Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1904-04-27
BRITAIN's BEAST or PREY.
The wildcat, Once Quite Common
rs Still to Be Found in
Some Parts.

est, says the London Penny Globe. 1t
has grown rare of late years in Eng
land, but has not yet by any means
Deen exterminated, and SO it still re-
mains 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 short
time ago the race was common enough
in the woods throughout Scotland, and
is still to be found in Wales and Ire
land The Irish variety is larger than
the British, but the race seems to be
spread all over northern Europe and it
is also found in northern Asia and
Nepal.
Some years ago it was the cause of
great controversy. The question was
as to the origin of the ordinary cat
Is it a form of the wildcat, altered by
domestication till it's fittest qualities
survived or is the ordinary cat dis
tinct creature? Now, though the do
nestle cat is probably the commonest
quadruped in Europe, there certainly
was time when it was rare and val
liable. Shylock, indeed, speaks Of "the
harmless, necessary cat" not at all
as if 1t were such treasure as the
monkey which his daughter exchanged
for the turquoise ring; but we must
go to an earlier date than Queen Eliza
beth's time. Pennant, the naturalist,
talking Of Howell, who ruled over
southern Wales for 80 years and died
In 948, says that that excellent prince
did not think it beneath him to as
certain the value of animals and fix
the price at which they should be
bought and sold in his dominion So
he decreed that killing before 1t
could see was to cost penny, but
after it got its sight and till it 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 good
mouser. IL it was deficient in any of
these points the seller was to forfeit
to the buyer one-third of its value.
Prince Howel's law went further than
this and had clause protecting the
owner OF the cat-interesting both as
giving additional proof Of It's value
and as showing the simple ingenuity
Of those times
II anyone stole or killed the cat that
guarded the princes granary he was
to forfeit mitch 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 touch
| ing the ground, and the wheat was
then to be poured upon 1t till the tip
| Of the tail was covered.
| It is clear from this that the do
| nestle cat was at that time very
| valuable creature, and one may even
see the origin of the legend of Dick
| Wilmington travelling about with his
| singular pet It is clear, too, that this
| was not the wildcat. That animal was
plentiful enough in Prince Howel's do
minions and all over England was re-
\ garded as vermin, to be killed as a
| pest and certainly not to be protected
as household treasure"
I There is a charter of Richard lis
time, given by the king to the abbot
of Peterborough, authorizing the alb
bot to hunt the hare, the fox and the
| wildcat, and there is a canon Of Arch
bishop Corboye, dated 1927, forbidding
any nun or abbess to use more costly
fur than the fleece of lamb or the
skin of cat. 1t would seem, there
fore, that the domestic cat and the
wildcat coexisted in England at a time
when the former was valuable ami
NAL.
1. Was it, however, descendant Of the
/ wildcat? The dog has been traced UP
to the jackal by removes, numerous
indeed, but no one of which is very
remote from the previous ones in the
series, while between the wildcat and
the tame cat the essential differences
do not seem very great. Moreover, the
housecat shows this popularity
there is scarcely any domestic animal
that SO soon relapses into wild state.
Londoners know the London cat and
will find it hard to credit the state
ment But gamesters and gardeners
could tell different story A cat that
has caught and eaten a young rabbi
soon becomes a confirmed poacher
The nocturnal instincts of the creature
survive. It will spend the night prowl-
ing and hunting 1t will disdain mouse
and rat and go for ground game OF
J pheasant.
Sir William Jardine found cat thai
had kittened on the ridge Of an uncut
cornfield. On approaching her she
showed every disposition to defend he1
progeny, and beside her lay two young
: leverets, fresh caught and killed. Il
, seemed not difficult to believe that tbs
wildcat might at some time have ad-
I, vanceds toward and crossed the bound
airy which separated 1t from the tame
4 animal, seeing that the domestic ca
so soon became wild. Another theory
r was, however, started by Ruppel, who
: during his first travels in Nubia, ives
: of the hills near Ambukol, discovered
! a cat a third smaller than the wilt
$ one and in all respects similar to the
: house pet. 1t had, however, the bushy
3 instead of the tapering tail, but hat
the short legs Of the tabby. RuppeP
: theory was that this animal was a de
. scendant of the cat worshiped by tn,
$ Egyptians, and that to this eastern