The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-08-03
CHivALRY IN A CAT.
Won't Attack Rat Which Is Helpless In
Trap.


'Will a cat attack a rat in trap or
wait around until the captive is liber-
ated?n Ninetv-nine people out of hun
bred asked this question would reply
without hesitation: ''Of course, ii viii
do either or both" Two St. Louis gen.
tlemen were discussing this question
few DAYS ago. and, finding it impossible
to agree, made small bet, and decided
to leave the decision TO an expert in
natural history The referee declined
to act. and finally 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 i'm
prisoned in a trap 1t 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
trap as viciously as a terrier. One
dealer. who has been in the business
for thirty years, said:
RATS are 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 rat
in it, although l have tried him again
and again. | know of no reason for
this, but it 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 l don't see why.
because he never noticed it when it
was empty"
An old river man who was lounging
in the store when the question was
asked added:
mo cat will face a rat in a trap. I
have seen it tried again and again on
boats and wharves. Down south 1
have known rats to destroy hundreds
of dollars worth of cargo, and have
seen many cat drag in rat half as
large as itself When we found one of
the gnawers in a trap we would often
hunt up a favorite cat and give IL
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-
torilV"
An old menagerie hand, who was APP
pealed to, not only confirmed the state
ment, bat 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 imprisoned rat, not
from motives of fear, but from some
thing more like chIvalry or pride. just
IN the same way tiger would not, I'M
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 a trap if it appeared to be disa bled or
seriously injured.-St. Louis Globe
Democrat