occurs to interrupt its association with man, it readily returns to the wild;" and Shaler,[1] who is also quoted by this writer, says: "As a consequence of the affection which cats have for particular places, they often return to the wilderness when by chance the homes in which they have been reared are abandoned. Thus in New England, in those sections of the district where many farm steads have of late years been deserted, the cats have remained about their ancient haunts and have become entirely wild. In this state they are bred in such numbers that their presence is now a serious menace to the birds and other weaker creatures of the country. The behavior of these feralized animals differs somewhat from that of creatures which have never been tamed. They have not the same immediate fear of a man, but the least effort to approach them leads to their hasty flight."
Every one will admit that the cat varies no less in its individual ways and disposition than does its inveterate enemy, the dog, yet its attachment is mainly directed to its home and neighborhood, and while vagabondage may be rarely adopted by choice it is more commonly enforced. "Thousands of families, says Forbush, "go into the country or to the seaside in summer, taking cats and kittens with them, and leave their pets on their return to the city, not knowing, perhaps, that such cruelty is forbidden by law."
Varied and voluminous as the literature of the cat is found to be, especially in the fields of anecdote, general natural history and anatomy, its homing ability has never been previously tested under experimental conditions, though accounts of this notorious power abound in many languages; from time immemorial it has been said that the cat, like the bad penny, always comes back. Probably all cats possess this homing power in varying degrees, and all with fixed abodes might possibly be induced to exercise it under certain conditions; yet in every case the possession of a power, and the tendency to use it should be clearly distinguished; though possession, in this case, be under the firm grasp of heredity, the use is determined by experience and the physiological state of the animal at the moment. Thus it is obvious that an animal with dependent young would have a double inducement to return to its home provided local attachments had already taken root; on the other hand, it is equally clear that, whenever an animal is forcibly removed from its abode, the diversions or accidents which are likely to attend it may be of such character as to block or defeat any impulse to return. In every such case the onry facts likely to be either known or knowable are that the animal on that occasion did or did not return; we are usually left in complete ignorance of the animal's
- ↑ Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate: Domesticated Animals, New York, 1895.
