Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1860-11-22


ter eating than rats and mice; they leave the
homestead and take to the woods; thencefor-
ward becoming perfectly useless in the do
mcstic economy Of the farmer Or cottaSer.
So strong is this passion for hunting when
once acquircd that it is impossible to break
them of it, We once knew OF a cat against
which sentence of death had been recorded,
but the owner begged its life on condition
that it should be shut up every night and
we'll fed The very first night of its incar-
ceration, it escaped up the chimney, and the
| following morning astonishcd the eyes of the
game-kcepcr as the soot-bogrimmcd occu-
pier Of one OF his traps. Feed the cat as
much as you please, make pet Of it, &c.,
you will never break it from night hunting,
though you may succeed in stopping its d.
u,naz rambles.
It has been said, with partial trnth, that
cutting off the cars of cats to the level of
their heads, and at the same time removing
with scissors the hair ali round the exposed
aperture Of the ear, will keep cats out of the
woods: for the simple reason that, being
carless, when they 60 out hunting among
the wet bushes aud grass, drops of water
will get into the internal cavity Of the ear,
the effect of which is, as we ourselves know,
to cause a disagrceable sensation almost
amounting to pain. Let the reader exam
inc the cats car as she is purring baore the
fire, he will find that the opening to it is
amazingly large, though partially concealed
by hairs which grow up from its internal sur
face. The cat, froG experience, understands
the doctrine Of cause and effect, and stays at
home when her cars are cropped. But does
she always stay at home? No; the cunning
creature waits for q nice fine day. when the
grass and hedges are quite dry, and off she
goes at her old poaching tricks. Put the
intelligent sportsman in the witness box !;
he informs US that he has often shot or trap
! ped ':doctorcd'' cats in the heart of the covert
in fine dry weather, but in wet weather,
always those who have never been submitted
to this mutilation.
A cat hates nothing so much as getting
wet, and hence we learn from High Elms'
good plan to catch a poaching cat, He
Esays: 'In damp weather, or when the dew
is rising, a cat almost invariably walks along
wall to get to her hunting grounds I
have caught many one by this means. |
need hardly tell you no bait is required" /"
Again: eff there should happen to bea
watercourse running &c
trap set in tho coping, where the stream
goes under the wall, will be very effective,
as the cat will be at the trouble Of climbing
on to the wall, crossing over the stream and
jumping down again sooner than leap over
the stream itself" No vermin is more easi-
ly trapped than the cat; in summer, when
rabbit paunches will not last, but get full of
| fy-blows, little valerian root will serve
equally well; they smell it afar off, and
eagerly come near to rub themselves on it,
though the pleasure they can derive from it
is to us bipeds uninteligible.
A facetious young urchin, at home for the
Christmas holidays, knowing well the love
cats had for valerian, once played an old
lady pretty trick. lie put some Of this
plant under the hearth rug one evening !;
puss soon found it out, and began scratching
and rubbing her back upon it, and then
getting up and dancing about till the poor
old lady got frightened, thinking the cat
was possessed The valerian was quietly
taken away, and puss recovered her self
possession, which confirmed the old lady in
her original opinion.
Where cats are numerous, a hutch trap,
such as are used in warrens, will be found
very killing; it must be baited with fish of
some kind, but a red herring is the most
captivating. IF another red herring be
dragged about the covert, and then put to
the trap. puss will run up the drag and of
course be trapped, provided always she is
hungry and inclined for fish dinner A
Gagged cat is an awkward customer to handle;
so that unless the cat catcher knows how to
kill his victim, he had better not have set
the trap at all. Let him again beware,
when he comes to look at his trap not to be
too eager or curisus to open the door to see
what he has caught; for the cat has an I'M
pleasant habit Of striking at the human face
divine the moment she sees light, and her
sharp claws aud pointed teeth can make Sc
we're wounds, difficult to heal There is
only one safe way Of getting the cat out of
the trap, and that is to place a sack over the
door end Of the trap. and then rattle the
other end with stick the foolish creature
goes into the sack Immediately, and you can
then let the ''cat out of the bag at the pro-
per time aud place.
Scene N A CoAcH.-Young American
seriously-''A negro boy, who ran away
from my father eight years ago, was found
dead in the river last week.
Old lady, incredulousIy s'Why, how
could yon tell it was just the same? should
a thought the mud tuckles and crawfsh
would cat him up
Young America, more seriously "Wcll,
[ don't thin; the negro boy had been laying
in the river oU that time"
Old lady very silent, evidently believing
she had been sold
/ Es5"''W onderful things are now "a days" :"
said Mrs. Simmons. The doctor has
given tlcks boy new lip from his cheek'