Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1892-02-20
BOHEMIAN FELINEs.
Country Oats and Their Peripa-
tetic Propensity.
They Pretend to Bo ExcIusIvely Domes-
ito In Their Tendencies, I;ue They
Arc Base DissImula-
tors.

though many, owing to circumstances
beyond their own control, are precluded
from giving free play to their propensi
ties, which accordingly remain unde
velopcd all their lives. But country
cats have every opportunity of indulging
their tastes for q more wild. irregular
and lnwless life than the domestic
hearth affords, and not a few avail
themselves freely Of the chance. Of
this class of cats there are several va
rietieS; but three are sufficient for the
present purpose.
There is, first of all, says the st.
james Gazette, the discriminating cat,
which pretends to BIO an exclusively
domestic animal, lives n great deal in
the parlor or drawing-room, and gener-
ully reminds one of the stories told of
burglars and other criminals who have
posed before the world as exemplary
citizens for years, have perhaps been
church wardens or elders, and all the
time have been pursuing the most ne
farious practices in secret. A cat of
this kind, however, is not, strictly
speaking, gypsy cat. Her domicile is
always the same. She merely slips out
on the sly to enjoy a little sport by
tions, that believe strictly in her virtue,
are sound asleep. She is out long
enough, however, to do a good deal of
mischief; and when she comes in with
the milk looks Us innocent as If she had
never heard of fur or feathers. She has
probably had n game supper, which ac-
counts for the heavy sleep in which she
INDUCES during the remainder Of the
day, and which imposes on all but those
who are behind the scenes.
These cats, if they have reputable be-
lOngings, will not be deliberately shot
by the neighboring game keepers; but
their respect FOR Farmer So-an-So, or
FIR the clergyman or the doctor, will
not prevent them from setting traps
where such cats are likely to prowl,
and if puss walks into one they cannot
help it. Some fine morning she is
probably missed from the breakfast
table; and when in time it becomes ev-
ident that she will return no more the
virtues of the deceased are extolled to
the skies, and the wretch who would in-
jure so harmless and amiable pet con-
signed t. the bottomless pit.
A moro straightforward and indepen-
deaf CIT is the one that cares very little
for the comforts of civilization and
rarely sleeps in any human habitation,
VT divides it's time between the woods
nd fields in fine weather and barns,
atables and outhousos which it fire.
uuents in the winter This cat, Of
course, is systematic poacher, though
il will take to rats and mice when there
i nothing better to be had, while at the
slime time it keeps up connection with
some cottage or farmhouse to which it.
can fly for refuge in emergencies. This
eat will lie in the turnips like q hare or
rabbit as long as it is dry weather, and
when disturbed will dart off to the cot
tage aforesaid, and, jumping upon some
coign of vantage, will stand with tail
erect, swearing in a most preposterous
fashion and making believe all the time
that it is the cat of the house. This, we
mean, is what it will do if it escapes
with life from the shooting party who
first reused it; but, as it usually has to
run the ordeal Of five or six barrels, the
chances are considerable aginst it,
While 1t lives, however, the cat in
question has IL pleasant and comforta-
i'll" existence. In the summer and enrly
autumn it lies about in the copses,
hedge-rows and standing corn, living
tlelIciously on young rabbits, partridges,
and whatever else it can catch of flesh
or fowl AS the weather grows cooler
it returns to the snug winter quarters
in tho old barn or hayloft, where it
ncstlcs warmly in the straw, and when
tired of vermin finds pleasing variety
In the sparrow. This cat has his rcgu-
lar wintor and summer haunts, despises
the restraints OF domesticity. and, as
AIacauley said Of Boyce and Savage, is
as irrcclaimable rs the wild ass. Still
he Is not altogether n wild cat. He is
on friendly terms with the wagner
MI thrasher, and on very cold nights
will sometimes oondescend to lie before
cottage fire. But there is another
;niufai whom country people generally
OalL u wild oat, and who really deserves
thu n0ruo. though not belonging to the
genuine wildcat species with tho short,