Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1894-08-30
cHlvAlRY IN A oAr.
Won't Attack Rat which Is Heipie..

Won't Attack n Rat which Is Helpless IN
Trap.
'Will cat attack a rat in a trap or
wait around until the captive is liber-
ated?' Ninety-nine people out Of hun
dred asked this question would reply
without hesitation: "Of course. IL will
do either or both" Two st. Louis gem
tlemen were discussing this question a
few days ago and, finding II impossible
TO agree, made a small bet, and decided
70 leave the decision 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 a cat tempted by cap
tive rat agreed that for some reason
best known to itself the feline
rat-catchers kept as much space
as possible between themselves
and their natural enemies, when the
latter were handicapped by being inn
prisoned in trap. II was only those
who had not had an opportunity Of
judging from actual experience who
laughed at the question as foolish and
said that a cat would certainly fight a
trap as viciously as terrier One
for thirty years, said:
Rats are a great nuisance to us, and
we frequently catch them in traps
That old cat you see there has caught
dozens of rats in his time, though he is
getting too old and toothless now for
anything bigger than mouse. But he
would never go near a trap with a rat
in 1t, although have tried him again
and again. | know of no reason for
this, but IL is an actual fact, and / quit
trying years ago. Not only would the
cat refuse TO watch the trap, but it
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 II when II
was empty"
An old river man who was lounging
in the store when the question was
asked added:
''No cat will face a rat in trap.
have seen it tried again and again on
boats and wharves. Down south
have known rats TO destroy hundreds
Of dollars worth of cargo, and have
seen many n cat drag in a rat half as
large as itself. When we found one of
the gnawers in trap we would often
hunt up a favorite cat and give it a
chance for some sport. But it was
never of any use. The best of them
would fight to get away and would re-
fuse to even look a second time at a
trap which had done its work satisfac-
torily."
An old menagerie hand, who was APP
pealed to, not only confirmed the state
ment, but advanced somewhat of a
philosophical theory TO account
for it. The cat, he explained,
not only belongs to the same
tribe as the tiger. but resembles it in
many ways, notably in stalking its vic
Tins, springing upon them from am
bush, waiting patiently for hours for !
coveted prey and playing with its prize
before killing and eating it, A cat re-
fuses to attack an imprisonel rat, not |
from motives of fear, but from some !
thing more like chIvalry or pride. Just |
in the same way a tiger would not. un-
less pressed by intense hunger, eat an |
animal not killed by itself Instances
were on record, he stated, in which men |
lost in tiger-infested regions had es-
capped being torn to pieces by stimulat- |
ing death, and he doubted very much |
whether a cat would attack a rat out |
OF trap If it appeared to be disabled or
seriously injured.-St. Louis Globe |
Democrat.