Feline Fragments is written/compiled by Patrick Roberts Copyright © 2003-08 Purr 'n' Fur UK Certain features on these pages use JavaScript

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Fragments 3

Mogwasher An e-mail reply to a person on a chatline, who had complained of 'infected e-mails and the local ginger tomcat doing lightning raids through the cat-flap': 'You need to download Mogwasher. This will enable you to delete unwanted or unauthorised cats before they gain access to your flap. You can even bounce the offending cat back to its owner, thus giving the impression that your home is unoccupied.' [ with thanks to Marjorie Clarke. I'm sure computer users will relate to this! ]

ASCII Cat To copy or save this ASCII art for a signature tag, click for the text file [ more ASCII cats here ]

Pardon for Witches and Cats

At Hallowe'en 2004 the Scottish town of Prestonpans officially pardoned 81 people, and their cats, who were executed centuries ago for witchcraft. In times of political intrigue and religious excesses during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some 3,500 people — mainly women and children — were executed in Scotland, along with their cats. The 'evidence' was usually flimsy; owning a black cat could be enough, or making your own home-made remedies — sometimes prosecuting witnesses claimed they heard 'spirit voices', or felt the presence of evil spirits.

Prestonpans had one of the largest numbers of witch executions in Scotland. Many were carried out within the jurisdiction of the Baron Courts of Prestoungrange and Dolphinstoun, and Gordon Prestoungrange, the 14th Baron, granted the pardons in the last session of his court, due to be abolished at the end of the following month. 'The court declared pardons to all those convicted,' he said, 'as well as to all the cats concerned.' Fifteen local descendants of some of those executed were invited to attend the ceremony.

Very expensive kittens!

[ adapted from Liza Radley, writing in the Shropshire Star ]

Early in 2005 it was reported that a new feline bloodline had been created by the mating of a Bengal female cat, Zamba, with a male Asian leopard cat called Apollo — one of only five such breeding males in the world. The three female and one male kittens in the litter are classified as F1, meaning they are the first generation derived from wild blood. The Scottish family who own them also have a female leopard cat, but do not plan to breed from her.

The female kittens could be worth between £60,000 and £80,000 each, but the owners do not want to sell them in Britain, preferring to maintain their uniqueness as the only ones in the country. They would sell the male, though, as the first three male generations will be infertile.

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Our featured feline: your companion through the Feline Fragments section is Maggie. She came as a kitten from Powys Cat Rescue. One of their volunteers had earlier seen her wandering around, apparently uncared for, and thought her rather young to be just left to roam around. The person 'responsible' for her said she 'didn't care', and so the youngster was taken in for rehoming. She was about 4 months old when I brought her home; she seems a very self-assured soul, probably because of her early experience, and was soon climbing all the available trees in the garden. She has grown into a handsome and affectionate cat, with superb whiskers; she spends a lot of time out and is a demon hunter. As the photo shows, she also loves getting into things! (see it here without the puzzle effect)

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