European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Nocturnal Pussy footing 73 Haw or of other individuals and to the Dennis Turner Patrick Bateson Seal than popular myth would have it. To human relationship Are the by Jane Dunlap Norris Charlottesville a daily Progress my husband and i have Bee wondering Lor some Tim exactly whal our cat does Maleat night alter we be gone to Sloop. We Kepi attributing those scrambling noises to the scampering antics of a nocturnal Pel Kitty always looks exhausted in the mornings and he seems to spend the whole Day moving aimlessly from chair to chair Nap to Nap. Meal to meal. We fell Safe in our Assumption that no animal with the breath of a Gnu and the dining manners of a freshman fraternity brother could plan diabolical attacks on our furnishings and our neighbors. Wiser now. We lock up our social Security numbers and Bank books and sleep with water guns filled with Listene under our Pillow everything was line until the other night. As i searched the House for my Litto voice activated tape recorder. I found it wedged Between the Sola cushions along Wilh a breakfast sausage and the lop half of a shredded Catnip mouse. I played the tape and heard an Odd pastiche of mews trills and hulls not Content Loust sit Al Home and worry we took the tape to the linguistics department at the local University and had in transcribed Kitty had recorded a personal desk Calendar of sorts to help him keep track of his plans Lor Iho next Day and night "1 practice dealing 911 remember at 3 am Friday nudge the receiver Oil the Hook first "2 postpone Licking Hind parts until Landlady comes Over "3 toss Paw Fuls of Cal litter Al invisible Loe lurking behind the stove. "4 wait until the tall Guy leaves the room and then lick the Backol his unattended ice Cream spoon. Tip it Back into the bowl so he can l Tell. "5 be sure to Eal too much. The neighbor three doors Down just drove Home in his newly upholstered convertible. Tonight it s All yours All yours Sharpen identified at least three it easy going and trusting jus shy and unfriendly the accent of Kittens to resist id quiet temperament which h May be inherited. Claws on the antique armoire and practice gagging "6 sooner or later they la Lind out about the Chipmunk you re hiding in the Linen closet for thanksgiving. Might As Well be honest about it and Pul it in their Ted where they la be sure to find it. "7 dial t-900-dog-Daze again tonight s whines Are supposed to be irom a toothless limping pomeranian chained to the Doorknob of the so Alood shop " and to think vie believed he could t think past his next Nap i knew belter than to confront Kilty at Mut what we had found he was Silling in Iron of the television watching a current at Lair Wilh his rear loot in his Mouth to destroyed Iho tape somehow neither my husband nor i summoned the guts to listen to the whole thing maybe we should have. We Haven t seen the vacuum cleaner in a week and Kitty s tucking bags of Cal nibbles and some change Between the Sola cushions nine lives new York times very year scores of cals All from o in windows in now York City from Juno 4 through nov 4, 1984. Lor instance. 132 such victims wore admitted to the animal medical Center in Manhattan most of Iho cats landed on Concrete most survived exports believe they a Ere Able to do so because of the Laws of physics Superior balance and what might be called the flying Squirrel lactic in a study for the medical censer. Or Wayne Whitney and i Cheryl Mahl Hall recorded the distance of the fall Lor 129 of the 132 cats the tails ranged from two to 32 stories with an average distance of 5 a stories two cals fell together about a Quarter Lell during Daylight hours and about 40 percent Al night for the rest. The time of the fall was unknown three cals were seen falling by their owners two were described As having fallen while turning on a narrow ledge and the third had lunged for an insect. Seventeen of the cats were put to sleep by their owners in most cases nol because of life threatening injuries but because the owners said they could not Allord medical treatment. Of the remaining 115, eight died from Shock and Chest Oniunes. Even More surprising the longer the All the Grealer the Chance i survival. Only one of 22 cats thai plunged irom above seven stories died and Here was Only one fracture among the 13 that Lell More than nine stories. Sabina. The cat Hal Lell 32 stories on Concrete suffered a mild lung puncture and a chipped tooth she was released irom the Hospital Allar 48 hours the Cal s ability to twist around while ailing and land on its loot is Well known Bui Why did cats irom higher floors Are better than those on lower ones one explanation is Hal the Speed of Hie fall does not increase beyond a certain Point Meh half and Whitney said in Iho december 1987 Issue of the journal of the american veterinary medical association. This Point terminal is reached relatively quickly in the Case of cals terminal velocity for a cat is 60 Mph. Lor an adult human 120 Mph until a cat reaches terminal velocity the two speculated the Cal reacts to acceleration by reflex Ivory extending its legs making in More prone to injury. After terminal velocity is reached they said. The Cal might relax and stretch ils logs out like a Hying Squirrel increasing air resistance and helping to distribute the Impact More evenly. Cats May be behaving like Well trained paratroopers or. Jared Diamond who leaches physiology Al the University of California at los Angeles medical school wrote in the August Issue of the Magazine natural history cat and mouse new York times or the family of Peter b. Churcher the first one downstairs on summer mornings faced an unpleasant chore the Early Riser Ollen had to clean up the remains of whatever prey Iho family Cal had brought in overnight. John h Lawton was in a similar situation. This set Churcher a biology teacher in an English Public school and Lawton a biology professor at the University of London wondering about the ecological effect of House cats. They convinced All but Ono of the 78 Cal owners in Felmo Sham England the Bedfordshire Village where the churches lived o save the remains of their cats prey in coded plastic bags for a year in 1981 and 1982. The results were startling. According to the study reported in Britain s journal of zoology m 1987 and described again in the july natural history Magazine Domestic cats turned out to be the major predators in the Village a total of 1,090 victims 535 mammals 297 Birds and the mangled remains of 258 unidentified animals were collected an average of about 14 per cat per year. Fifteen species of animals and 22 species of Birds were represented. The most important items were Wood mice 17 percent House sparrows 16 percent and Bank Voles 14 percent the study suggested that Al least 30 percent of the Sparrow deaths in the Village were due to cats and concluded that House cats May Well prove to be the key predators in Urban and suburban sellings in terms of of the Overall Impact Church or said in an interview you could think of them acting As one super predator the equivalent of a couple of barn owls or a couple of scientists know that cats usually go Hunting even when they Are Well fed at Home. But horrified cat owners and others often ask Why they Pla Wilh the prey seeming to torture it and Why do they bring it Home and present Illo their owners some scientists believe that what appears to be playing Wilh live prey is the Cal s Way of tiring a seemingly difficult or dangerous Quarry so that a killing bile on the Backol the neck can be delivered. Mother cats bring prey Home so that their Killens can play with it and learn to Hunt. Common Wisdom has it thai a cats seeking approval when it brings prey Home and drops it at the owner s Leet. Bui some animal behaviour its speculate the cat is simply bringing the prey Back to what it sees As its Den. Young cals have been observed sharing prey with their mothers and experts believe Hal in the absence of its Mother a cat often sees ils owner As a substitute. Tembem3,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15
