WE ARE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE WITH A DOG CALLED ARCHIE

Andy Warhol – who would have celebrated his 85th birthday today – is renowned for his countless interests, obsessions and muses, and for the lauded king of pop art, animals were no exception, especially cats and dogs.

Warhol’s love of cats began at an early age and was fuelled by his mother Julia’s own appreciation for the species. Indeed, during the pair’s residency at Warhol’s Carnegie Hill townhouse throughout the 1950s and '60s, they surrounded themselves with cats, all of which were named Sam except for one called Hester. They had so many that friends remember their giving away kittens on a frequent basis. It was during this period that Warhol self-published his book 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy (1954), a series of ink wash cat portraits, as well as a book of Julia’s cat drawings entitled Holy Cats by Andy Warhol’s Mother.

Read on...

MY WIFE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND ME

She says that I can't call one of these kittens Captain Frunobulax the Magnificent!

(but she didn't object when Graham called both the axolotls Steve)

LARS THOMAS: A little something for the blog

Hi Jon,

Whilst pursuing one of my minor hobbies (the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci) I stumbled upon this drawing done by the great man probably in 1513, intitled 'Studies of cats and other animals.' All well and good - I see several cats, something looking like a lion and perhaps a couple of bears fighting. But what is that thing just below and to the right of the middle of the drawing? I know Leonardo did several drawings of costumes and set pieces for theatre, one of which a large dragon, but he usually labeled his drawings and made various notes about them. But this creature is just inserted in between all the 'regular' animals. Ideas anyone??

Lars

CAT GIVES BIRTH TO DOG? Hmmmmmmmm

LIZ CLANCY: 'No pets' no more

Promising news for all pooch pals and felid friends that don't or won't own their own home: the Dogs Trust have a campaign called Lets With Pets that's intended to make it less of a hassle renting a property for dog- and cat-owners. Like me, you may have been more than daunted by 'no pets' warnings in hosts of property ads and ended up renting a place not fit for the strayest of strays, just to keep the furry one of your family living with you. Lets With Pets encourages letting agents and landlords (and ladies) to welcome responsible dog- and cat-owners. The campaign provides advice and information so those with the keys won't mind handing them over to Rover. To help, you can fill in a survey (www.letswithpets.org.uk) about your own experiences.

Unfortunately, if you're partial to pythons or in love with llamas, you're probably on your own.

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OLL LEWIS: The Office of the Chief Mouser

One of the things that makes life in Britain bearable is our whimsical sense of humour. This often extends to the most sensible and important organizations in the country such as the upper echelons of our government. There can be few other countries that employ an animal as a senior civil servant in the 21st century, for example.

The animal in question is a cat given the grandiose title of 'The Chief Mouser of the Cabinet Office' and their job is to ensure that the treasury or, in later years, 10 and 11 Downing Street, are kept free from rodents. The first of government cats was employed during the reign of Henry VIII but few records about the chief mouser's office - not even the names of the appointees - survive until 1924 when A.E. Banham authorised the use of 1d a day for the maintenance of an efficient cat leading to an official position being created in the civil service, which would later become known by its current title.

The first cat was the humorously named 'Treasury Bill' (because his position was created by a treasury bill... (do you see what they did there?) who served in the government of Ramsey McDonald and chancellor Philip Snowdon. Unfortunately for Bill he was a pretty poor excuse for a rat-catcher and was spotted by one minister wandering around the halls of Downing Street looking emaciated and begging for food. The minister reported this to Snowdon, who was in charge of the nation's purse strings, but Snowdon did nothing, perhaps believing that if left hungry Bill would buck up his ideas and become a better mouser. Then one day Bill gained entry to Snowdon's office and proceeded to mew at him and rub himself against the chancellor's ankles. This melted the notoriously tight chancellor's heart and within days he had secured a pay-rise for Bill.

As Bill was not the best of mousers by 1929 he was joined by Peter, who became a legend in the civil service. Peter held the position until his death in 1946, although by the mid- to late-30s he was effectively retired but still living in Downing Street and helping out his younger colleges with rat-catching duties whenever he saw fit. The first of Peter's younger colleagues to arrive was Munich Mouser who only served for a few years before his death in 1943. Also present was Winston Churchill's cat, Nelson. Nelson assumed full duties as the mouser, despite being a personal pet rather than officially on the civil-service payroll, until he left Downing street with Churchill. The next incumbent was named Peter II after the recently deceased Peter, but was in the post for less than a year before he died while on duty in 1946 after being hit by a car.

Peter II was replaced with Peter III who, like Peter, had a long and successful appointment to the post, serving from 1946 through to 1964 without major incident. In a great leap forward for sexual equality the next Chief Mouser was Peta, the first female appointee to the post. Peta served until 1976 but took semi-retirement in 1970 when she entered into a job-share with the new appointee, Wilberforce.

