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 Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richters’ house in West Palm Beach.
“Are you sure it’s the same cat?” wondered John Bradshaw, director of the University of Bristol’s 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 they’re 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 it’s 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 ...
What is another amazing point about this kitty is that it was an INDOOR CAT! So not use to a feeling for the area where it would roam, as an indoor/ outdoor cat would have.
Yeah, I had a cat like that once. A feral cat that I used to shoot at all the time to run it off. (I never aimed AT him, just close) I didn't like cats and he ate the birds. Well, I git married and she made me stop shooting at him. He followed me everywhere when I was working outside. He eventually graduated to being a well fed indoor cat and we got along great. For some odd reason, he liked me better than the wife. Or maybe he just wanted to keep a close eye on me. :)
My aunt had a cat get out of the car in Barstow CA and months later managed to make his way back home to Manhattan Beach CA.
Pam, apparently, loves her commas.
One you begin, using commas, to delineate modifiers, of any type, it’s almost impossible, short of an earthquake or, perhaps, a Keyboard Cat, to stop yourself.
I know it sounded sarcastic, but I was “just funnin’ “ with you...
Got your mail-—I can’t reply in kind ‘cause my “smarty pants” smart phone won’t let me——[that’s my only internet access :( ]
It won’t let me go to your home page either.
Do you really ride a horse?
kg/nancy
Do you find it necessary to be confrontational in all instances?
Scientists theorize based on what they know. A “Theory” based on speculation is, at best, called a hypothesis, if even so much as that.
At least, that is what scientists on this thread have been insisting for years until they self-exiled themselves to the icy confines of DC.
a hypothesis is a guess that leads to an experiment. a theory is the process of giving overall meaning to the data collected from experiments. a theory is an educated guess.
sometimes theories are wrong.
All Science is, of course, subject to further discovery.
“The cat wants you on its team.
The cat actually wants YOU on its staff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.