Male and female wolves may mate for life, and both take care of offspring. None of these features of wolf behavior is found in cats. The way cats relate to one another follows from their nature as solitary hunters. It is not that cats are always alone. How could they be? They come together to mate, they are born in families and where there are reliable food sources they may form colonies. When several cats live in the same space a dominant cat may emerge.
Cats may compete ferociously for territory and mates. But there are none of the settled hierarchies that shape interactions among humans and their close evolutionary kin. Unlike chimps and gorillas, cats do not produce alpha specimens or leaders. Where necessary, they will cooperate in order to satisfy their wants, but they do not merge themselves into any social group. There are no feline packs or herds, flocks or congregations. That cats acknowledge no leaders may be one reason they do not submit to humans.
They neither obey nor revere the human beings with which so many of them now cohabit. Even as they rely on us, they remain independent of us. If they show affection for us, it is not just cupboard love. If they do not enjoy our company, they leave. If they stay, it is because they want to be with us.
This too is a reason why many of us cherish them. Not everyone loves cats. Bird droppings pose a greater risk to human health, but one of the commonest accusations against cats is that they kill so many birds. The case against them is that they disrupt the balance of nature.
Yet it is hard to explain hostility to cats in terms of any risks they may pose to the environment. The danger of disease can be countered by programmes such as trap-neuter-return TNR , widely implemented in the US, in which cats living outdoors are brought to clinics for vaccination and spaying and then released. The risk to birds can be diminished by bells and similar devices. More to the point, it is strange to single out one branch of a nonhuman species as a destroyer of ecological diversity when the major culprit in this regard is the human animal itself.
With their superlative efficiency as hunters, cats may have altered the ecosystem in parts of the world. But it is humans that are driving the planetary mass extinction that is currently underway.
Hostility to cats is not new. In early modern France it inspired a popular cult. Cats had long been linked with the devil and the occult. Religious festivals were often rounded off by burning a cat in a bonfire or throwing one off a roof. Sometimes, in a demonstration of human creativity, cats were hung over a fire and roasted alive. In Paris it was the custom to burn a basket, barrel or sack of live cats hung from a tall mast. Cats were buried alive under the floorboards when houses were built, a practice believed to confer good fortune on those who lived there.
A few years later Parliamentary troops, fighting against Royalist forces in the English Civil War, used hounds to hunt cats up and down Lichfield Cathedral. During popeburning processions in the reign of Charles II, the effigies were stuffed with live cats so that their screams would add dramatic effect.
At rural fairs a popular sport was shooting cats suspended in baskets. In some French cities, cat-chasers put on a livelier show by setting fire to them and pursuing them as they were burning through the streets.
In other entertainments, cats would be passed around so that their fur could be torn off. In Germany the howls of cats tortured during similar festivals was called Katzenmusik.
Many carnivals concluded with a mock trial in which cats were bludgeoned half to death and then hanged, a spectacle that evoked riotous laughter. But does anything about this study support molecules-to-man evolution? Does any of this reveal that all carnivores share a common ancestor?
There are many kinds of carnivorous animals, and they do not share a common ancestor. In fact, their various ancestors plural were not Genesis originally even carnivorous.
He created them fully functional and able to reproduce after their kinds. Thanks to the genetic information God put into each kind of animal, they are able to vary a lot but only within each created kind. This is exactly what we observe in biology. Today, to determine just what the original kinds of animals were like, biologists look at their characteristics as well as what sorts of animals are able to breed with each other. In her analysis, Dr. Jean Lightner reports, for instance, that all cats—lions, tigers, and house cats included—are all best considered as variations of one created kind.
They are all in the family Felidae. Felidae has two subfamilies, but members of these two subfamilies are known to hybridize. The fact that all cats—big and small, cuddly and fierce—are varieties of the same created kind is also backed up by genetic evidence. Oh My! This is what we mean by variation within a created kind, and it is not the same thing as molecules-to-man evolution.
There is no biological evidence for the divergence of canines, cats, and bears from a common carnivorous ancestor. Or even for their divergence from a common ancestor of any dietary preference, for that matter. Biological observation reveals that animals reproduce and vary only within their created kinds, so there is no scientific justification for insisting that in the unobservable past they evolved into more complex and divergent kinds of animals from a common ancestor.
Bible-believers will agree that the cat has changed: from its created herbivorous state , the cat kind at some point became dependent on meat for two essential components of its diet—taurine described above and vitamin B Answers in Genesis molecular geneticist Dr.
Georgia Purdom explains how feline dietary requirements could have eventually changed in the sin -cursed world following the rebellion of man against God :. Some animals like herbivores possess bacteria in their rumens or gut that synthesize B Vitamin B12 is involved in many aspects of cellular metabolism, especially DNA synthesis.
Possibly all animals and humans originally had symbiotic bacteria in their gut that synthesized B12 this relationship was altered following the Fall. Degenerative mechanisms, such as mutation following the Fall, or plants going extinct may have led to changes in the nutritional quality and availability of plants, making meat a necessary part of the cat kind diet.
Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us. Please note that links will take you directly to the source. Answers in Genesis is not responsible for content on the websites to which we refer.
For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. He wrote:. That answer lies in our history. After Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator, God judged that they would eventually die, and that same curse affected the world that God had created for them. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, we would not be talking about the origin of carnivory. We would only be talking about the various kinds of vegetarian mammals that God created in the very good world about 6, years ago.
A stray cat will most likely accept the food. Feral cats tend to be afraid of humans, something which may also be the case for a stray cat, but they will show very different reactions. This animal is extremely reluctant to interact with humans and, interestingly enough, no one has ever succeeded in taming one. But if you do, please contact your local welfare association in case they are keeping track of the numbers. If you want to know more about these species, please refer to our blog here.
Event hough feral cats are harmless in themselves they pose threats to the local biodiversity and other animals. Read more about feral cat related issues on our blog. This is the most humane way of dealing with the issues, without harming them. Always report colonies to local associations, such as Cat Protection , which runs TNR programs and, if you have the possibility, also finance these programs, a little money can go a long way!
Then, if you want to go the extra mile, you can volunteer to help manage and feed these colonies. They might just have a microchip that could lead them back to their loving home. Did you find this information useful?
Please like and share our content on our social media pages so we can continue to do so. We'd be happy to know a bit more about you — to show you more relevant information.
Please, answer a few simple questions:. Another cute animal. I don't have animals, I just care. Ooh, you have a cat and a dog!
0コメント