoying mommy’s milk.  You know what mommy is doing in her contentment and delight of her offspring.  She is so happy and relaxed that she purrs and purrs.  And that is a sound so soft its like a muffled song under her breath, like a lullaby.  Surely you have cuddled a kitten and had it purr in your arms when they feel comfy and safe.






 






  OUR PUZZLE.

 

 

BETWEEN us two, we own a cat 

(My sister Belle and I); 

And she had five dear little kits, 

This very last July.

And we are trying hard to think 

How to divide them fair ;

When Belle has two and I have two, 

The fifth one's hard to share. 



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MAKE PUSSY PURR.



Two or three little boys were once making their cat cry, or growl. They were pinching her ears, pulling her tail, or "tousling" her about in some other teasing way.

Their mother gently reproved them for their unkindness to pussy, and said, 

"Do what will make her purr."

You know cats never purr when they are cross or in pain; but if you gently stroke them, or let them stay quietly near you, then you will be apt to hear that soft, contented, " spinning" sound in their throats. It is very certain that a cat that is purring is not being teased.

Now, there is a little lesson in what I have been telling you. What is it? 

"Make pussy purr." Yes; and something more than that. Instead of pleasing yourself by others' discomfort, try to make them comfortable and glad. It is true, that little boys and girls do not purr when pleased; but they have a gladsome way of laughing, or speaking, or looking pleasant, when they are happy.

Don't let us make either animals or folks" growl, or cry, or feel sad, with-our unloving words or thoughtless acts. Let us do what will make them glad.




 S. S. Advocate.



TONIGHT before you fall asleep, 

Let each and every one

Look back and see if he can find 

Some good deed that he's done.



Ella B. Hall 




 

 






  




THE CAT FAMILY.



ANIMALS, like plants, are divided into families, and the different members of these families are known by different names. So the "cat family" includes a large number of animals that are classed together on account of certain similarities in form and habits.

As members of this family, may be mentioned the lion, tiger, panther, leopard, jaguar, cougar, and many others. At first thought we would think that these animals were anything but alike in form.

But a scientific study of their bodies shows that that they are all constructed on very nearly the same plan. They are the most ferocious of the animal kingdom, and every part of their body is admirably fitted for capturing and devouring other animals. The whole family usually keep themselves hid in the day-time, prowling around in the night in search of prey. They are all noted cowards, though greatly to be feared on account of their treacherous mode of warfare. Stealthily following up their prey, or lying in wait for it either in ambush by the side of the path, or high up on the branch of some tree, they suddenly spring down upon their victim with lightning rapidity.

They generally fasten themselves upon the back of their prey, and with their teeth and claws fairly tear the flesh off of their bones before killing them.

Some of this family, however, either break the back of their prey, or inflict some other wound that will cause death, and then drag the dead body to their den, where they can devour it at their leisure.

The whole family are noted for their great strength. A lion can easily drag off the dead body of an ox or horse, and a single blow from the paw of a Bengal tiger has been known to crush a man's skull. Their jaws, too, are very powerful, and the largest animals find it impossible to shake them off when once their teeth have obtained a hold.

Their tongue is covered with minute horny teeth, which enable them to remove every particle

of flesh from a bone. These can be felt to some extent on the tongue of the household cat. The fur of these animals is very free from any oily sub-stance, so that it is easily injured by water. On this account they are very shy of water, and never enter it if it is possible to avoid it.

The picture represents a member of this family called the wild cat, and its manner of capturing its prey. This species is found mostly in Europe, in dense woods and rugged country. It is the only wild animal remaining in the British Isles that is at all dangerous to the inhabitants. Wild cats proper are not to be found in America; but the Bay Lynx so much resembles the wild cat of Europe, that it is by many, called by the same name.

It will very seldom, however, attack man or large animals. But in a few instances it has been known to attack men and even kill them.

After hearing so much about the fierceness and cruelty of these animals, you may be unprepared to believe that Tabby herself belongs to so disreputable a family. But it is so, as may be seen by her nightly hunts for game, her delight in capturing birds, rats, mice, and insects. Yet we all think a great deal of pussy, both as a pet and for the good she does us in ridding our houses of rats and mice. Her relatives, too, claim our admiration for their beauty of form, and grace of motion.

And who knows but that they in their place serve man as well as many, which we call "domestic animals?"





C. H. 0.