Posted on 01/21/2013 12:54:16 PM PST by Theoria
Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.
Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Years Eve staggering, weak and emaciated in a backyard about a mile from the Richters house in West Palm Beach.
Are you sure its the same cat? wondered John Bradshaw, director of the University of Bristols Anthrozoology Institute. In other cases, he has suspected, the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat.
But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.
I really believe these stories, but theyre just hard to explain, said Marc Bekoff, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Colorado. Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this.
There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.
Scientists say it is more common, although still rare, to hear of dogs returning home, perhaps suggesting, Dr. Bradshaw said, that they have inherited wolves ability to navigate using magnetic clues. But its also possible that dogs get taken on more family trips, and that lost dogs are more easily noticed or helped by people along the way.
(Excerpt) Read more at well.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Have a heart. Give Kitty a break! LOL!
An amazing journey. :)=^..^=
Growing up, we had neighbors who had an elderly dog named Teddy. Once on a road trip down south to visit their son, Teddy became lost. Heartbroken, the neighbors came home without Teddy. A month or so later, Teddy showed up at the neighbors’ door. Teddy was arthritic and partially blind, so his return home was considered miraculous.
I have a cat story too. When I was a kid we had a cat named snowball. We had the cat for an extended period of time and then the cat ran off and we didn’t see the cat again for years. Then, we were driving home from my grandparents (this was years later) and we actually talked about snowball on the way home. And, I kid you not, when we got home that cat was there to greet us. She only stayed for a couple days and then was gone again. But for her to show up out of the blue on the same day we talked about her was amazing.
I learned LONG ago to never underestimate the intelligence of an “animal.” The four-legged kind seem, at times, to have One-Upsmanship. And they do it subtly, and with grace. And they always forgive us for our ignorance and stupidity.
No, they usually don’t know, guess, and claim that they know.
There is a lot of scientific ‘knowledge’ that really really just dogma.
I think you've identified a general human failing.
The first thing that comes to my mind is they have some sort of sense for Latitude/ Longitude. -tom
... or maybe they have a Tom Tom ;)
Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.Word.
LOL!
Cats want you to love them unconditionally.
Dogs love you unconditionally.
Thats the facts Jack.
“Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.”
Your dog is on your team. The cat wants you on its team.
So?
(I happen to love cats-—dogs, too, for that matter.)
“There is a lot of scientific knowledge that really really just dogma.”
I wanna know what’s catma :)
Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.
I’ve had cats and a few dogs for 57 of my 63yrs, and just lost 3 (Pickle, Mama Kitty & Murphy) who were very near and dear, for 17yrs. My first one, Tiger, lived 24yrs.
Dogs have masters. Cats have staff. (It’s supposed to get an *LOL* reaction...)
It’s an old saying by the Feline Fanciers Assn that cats are more finicky and need more care; I’ve found that they become some of my best companions and friends.
Aren’t you full of bs tonight. Scientists collect a body of data and then guess what it means all the time. It’s called theory.
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