San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-04
TILE TRICKS OF PUSS.
A MAN WHO TRAINS CATS TO DO
MANY AMUSING THINGS.
The Feline Pets Are Creating Quite a Sen
sation in England Climbing Poles and
Walking Ropes-Fraternizing with Birds
and Mice.

Cats have generally been regarded as es-
pecially and only useful for the purpose of
catching rats and mice The cat has never
been supposed to be an intelligent animal;
lothing like as intelligent as the dog.
But as a sportsman the cat is eminently
successful. How a four legged animal
can catch a winged bird who has nothing
to do to get away except to fly up
in the air, where the cat can't follow
it, is remarkable. Nevertheless, pussy may
be seen almost any time in summer stealing
through the long grass, crouchlng, slowly
whsking her tail from side to side, now
crawling forward, and at last bouncing on
the unsuspecting bird before it has time to
get its wings'gOmg and rise in the air. Then
a cat will watch the parent bird till it goes to
its nest, thus revealing its locality, when pusS
will mount the tree and eat up the young
birds When a bird is seen hopping about
over fences and shrubs chirping all the time,
making great fuss and evidently distressed,
the chances are that somewhere near q cat Is
watching to see where the bird goes. But the
bird at such times is usually too sharp for the
cat and stays away from its home for fear of
betraying its birdlings
PROFESSOR FREDERICKs' PETS
Lately man in England has trained cats.
He is professional trainer of animals, such
as the horse, the dog, the goat or the pig.
He has a large number of cats and has given
them considerable attention. He is Professor
Fredericks, and is an exhibitor of his pets
He exercises them in the morning in the
back garden of his house, and feds them on
cats meat, bread and milk. They are not
easily trained, and are not reliable in a per
fOrmance, being a good deal like children,
who will never ''show OFF, when expected.
They get obstinate every now and then, and
the only way to treat them when in this con-
ditiOn is to let them rest. Professor Freder-
icks never uses force in training them, and
never thinks of whipping them. Kittens
can't be trained. AT least all effort thus far
has failed, and substantial middle aged cats
are usually taken for the purpose. The
trouble with kittens is that they are too
playful. In being trained they thinh the
trainer wants TO play and don't consider the
matter at all serious. Every boy or girl
knows that lessons can't be learned without
serious attention, bat as the kitten doesn't
realize this he never can learn
At Professor Fredericks performance the
cats first climb pole One would suppose
Shat there would be no need to teach a cat to
climb pole; that it would be done naturally.
But 1t is not simply the climbing, but the
control of the cats movements after it gets
out of its masters reach 1t is expected to 60
to the top of the pole, but whether it reaches
that point depends entirely on its inclination
Then a cat is made to walk a tight rope.
Considering the elevated peaks of roofs and
giddy cutters cat will traverse in dark
night, one wouldn't suppose walking tight
rope to be a very difficult job for it. In this
case, as i'll climbing, the training is in the
cat walking the rope under special instruc-
tiOns.
One of Professor Fredericks' cats, called
SlOper, is trained to walk tight rope strewn
with mice and canary birds. He lEts his feet
deity over the mice and the birds, and
makes the return journey with a mouse on
his back.
1t is generally supposed that all cats are
fond of mice and birds. This is not true.
One cat in eight doesn't care for either. A
curious incident occurred at one Of the pro
tessors exhibitions recently. a cat who was
forming .-.,,&ldiES 70 q temDtatiop.Guite