East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-09-14
TOM AND TAB
ARE DENOUNCED
LEARNED MAN MAKES SEVERE
ARRANGEMENT OF HOUSE CAT
Calls Them Sleek Highwaymen "and
Maurauders'-Says They Prey
Upon Birds and Chicks-Are Fakes
As Rodent Exterminators-Pre
Skunk as Pet.
Bureau of United Press,

''NAih6NpAAt ANPNs Illbl-
wayman," "maurauder," and "alleg-
ed mouse killer" are just a few of
the low-down, mean, opprobrious
epithets which learned scientific ex-
pert is now calling that pet of child
hood and solace of the spinster-the
cat.
Tabby comes in for an awful
undertaking in the new yearbook of
the department of agriculture. Prof.
A. X. Fisher. of the biological sur,
vey is the man who destroys those
early idols as to the lovely charac-
ter of the cat. He says tn e
animal is a degenerate-a thief-a
scoundrel-and ought not to be toll
Grated in a respectable household
or at least allowed the same liberty
as at present
1T is safe to say that this marau-
der" (the professor is referring to
the cat when he uses this mean
word) (which enjoys all the COM
forts and protection of home, de-
stroys in the aggregate more wilo
girds and young poultry than all the
native natural enemies combined. A
cat has been known to kill a whole
brood of chickens in a day, feat
unequalled by any predaceous ami,
NAL, with the possible exception of
the mink. Many an innocent hawk,
skunk, owl and weasel have been shot
for the deeds of that sleek highway
man, the house cat.
"A well known naturalist estimateA
that in the New England states alone
100000 birds are destroyed annu,
ally by cats.
"The principal reasons given for
keeping cats are their attractiveness
as house pets, their usefulness as
companions for children and their al
legged value as rat and mouse kill
ers."
ALLEGED mouse killers"-think of
that insinuation! But the professor
does more than just sneer at Tab
by's rodent killing proclivities. He
says further:
ut is safe to say that few persons
during a normal lifetime run across
more than half dozen cats that ha-
bitually attack rats. 1t has been the
common experience of the writer to
find premises tht were well supplied
with cats overrun with rats and
mice. In a certain ranch house in
the west he trapped in his bedroom
II mice week, although eight cats
had access to the place.
Lovers of the cat should be con-
tent with one, or at the most two, of
these pets and should see to it that
ortcasts do not run at large on their
premises. Now that cats are known to
carry such dreaded diseases as tu-
berculosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever
and smallpox, the presence in the
household of Tabby is not without its
dangers"
Isn't this a picture Of malignant
of these things Prof. Fisher says
about the cat, while reading the
pleasant words, the little congratula-
tions, the pats of encouragement, and
the appreciative praise he gives to
that fragrant animal, the skunk.
Here's what the professor thinks
about the smelly beast:
1.-THE skunk is another chicken
thief which renders important serv-
ice by destroying immense numbers
Of mice, grubs, grassnoppers and 9TH
er noxious forms. Although it pre-
fers this kind Of food, like the opos-
sum 1t will eat almost any animal
matter and also at times certain wild
fruits and berries. 1t is said to be
fond of eggs and young chickens;
but the writer has known a mother
skunk to make her nest and rear her
young in the inner walls Of chick
en- yard and neither egg nor fowl
was molested."
Probably If "Uncle Tama Jim"
who is secretary of agricul-
.ure, hadn't been watching closely
Professor Fisher would have added
to this eulogy of the skunk the rec
that that animal be
adopted as a household pet instead Of
he disgraced cat. A skunk as |
pet, however, would prob
ably not be without its dangers.