Monday, January 09, 2006
Call of the Wild!
When Jack London wrote about the Call of the Wild, he probably had little inkling about just how “wild” some innocent things could be. For instance scientists have recently cataloged the cat family according to a DNA tree and discovered that all domestic cats are descended from the leopard. Yep! That means that cute purring fur ball in your lap has residual leopard DNA within its heart. In fact an Arkansas judge has ruled that a kitten is not a “domesticated” animal. That is something that most cat owners have suspected for years. I once was acquainted with a cat in Houston who was known by his alias Budweiser. No one knew his real name but since he resided in a cardboard Budweiser container, his enemies (he had no friends) always simply called him Budweiser. He weighed about 25 pounds and looked like a wildcat. Dave, the manager of the apartment complex where we lived, gave us explicit instructions to never but never try to pet him. One look at him was sufficient to convince you that those words were not to be taken lightly. One day I saw him strolling casually across the street when a large dog suddenly appeared around the corner with aggressive intent written all over his face. It was a tempting sight for any canine—a cat in the open with no place to hide or run. The dog took two or three steps toward Budweiser before he looked up. Spotting the cat he turned and ran the opposite direction as fast as he could. When I asked Dave about this unusual turn of events, he told me that every dog in the neighborhood was terrified of Budweiser. At some point or another they had tangled with old Bud and had all come up on the short end of the stick. He was no Bud Lite. He was meaner than any junkyard dog. I used to have a cat by the name of Fluffy but that name was equally deceptive. He could be cute and cuddly and loved being taken for a walk. However, he was a born hunter. I don’t mean lizards and rats but squirrels and full –grown rabbits. I once watched as he mixed it up in a furious life and death match with a fox squirrel. Fluffy came out the winner. Fluffy unfortunately developed a bad habit of eating the heads of the squirrels and leaving you with nothing but the headless remains. We have all seen cats toying with captive rodents, tossing them to and fro for their amusement. The practice is not quite gentile but it does reveal the cat’s true nature. They are barbaric to the core but with a carefully groomed reputation of sweet and cuddly. So you thought you knew all about your cat. Think again! If you have every heard a blood curdling panther scream in the middle of the night, you know the meaning of safety first. OK! So neither you nor I have ever heard such a scream. However, we have all heard the woeful screeching of a cat on the prowl, but did you ever think that it could be your sweet little kitty doing the screeching? Think! Leopard DNA! Think before your rub the cat’s fur the wrong way. Think call of the wild!
When Jack London wrote about the Call of the Wild, he probably had little inkling about just how “wild” some innocent things could be. For instance scientists have recently cataloged the cat family according to a DNA tree and discovered that all domestic cats are descended from the leopard. Yep! That means that cute purring fur ball in your lap has residual leopard DNA within its heart. In fact an Arkansas judge has ruled that a kitten is not a “domesticated” animal. That is something that most cat owners have suspected for years. I once was acquainted with a cat in Houston who was known by his alias Budweiser. No one knew his real name but since he resided in a cardboard Budweiser container, his enemies (he had no friends) always simply called him Budweiser. He weighed about 25 pounds and looked like a wildcat. Dave, the manager of the apartment complex where we lived, gave us explicit instructions to never but never try to pet him. One look at him was sufficient to convince you that those words were not to be taken lightly. One day I saw him strolling casually across the street when a large dog suddenly appeared around the corner with aggressive intent written all over his face. It was a tempting sight for any canine—a cat in the open with no place to hide or run. The dog took two or three steps toward Budweiser before he looked up. Spotting the cat he turned and ran the opposite direction as fast as he could. When I asked Dave about this unusual turn of events, he told me that every dog in the neighborhood was terrified of Budweiser. At some point or another they had tangled with old Bud and had all come up on the short end of the stick. He was no Bud Lite. He was meaner than any junkyard dog. I used to have a cat by the name of Fluffy but that name was equally deceptive. He could be cute and cuddly and loved being taken for a walk. However, he was a born hunter. I don’t mean lizards and rats but squirrels and full –grown rabbits. I once watched as he mixed it up in a furious life and death match with a fox squirrel. Fluffy came out the winner. Fluffy unfortunately developed a bad habit of eating the heads of the squirrels and leaving you with nothing but the headless remains. We have all seen cats toying with captive rodents, tossing them to and fro for their amusement. The practice is not quite gentile but it does reveal the cat’s true nature. They are barbaric to the core but with a carefully groomed reputation of sweet and cuddly. So you thought you knew all about your cat. Think again! If you have every heard a blood curdling panther scream in the middle of the night, you know the meaning of safety first. OK! So neither you nor I have ever heard such a scream. However, we have all heard the woeful screeching of a cat on the prowl, but did you ever think that it could be your sweet little kitty doing the screeching? Think! Leopard DNA! Think before your rub the cat’s fur the wrong way. Think call of the wild!
