The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-06-29
SOME PECULIAR FRIENDS.
Animals Not Natural Enemies to Each
Other Till Trained by Man.

Andrew Lang tells us that we make Il
great mistake if we think that cats and
dogs are natural enemies. He says that
dogs are trained by man to annoy cats:
that we have made them enemies. What
is still more surprising, Mr. Lang has
known cat and mouse who played to
gether: when tired the mouse ran back to
his hole. Mr.. Lang has seen dogs play
with fox until the scent was discovered
by an old dog, who sprang at the fox. The
young dogs then gave chase, following the
bad example of the dog that had been
trained by man to chase foxes. \ lady
who was very fond OF animals owned fine
dog. Mice took possession of her house,
and she was compelled to get cat. War
was declared at once between cat and dog
Some one had to be on guard all the time
to protect the cat. At last the lady de
cided that they must live in peace. She
made them known to each other, and they
becaE e in less than month friends enough
not to watch each other, and in three
months time neither would eat unless the
other was present and eating from the same
dish. Just as this delightful point wa
reached, friend gave the lady canary.
| The bird, then, must be guarded from the
cat. As the cat had gone freely about the
house this was not an easy thing to do
: to remember to shut doors, and to see
! where the cat was before door was opened
| The lady then decided that bird and cat
must live in harmony. She succeeded 50
well that at last the cat, the dog and The
/ ird would drink from the same dish, and
/ it was not an unusual thing to see the cat
sleeping with the bird standing on her head.
Perhaps this was no more unusual than
to have cat accept and adopta tiny puppy
whose mother had died. The cat had five
kittens. The puppy was put in the box
with the kittens while the mother cat was
away. When she came back she discoy cred
/ the little orphan at once She was deeply
interested. After "A time she nestled down,
with contented little meow and purr,
and apparently loved the new member OF
the family as well as the older ones.
One day, in jumping into the box, she
/ jumped on the pup, and he barked. She
/ sprang from the box, terrified her tail like
a great plume over her back. She looked
/ all about, but could not find the dog, that
enemy of her household. She sprang back
/ into the box, and, finding her treasures
untouched, settled down.
Whether the pup had fallen in love with
/ the sound of his own voice or not is not
/ known. Having found it, he must have
concluded that it was given for use. When
the old cat had dropped off to sleep, Mr..
/ Pup gave another queer little bark The
cat household was in an uproar; mother
and kittens were in wild state of excite
ment. Whether the perfect calm of the
| adopted child aroused the mother cats sus
picions or not is IA mystery for those to
decide who understand cat language The
mother cat boxed the pups ears, and he
| barked again. Her tail came to its normal
size at once. She apparently assured her
kittens that there was no cause for fear
| that it was this friend of theirs, almost
their brother, who had made the terrifying
noise, and it was nothing alarming at all
when you knew the cause.
From that day the pup continued to use
his discovered ccomplishment-for such,
doubtless, he viewed it, as did the family.
The mother cat and her adopted son lived
together for years, the best of friends