Evening star., 1947-10-29
This and That
Bu Charles f. Trdce1DeU

Templeton Jones had been talking about
ocelots all his life but this was the first time
he ever touched one.
1t was wee ocelot. with big blue ribbon
around its neck, sign of mans triumph over
the beasts.
This little field tiger, as the Mexicans orig
inally called 1t, sat and washed It's face with
its paws like any proper cat.
1t was all cat, this one, despite its bold
markings.
But when it growled-oh, my!
That growl could have been heard for half
block. although the creature was only 7
weeks old.
What would 1t sound like when 1t was year
old, and had grown to be big fellow-er lady
cat?
BY that time, no doubt it would be recog-
nized by every one for what it was wild
cat, not tame or domestic one.
Jones' who had just left the company of four
fine and gentle house cats, could not help but
realize that a whole world of life separated
the real wild fellows from the tanned ones.
The tanning Of the common cat has been for
keeps. 1t Is not wild, in the ocelot sense; 1t is
gentle and mild to human beings. After all,
it is in relation to humans that we think of all
the animals, or other animals, perhaps one
should say.
The dog and cat alone of the creatures have
stepped out of the line of separation, and
drawn near to man because they like him.
Out of all the world of living things, these
are the only ones that really like us, and no
one should forget it.
The bear Is tanned" so some people think,
but actually it is never tanned. The COW and
horse do what we bid them to do, but down
at the bottom of their disposition turks a
temptation to gore us and trample us; they
would do it, too, except that they are afraid.
Racoons have been made pets, and so have
g .t,.I~ ..
fear of us and dislike which extends to our
very smell.
The barnyard fowl, if she were big enough,
would peck us to pieces without batting either
Of her cold, cruel eyes.
X X
The baby ocelot submitted to being patted
on the head.
very bad job out of it, getting milk all over
it's feet and legs. but very little into its stomach
Felis paradalis. it is called in the books
This specimen sat licking the milk off itself,
while its big eyes loked around at the strange
world of modern living room.
Perfectly house broken, this small cat selected
pair of legs as its tree and went directly
up them.
That they were not the. legs of Templeton
Jones, Esq, at first disappointed that gentle
man. until he thought that his own trousers
must have been reeking with cat smell.
Wild little cats would never take kindly to
the odor of domestic cats. The scent of the
iungle-ah, that was what this one wanted.
So it went to the cloth that smelled of the
outdoors.
Up it went leaving great paw prints of milk
on the newly pressed trousers
The cat curled up on knee and would be
there yet, perhaps if it had not been taken
down.
Templeton Jones was glad, when he saw
those paw prints, that he had not been selected.
1t was just as well the ocelot had passed
him up.
Taken aloft in kindly arms, the creature
noticed q door ajar.
Suddenly 1t leaped, Its very first leap in
the world
And missed by a foot, but fortunately Its
custodian's coordination was perfect, 90 warm
arms were waiting to catch it, and to bear it
away, and ultimately to Texas. not SO Tar from
Its native home.