Wilberforce was the first of several mousers the media took a great interest in and many stories were told about him. One oft told by the nefarious Margaret Thatcher is that she herself had brought Wilberforce to Downing Street after “rescuing” him from a life under the yoke of communism having tempted him off the streets in Moscow using some sardines from a local supermarket. This, like a lot of things she said, is almost certainly a lie as she was the 4th prime minister Wilberforce served under.

The next cat, Humphrey, who would become the most famous of all the mousers, was appointed to the position in 1989. Humprey's tale is one of rags to riches: he started off as a stray cat who frequented the area and would often be observed catching mice in around the grounds of Downing Street and St James' Park. In 1989 he was adopted by the cabinet office and took to his new pampered life well. Humphrey took a wage of £100 a year, which was contributed towards his food, and was much better value to the tax payer than the £4000 paid annually to human pest controllers who reportedly failed to catch any rodents one year as Humphrey was doing such a good job. It seemed tragedy had struck in June 1995 as Humphrey went missing and in September the government announced his apparent death to a tearful nation. Thankfully it turned out that that he had just been adopted by the nearby Royal Army Medical College, who had taken him in thinking he was a stray and named him Patrol Cat. Upon his return to Downing Street “he” issued a statement: “I have had a wonderful holiday at the Royal Army Medical College, but it is nice to be back and I am looking forward to the new parliamentary session.”

Humphrey was not without his detractors, however: he was blamed for savaging a duck in St James' park and for the death of some robins in a window box while he served under John Major, but he met his nemesis in 1997: Cherie Blair. After her husband, Tony, was elected and the Blairs moved in to number 11 Downing Street (because number 10 was simply too small), she took an instant dislike to the smelly scruffy cat. Cherie wanted the cat out, but this presented a PR problem for Tony and his fearsome spin-doctor, the ex-pornography writer Alistair Campbell, when rumours started to circulate of her wanting to get rid of the cat. In order to deflect this Campbell organised a photo-shoot with Cherie and Humphrey to show the assembled press that they were best of friends. In the photos Cherie's smile looks incredibly false and the poor cat has a look of absolute terror on its face. The photo-shoot is even more farcical when you know that just before it Alistair Campbell actually sedated the poor cat. Soon afterwards Humphrey was spirited away from Downing Street in the dead of the night, which lead to press speculation that Cherie had had him put down. She hadn't, but she had got her way and Humphrey had been re-homed with an elderly couple. Journalists were taken to see Humphrey where he was photographed with that day's newspapers, in the manner of a kidnap victim. Humphrey had been given a pension of £100 a year and lived until March 2006 and he was not replaced as the Chief Mouser of the Cabinet Office, a title given to the job by Tony Blair himself, until the Blairs left Downing Street and the new chancellor Alistair Darling brought his cat, Sybil, to Downing Street in 2007. Gordon Brown announced that the position of Chief Mouser would once more be filled at a press conference and within a few days Sybil started her new job. She never took to London, though, and moved back to Darling’s home in Scotland in 2009. Sadly Sybil was not replaced. That is until recently...

In January, during a live broadcast from Number 10 a rat was seen scurrying past the door. A hilarious visual metaphor but a potential problem for the P.M.'s P.R. department. After first trying to pour cold water on reports that there would soon be a new Chief Mouser, a van from the Battersea Dog and Cats' home arrived outside the Cabinet Office. The van, of course, contained the new appointee to the post: a formerly stray tabby cat called Larry. The Cabinet Office has yet to confirm whether, like previous appointees, Larry will be part funded by tax payers.

BETH TYLER-KING: Has anyone lost a cat?

OLL LEWIS: Long Cat Is Looooooong

For many years it has been claimed on the internet that the world's longest cat is a Japanese cat named Shiroi. This particular cat has often been depicted in photoshopped images from Futaba Channel and 4Chan, where it is known as 'long cat', displaying somewhat exaggerated visual length comparisons.



However, it would seem that Long Cat's claim to being the worlds longest domestic cat has been well and truly quashed. A cat named Stewie from the United states of America has recently been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest domestic cat. Stewie, a Maine coon, measures 1.16 metres from his nose to the tip of his tail, or 48 and a half inches if you still deal in imperial measurements. To put that into a bit of perspective for non-cat-owners my constant companion during animal feeding time at the CFZ, Helios 7, measures only 65 cm, which is 25 and a half inches. I'd guess Number 7 is only a little shorter than average for a domestic cat so Stewie is about twice as big as most cats that you would see walking around. That is quite an amazing animal.

