The evening herald., 1918-04-06
BIRDS AND CATS
Ry Aldo leopold

When talking of lnc picnnni subject
Of peace, We have also got Co deal with
the unpleasant subject of war. Likewise
when We talk about birds We have also
got Co deal with cats Nobody knows
exactly how many birds we have IN the
United States. hut we do know ihnt wc
have about twenty-five million cats u
this country. and that We are acquiring
more of them every duv
The cat has an interesting history
There is mo- record of amy uf the Euro.
pcun peoples having kept domestic ruts
until about the yrat 200 A H. cats
Wcrc kept iu Egypt however. until
about 1900 B g.. and had their origin
/ from the wild cat sim 90 be- found 100
/ Egypt and northeastern Africa Tho
great Hrrodotus mentioned that there
was such au abundance Of eats uu ccr
ltniu mountain iu Numida that uo bird
1 WHs ever known Co nest there.
With thc Egyptiaus the domestic eat
| bccumr uu object uf Worship and tho
hundreds Of Thousands of eats kept boz
the period Of Egyptian civilization s
nttcstcd tn hy the great caNcS found
! along the Nile. literally filled Hiih The
rmhalm,i bodies ot thos. animals. These
deposits Of cmholmcd cat. are so e,-
/ lcnsiNr that q few years ago % CONNER.
ciul company undertook thcif removal
/ and the ground up carcnsscs we're sold
/ boo Europe as fertilizer at tij per ton.
| who knows but what the destruction Of
| Egyptian birds hy these hordcs of eats
aud the possible resulting increase of
| insects might have ben IN least iu part
responsible for the periods of crop fail
urcs aud fnmincs which preceded tho
downfall of Egyptian civilization!
The principal justification for the
| keeping af eats has always been their
alleged good services iu checking the
increase of rats and mice, but scientists
have now proven that q gnod mouse
; trap is worth a half dozen cats, and TINT
the effectiveness of eats a. mousers has
been greatly exaggerated. \ few years
ago, o. certain ships captain boustcd
how his eat had hrn instrumental IN
keeping his ship clear of rats. n hap.
pcucd thar this ship was put into quar-
lnntine and when fumiguted. the eat wns
entirely forgotten aud after the cap.
tain p cabin was cleaned after fumigp.
/ tion, there were found in 10 % dead rnta
and the one cnt. side by side.
The trouble * this. that when YOU
feed eat she does not catch anything
and whcu ynu dp NOT feed her She lives
ON birds herausc birds are easier 10
catch thru rats and mice. Actual rec.
ord, have shown at least l2j species "
hirds which are commonly killed by
lNJptbond ca,s.
Tie really alarming feature Of tho
cat situation H. that our bird supply s
threatened not "uly 10y eats which stay
around home and clean 0ut the birds
from the garden aud orchard, hut espc.
iCinlly from the hundreds OF thousands
of eats whirh Ldvc really turned into
Wild animals and which make their liy.
ing ~ the woods aud fields of the birds
alone. Every sportsman knows that eats
which have run Wild are commonly
found miles distant from any house or
farm and every good sportsman who Is
interested in ~ild life out here viii
shoot these wild eats az every oppor.
tunily.
Competent authorities have estimated
that there ore az least twenty-five mil.
lion of them in the United States and
that az ycr, conservative estimates this
lcStirr number average ten birds killed.
lper year making total OF 250.0O0 900
birds which 500 must charge against the
eat nuisance
Nor is fhi, the only charge against
the cat All ot these cats must consume
food. whcthps Zoe the form al birds or n
the form of table scraps which ought to
20 toward the feeding ut chickens or of
other producing animals. Moreover.
{ cats are known 10 boz % serious factor in
the dissemination ~ contagious diseases.