The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-12-03
cH,vALRY, EVEN IN A CAT.
Won't Attack n ma which In Help
less IN q Trap.

Won't Attack n nat which In Help-
less An q Trap.
"Wil q cat attack q rat In q trap,
or wait around until the captive Is lib
eratedT" Ninety-nine people out of q
hundred asked this question would re-
ply without hesitate IN, "Of course, II
will do either or both" Two st. Louis
gentlemen were discussing this question
n few days ago, says the Globe-Demo-
crat, and, finding 1t impossible to agree,
made a small bet, and decided to leave
the question to an expert in natural
history. The referee declined to act
and finally a number of dealers In
pet animals were consulted. All who
had seen q cat tempted by a captive
rat agreed that for some reason best
known to itself the best feline rat
catchers kept as much space as pos
sible between themselves and their nat
uraf enemies, when the latter were
handicapped by being imprisoned In ID
trap. IL was only those who had not
had an opportunity, of judging from
actuaf experience who laughed at the
question as foolish and said that d cat
would certainly fight q trap as vicious
iy rs a terrier. One dealer, who has
been In the business for thirty years
said - - ~s'@}'2A -
sRats are a great nuisance to US,
and we frequently catch them In traps.
That old cat You see there has caught
deems of. rats, I'm his time though be
Ia getting ,te1 oil and toothless now
for anything bigger than n mouse. But
he wosld ncvec go rear y zap with q
rat in 1t, although / V have tried him
again and again. / know of no reason
for this, but 1t b am actual fact, and
I quit trying years ago. Not only would
the cut refuse to watch the trap, but
1t could not be held while the rat was
liberated. 1t may be that the cat was
afraid Of the trap, but / don't see why,
because he never noticed 1t when 1t was
empty" 1, @3 ~ .~ n I
An old river man who was lounging
the store when the question was asked,
added: '@ d" ~"
mo eat will face a rat in a trap.
/ haze seen 1it tried sgain and aSain
on boats and wharves. Down south
I have known rats to destroy hundreds
Of dollars worth of cargo, and have
seen many q cat drag In q rat half as
large as itself. When we fund one
of the gnawers In a trap we would
often hunt up a favorite cat and give,
it a chance for some sport. But 1t was
never any use. The best Of them
would fight to get away and would re-
fuse to even look a second time at q
trap which had done Its work satisfac-
torily." sf .t $50. @~z r4.
An old menagerie hand, who was
appealed to, not only confirmed $the
statement, hut advanced somewhat of
a philosophical theory to account for
1t. The cat, he explained. not only be-
longs to the same tribe as the tiger,
but resembles 1t I'm many Ways, nota-
bly, i'm stalking Its victims, springing
upon them from ambush, waiting pa
tiently for hours for coveted prey and
playing with its prize before killing and
eating it. A cat refuses to attack an
imprisoned rat, not from motives OF
fear. but from something more like
chivalry or pride. Just In the same
way a tiger would not, unless pressed
by intense hunger, eat an animal not
killed by itself. Instances were on
record, he stated, in which men lost
in tiEer-infested regions had escaped
being torn to pieces by Stimulating
death, and he doubted very much
whether a cat would attack a rat out
of a trap If it appeared to be disabled
or seriously injured.