LARS THOMAS: Here kitty kitty

For many years I have been convinced that winged cats were something only my esteemed colleague Karl Shuker were capable of discovering, but lo and behold, a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a photo of a winged cat from Denmark. The photo, taken by animal health inspector Jesper Pedersen this summer in the town of Frederikshavn in northern Denmark (with a mobile phone, hence the poor quality), shows a rather large reddish cat with almost angelic wings stretching out from the middle of the back. The cat, and "a strange growth flapping around on it's back" was discovered by local residents in a suburb in Frederikshavn. The inspector, who works for a nationwide cat rescue service in Denmark, was able to catch the cat. The animal, a stray, with no collar or any other identification, was in a very sorry state, and was put down by a veterinarian. The photo was taken after this. A closer examination of the "growth" on the back revealed that it consisted entirely of hair. Unfortunately neither the vet nor the animal inspector preserved the cat or the wings.

OLL LEWIS: Crypto Cons

The Mutant Moggy

Now as you're reading this on the internet, I think it's a safe bet that you have at some point seen a picture of 'Snowball the monster cat'. Around the beginning of this decade emails started to circulate the globe containing the story of what was reputed to be the worlds biggest cat and an accompanying photo of a jolly bearded man lifting this huge cat aloft.

The story most frequently attached to the photo was that Snowball, as the giant cat was called, had been given birth to by a cat that had spent it's time hanging around a nuclear research facility in Canada. Because of this the cat's offspring supposedly grew to superhuman proportions. These proportions being 69 inches in length from the nose to the tip of the tail and 87lbs in weight, which is around 1.75m and 39.5kg in metric.

Now, what I like to call the 'Stan Lee cryptid explanation', after the legendary superhero creator who usually has genetic mutation and radioactive things in his characters origin stories, is perhaps one of the main reasons cryptozoology doesn't get taken seriously by a lot of main-stream scientists. All too often you'll see this fanciful reason trotted out by the media or a witness and the subject tends to loose all credibility, it's all well and good to use it as an explanation as to why the the population of New York are being attacked by a giant axolotl dressed in a top hat in some b-movie but real life doesn't work that way. So that alone should start the 'this is not entirely serious' alarm ringing. Couple that with the pictorial evidence and you get an even clearer picture of what is really going on. The jolly fellow in the photograph is lifting a weight of almost 40kg in front of him pretty easily isn't he? The cat looks less sharp compared to the rest of the photo and the Jolly Fellow seems to have rather large fingers too. It is pretty obvious that the photograph has been made with photoshop or another similar program and that the accompanying text is just a bit of puff.

So, what is the real story behind the photo? The jolly fellow in the photo is Cordell Hauglie of Edmonds, Washington and Snowball's real name is Jumper. The photo was made as a joke to send to his daughter who had asked for a photo of Jumper to show a friend, Hauglies son held up the cat in the first shot he took (those are his fingers supporting the cat, hence why they look large too) and then Jumper was cut out from the picture and placed over a picture with similar lighting of Hauglie standing further back, creating the illusion that he was holding a much larger cat. Hauglie never set out to trick anyone just to create a funny visual joke for those that knew jumper. The text was added to the photo by persons unknown who received the photograph in their inbox.

Guinness world records do not hold a record for heaviest cat any more because of possible health concerns that people may attempt to overfeed their animals just to get into the record books but according to snopes.com who consulted an old copy of the record book when this record was still extant the heaviest cat was 47lbs, around 21kg, which is almost half the weight claimed for 'Snowball' in the text. Jumper is in reality about the same size as most other domestic cats but slightly portly.

Often with a number of photos of supposedly strange or unusually sized animals that make it on to the internet or into the press perspective tricks are employed to make the animal seem larger or more dramatic and that is something any cryptozoologist should always be on their guard for.

MUIRHEAD'S MYSTERIES: Manx Cats Part One

Recently my friend Simon returned from a holiday on the Isle of Man with his girlfriend and gave me an interesting booklet (1) about the famous Manx cat, the cat with no tail. The booklet has a rather nice cover (see left). Today`s blog is a part of a summary of the contents of this booklet. Part two will conclude.

What is, and is not, a Manx Cat?

“Most people think that the Manx Cat is one without a tail, and any cat with a tail cannot be a Manx Cat. This is not true: it is possible, although unusual, for a Manx Cat to have a tail, and there are other cats without tails (apart from those which have been docked!) The essential point about a Manx Cat is that it has a genetic mutation resulting in kittens being born without a vertebrae at the end of the spine from which the tail forms….

Breeding Problems

A Manx kitten, which receives two of the dominant genes - one from each parent - is very unlikely to survive, so breeding is usually between a tailed Manxie (affectionate name for a Manx cat) and a tailless one.

