Evening star., 1949-12-05
This and That
Bv Charles E. Trace,ceU

Templeton Jones says the house cat mas
been overlooked as watch dog.
Watch cats. he declares, are just as good
as dogs, and more likely to attract atten-
ton.
Dogs as watchmen, as every one knows.
are none too steady.
People are SO used to their barking. that
often it is just another case Of wolf. wolf. !"
The big police dog on the corner barked
his head of, but no one paid any attention
to him, so that the burglars had plenty OF
time to look over the house next door at
their leisure.
Little dogs at times respond to candy. or
even swift kick.
And they. too are SO bark-inclined that
people get used to them and pay little
attention
The properly trained watch cat, on the
other hand, as Jones points out. is not one
to fuss for nothing.
When a cat suddenly pricks up its ears,
and begins to growl, even the most careless
will notice it.
Growing cats?
Yes they do growl, and almost always at
some sudden and unusual noise.
Thus, the other evening swapping sound
from the yard next door caused Templeton
Jones Two WatCu CdtS-ocdtSO OII Vic 0A1iAAS
room table. Of all places-to come to at
tention.
Their ears went to points, and from the
lower depth of their stomachs issued veri-
table growls.
The big tiger one. as might have been
expected, gave the largest growl
Such a growl is no light matter with q
cat.
It is not something he does every day,
by any means. or even every week
Hundreds of noises might occur near him
and he would not growl.
Scores of smells might assan his delicate
nose without drawing any vocal protest,
only laying back Of the ears.
Cat ears are sensitive indicators, along
with the tail, Of the feline emotional states.
The tail has been oyer-praised, In this re-
gard. It is a vestigal growth, OF not much
use except when In fight. Then It's laSh1ng
tells the other fellow to watch out. The tail
is an indicator to the cat owner OF the
health or lack Of it Of his pet. The healthy
cat has fluffy. plump tail. while the one
in i'll health is inclined to have scrawny
TAIL The difference Is easily seen. by ex-
perienced persons.
But the tail, all In all, is somewhat over
estimated It is there because it Is there.
The Manx cat, so called, shows how little
cat needs tail.
Whereas ears, by their inclination, show
all that goes on in cat brain and heart.
The modern cat, just like his ancestors.
needs his ears, not only to hear with, as
they did, but also to express to others OF
his own kind, and to his human friends,
the emotions that run riot through him.
He needs no hearing aids. Nature has
equipped him with aural abilities quite on
q par with those of the dog.
While dogs may be able to smell better,
1t is very doubtful that they hear any better.
And the real point Of the watch cat, as
compared with the dog. is that its response
to sudden sounds is based on ancestral ac-
tions and reactions to degree not seen
today in the dog.
Templeton Jones' cats really growing at
a sudden swapping sound in the yard next
door showed that they thought Of fire, when
they heard it, and they knew this because
of the ancient days, when small branches
were broken by their human friends to
start fires.
AS it turned out, this was precisely what
had happened in this instance. Getting
home from trip, the folks next door found
their house chilly, and looked through the
yard for small branches fallen from the
trees to make kindling for their fireplace.
The watch cats, true to nature. to them
selves and their human friends sensed at
once that fire was involved. So they started
up, sat erect, with ears UP, and growled. It
turned out to be nothing, but at any rate
the watch cats had done their job and once
more shown how cats still help humanity.