Cats

 

                                                    CATS (Felis catus)

THE HISTORY OF CATS & HUMANS

In ancient times long before recorded civilization, roaming tribes of humans were followed by rodents, mice and rats which were very destructive to stored crops.  In Asia Minor cats began to follow these nomads, feasting on the rodent populations.  This new relationship was welcomed by humans who saw cats as their protectors.  This was the first major step in the domestication of cats.

The second step came as early as 4,000 years ago when Ancient Egyptians  domesticated cats.

Imagine living in a time and place where every home was teeming with tiny, dangerous beasts.  Some new threat lurked at every corner, snakes hiding in clay jars, rats spoiling massive amounts of stored grain, venomous scorpions creeping under cradles.  In this time and place in Ancient Egypt, one creature existed that could make the world safer from these little monsters,  the cat.

Like their wild relatives, domestic cats are natural hunters able to stalk prey and pounce with sharp claws and teeth.  They are particularly effective at night, when their light-reflecting eyes allow them to see better than much of their prey.  Cats also enjoy acute hearing.  All cats are nimble and agile, and their long tails aid their outstanding balance.

Soon after their introduction to Egypt, the Egyptian religion began to worships cats as gods and created laws making injuring or killing cats a punishable crime.  One of the earliest deities of ancient Egypt was the goddess Mafdet, who was highly revered by people seeking protection against venomous animals like snakes and scorpions.  She was shown with a variety of fierce, feline forms, most often as a woman with the head of a lion, cheetah, or house-cat.   Because cats could protect against the tiny monsters that made Egyptian homes unsafe, Mafdet was regarded as the protector of the home and of the kingdom itself!

 As Egyptians truly domesticated their cats, making them valued family members rather than just semi-feral animals that stalked and protected their owner’s homes, Bastet’s image became a lot softer and she became a goddess of family, fertility, and love. Egyptians began regarding their cats as loving, important members of their families, and treated them with as much respect and dignity as their own children.  Followers of the cult of Bastet would mummify their cats and mourn them in the same way they mourned human family members and in much the same way we cat-lovers mourn our own furry friends today.

We tend to joke about how cats feel entitled to worship.   Anyone who’s ever known a spoiled tomcat knows that cats have never forgotten the days when they were worshiped. The worship of cats in ancient Egypt was well-founded.  Cats once saved lives by defending families from vermin.  Without them, civilization as we know it might have never survived!

Cats were later used on trade ships to protect precious grains and cargo from rodents.  This began the cat's journey, traveling throughout the known world and  being adopted by other cultures for their hunting skills and as companions.  Cats finally reached Europe around 900 BC with the Roman legions.

Cats communicate by marking trees, fence posts, or furniture with their claws or their waste.  These 'scent posts' are meant to inform others of a cat's home range.  House cats employ a vocal repertoire that extends from a purr to a screech.

Domestic cats remain largely carnivorous, and have evolved a simple gut appropriate for raw meat.  They also retain the rough tongue that can help them clean every last morsel from an animal bone and groom themselves.  Their diets vary with the whims of humans, however, and can be supplemented by the cat's own hunting successes.

The Felidae family is split into two subfamilies, Pantherinae (big cats: tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard and Sunda clouded leopard) and Felinae (all other species). The exact number of species is unclear, as some subspecies are occasionally referred to as distinct species such as the Iriomote cat, but there are roughly 40 species described by scientists.*

The Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis) is a subspecies of the leopard cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. Endangered there are approximately 250 alive in the wild.

Keep Keeping Safe & Happy Autumn,   James

 *Tiger photograph and information by Paul Williams, a TV producer and wildlife photographer, based at the BBC Natural History Unit.