Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-04-19
WILD CATS IN ENGLAND.
ONLY BEAST OF FREY TO az
FOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN.

FOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN.
Controversy Over Its origin-The Do
mestTc Cat Was Once Very VaIu-
able Creature-lt Is Clear, Too,
THAT This Was Not the Wildcat.
A peculiar interest attaches to. the
British wildcat; in fact a double in
terest. Il has grown. rare of late.
years in Englnad. but has mot yet by
any means been exterminated; and so
/ II still remains the only beast of prey
left on English soil that is dangerous
to man No doubt its ultimate fate
will be that OF the wolf and the wild
boar, and even now it is chiefly known
only to gamekeepers and poachers.
A. little time ago the race was com
mon enough in the woods throughout
Scotland. and is still to be found in
Wales and Ireland. The Irish variety
is larger than the British, but the
race seems to be spread all over north
ern Europe and it is also found in
northern Asia and Nepal
Some years ago 1t was the cause
OF a great controversy. The question
was as to the origin of the ordinary
cat. 1t Is a form of the wild cat al.
tered by domestication till its fttest
qualities survived, or is the ordinary
cat distinct creature? Now, though
the domestic cat is probably the COM
monest quadraped in Europe, there
certainly was a time when it was
rare and valuable. Shylock, indeed.
speaks of ''the harmless, necessary
cat" not at all as II it were such
treasure as the monkey which his
daughter exchanged for the turquoise
ring; but we must go to an earlier
date than Queen Elizabeth's time
Pennant, the naturalist, talking of
Howell, who ruled over southern
Wales for thirty years and died in
948, says that that excellent prince
did not think it beneath him to ascer-
tain the value of animals and fix the
price at which they should be bought
and sold in his dominions. So he de-
creed that a kitiing before it could
see was to cost a penny; but after 1T
got its sight and till 1t caught its
first mouse twopence.
Every cat that was sold was to be
warranted perfect in sense of hearing
and seeing, its claws whole and a
good mouser. If it was deficient in
any of these points the seller was to
forfeit to the buyer one-third of its
value. Prince Howels law went fur
Their than this, and had clause pro
tecting the owner of the cat-interest-
ing both as giving additional proof
of its value and as showing the sim
pie ingenuity OF those times.
If any one stole or killed the cat
that guarded the princes granarv he
was to forfeit mich eve, its fleece
and lamb, or as much wheat as would
be ascertained in the following way:
The cat presumably dead) was to
be held suspended by the tail, its
head touching the ground, and the
wheat was then to be poured upon it
till the tip of the tail was covered.
1t is clear from this that the do
nestle cat was at that time a very
valuable creature. and one may even
see the origin of the legend of Dick
Wilmington travelling about with his
singular pet. 1t is clear. too, that
this was not the wild cat. That ami
NAL was plentiful enough in Prince
Howel's dominions. and all over Eng
Id in 70 hn
killed as a pest, and certainly not to
be protected as a household trasure.
There is a charter of Richard Ills
time. given by the King to the abbot
of Peterborough. authorizing the alb
bot to hunt the hare. the fox and
the wild cal. and there is canon of
Archbishop Corboye. dated 1927, for
bidding any nun or abbess to use
more costly fur than the fleece of a
lamb or the skin Of cat. 1t would
seem. therefore, that the domestic
cat and the wild cat co-existed in
England at a time when the former
was valuable animal.
Was it, however, a descendant of
the wild cat? The dog has been traced
up to the jacket by removes, numer-
GUS indeed, but no one of which is
very remote from the previous ones
in the series. while between the wild
cat and the tame cat the essential diff
erences do not seem very great. More |
over. the house cat shows this pecu- |
liarity-that there is scarcely any do
10
into wild state. Londoners know
the London cat and will find it hard /
TO credit the statement But game
Keepers and gardeners could tell a
different story A cat that has caught
and eaten a young rabbit soorl be-
comes a confirmed poacher. TIE noe
turnal instincts of the creature sur
vive. 1t will spend the night proving
and hunting. 1t will disdain mouse
and rat and go for ground game or
pheasant.
Sir William JardGe found cat
that had kittened on the ridge of an
uncut corn field. On approaching her
she showed every disposition to de
fend her progeny. and besides her lay
two young leverets. fresh caught and
killed. 1t seemed not difficult to be-
lieve that the wild cat might at the
same time advanced toward and cross !
ed the boundary which separated it
from the tame animal, seeing that the
domestic cat so soon became wild. /
Another. theory was. however. started
bv RuDpel. who during his first trav-
els in Nubia. west of the hills near Am
bukol. discovered a cat third smaller
than the wild ore. and in all respects }
similar to the house pet. 1t had,
however. the bushy instead of the Ia
pering tail. but had the short legs
Of the tabby Ruppels theory was
that this animal was a descendant
Of the eat worshipped by the Egypt |