Evening star., 1928-04-01
This and That
By Charles E. Trace,Ceu.

A Washingtonian, purchasing dog.
was given q cat into the bargain. since
the two had been brought up together.
While the owner wanted TO keep both,
enjoying their gambols, he decided 70
give the cat away. fearing 1t would
catch birds in his neighborhood.
His fear. we believe. was grossly exag-
eerated. and we hope he keeps the cat.
These lovers Of home and hearth, while
enjoying their sport with birds. are by
no means the great nlarauderS often
depicted.
To listen to some bird lovers talk.
the unwary person might think that all
cats daily gorge themselves on birds,
especially the SongsterS
Listening TO these ruthless detractors
OF the domestic cat, one sees whole
heavens OF innocent little birds flying
down the maws of battalions OF cats.
Unless something IS done about II,
they wall. there won't be q bird left in
the United States In 10 years.
The trouble with this interesting pic
ture Is that II isn't what one might
call accurate In fact. as far as our
observation goes. 1t Is pure myth.
The house cat IN home or yard Is one
animal. the house cat that has turned
wild Is distinctly another. Yet these
two are ineNtricably confused In the
minds OF those who do not like cats.
II Is distinctly sad. to those who love
all animal life. that fanciers of various
races OF creatures so often get dis
like along with their liking.
Thus. too often. the man who likes
dogs develops spleen against cats. or
he who derives enjoyment from studying
n kS Nha d. ..N.
against cats simply because he has seen
some hungry animal catch himself q
breakfast
1t must be remembered that hunting
each other Is natural among the erea-
lures. It Is true that certain pet cats
develop unusual ability along this line.
A bird lover, seeing one Of these ex-
pert bird catchers. Immediately jumps
to the conclusion that all cats are
similarly endowed.
Nothing could be farther from the
truth As fast as most cats are. the
birds are much quicker. A bird with
ordinary bird common sense seems to
have no difficulty at all In keeping out
OF the average cats way.
The bird lives mostly In an element
which no cat commands. To wit, the air.
Even man, after his thousands of years
on earth, has only begun TO solve the
problem which the birds Solved~-or had
worked out for theni----in the heginning.
II birds were confined 10 the ground,
there might seem some Justice % the
earpings OF the cat haters. but since
birds do possess wings. and can fy
better than Llndbergh. II Is difficuit for
some OF us 10 believe that the SongsterS
are In danger of determination,
NN -
Two birds q season would be a large
estimate. We believe, for the average
house cat, In ell our wanderfnga In
and around Washington, We have never
seen bird IN the mouth OF a cat,
There are hundreds Of pet cats, no
doubt. which have not caught q bird In
years, Most cats would rather ex-
efcise their stalking abilities ON mice.
anyway.
There Is something about live mouse
that intrigues the fancy Of your average
domestic cat, The mouse smell. for
one thing, h more entraneing than the
odar Of any bird The scratching noises
made hy q mouse In seramhling through
the walls OF u house are far more en-
trancin9 to the ears OF cat than the
awlahing sounds made by birds Ia flight
What . cat does not like about q bird
Il the ohifping OF the eritter The
louder they sQlleak the madder honest