It is possible to breed two tailless Manxies, because they may still carry a copy of the recessive gene, but it is also possible that they both have only the dominant gene, and this will automatically give rise to `weak` and usually fatal gene combination mentioned above….

Take Care If Buying A Manx Cat

There are many reputable cat breeders in countries all over the world who breed Manx cats, and it is better to buy from a quality breeder than from an unknown or doubtful source. Just because you are offered a cat with no tail (and obviously not docked), don`t be tempted to part with good money.

Physical Appearance of Manx Cats

Manx cats are usually categorised as one of four types - all referring to the tail:

RUMPY (or Dimple Rumpy) – no tail at all. (The Dimple version has a small indentation where the tail would be – a sort of `negative` tail.)
RISER ( or Rumpy Riser) – few vertebrae under the fur, which show as a `rise` in situations where a tailed cat would raise its tail. There are low risers and high risers denoting degrees of `rise`.
STUMPY – a short tail like a stump.
TAILED (or Longy) –normal, or nearly normal, tail.

Kittens in the same litter can have different tail types from each other. Apart from these obvious characteristics of tails, Manx cats are also identifiable from the hind legs being longer than the front legs, and the back being consequently arched. This also can produce a kind of hopping, almost rabbit-like action in motion, although Manxies can, and usually do, walk normally.

Coats.

There are two coat types: short-haired and long-haired. Both types have a thick double-layer coat. In the short-haired variety, the under layer is thick and short, and the over-layer is longer and coarse. In the long-haired variety, both layers are of medium length and have a silk-like texture, and there may be tufts around ears and between toes, and ruffs on belly, neck, and britches.

1. RF and ER Sibthorpe Manx Cats nd

YOUR LOVE ALONE (IS NOT ENOUGH) MANIC STREET PREACHERS

Your love alone- is not enough not enough not enough
When times get tough they get tough they get tough they get tough
Trade all your heroes in for ghosts in for ghosts
They`re always the ones that love you most love you most love you most
Your love alone-is not enough not enough not enough
It`s what you felt what you said what you said what you said…….

CFZ PEOPLE: Daniel Taylor, (brother of Emily and Jessica who are familiar faces on the blog) says goodbye to his cat Salem who died last week

MOGGY ADOPTS BOBCATS

RICHARD FREEMAN: The Monsters of Prague #15

The Black Cat

When the plague was ravaging the city a young couple who lived there died leaving two children behind them. Their greedy servant Vincenc murdered the children in order to inherit the house, claiming the children had died from the plague. Soon after he was bitten by a rabid cat and died. His ghost retruned in the form of a large black tomcat with red eyes.

The house was sold and turned into a inn. The new owner killed the cat, and served it up in a cream sauce to the guests who liked it! But next morning the phantom cat was back. Every day after that the owner killed and cooked the cat, and it when down so well that his business prospered. But after seven years the cat vanished for good.

MAX THE CAT 1995-2010 RIP

MAX
1995 – 2010
By Harriet Wadham, 10/04/2010

You were there for the first ten years of my life,
Now as beautiful in death as you were alive -
Giving me strength when I was weak,
Giving me joy when I was upset.
Sprightly young cat,
Healthy old cat.
You nudged me with your warm nose;
As sweet as a kitten,
Loving me like I did you.
My fingers combing through your soft silky fur,
Then cuddling you, kissing your pretty head.
You can never be replaced.
I love you.

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:WISCONSIN RIVER MONSTER AND CAT-RABBIT HYBRID

Hi folks!

Today I am looking at two cryptids: one river monster and an alleged hybrid between a cat and a rabbit. The water monster is from 1904 in Wisconsin and the Californian “rabbit-cat” example from 1907 at a show in a place called Chutes Park (in or near Los Angeles?) is the first case I have ever read about. I am not familiar with the literature on the subject of “rabbit-cats.”

New Wisconsin Fish Story

A strange creature resembling a long-haired dog with six webbed feet and fins like a fish was caught in the river near La Crosse, Wis,the other day by Millard (?) a clam fish man. The animal was equiped with the tail of a fish and had a head shaped much like a walrus. The species is unknown to local scientists. Nothing like it has ever been seen before.(1)

Note – La Crosse is an inland town by a river about 200 miles west of Lake Michigan

Freak Graces Show.

A pair of rabbit cats bred by Frank T. Cantara are another freak exhibit of the show. These strange creatures have the haunches of a rabbit and the short stubby tail of that animal, but their bodies and heads are those of a cat. At places on their bodies the cat hair gives place to rabbit fur. These strange quadrupeds hop about like a rabbit and eat grass. Mr Cantara produced them by crossing a male rabbit and a female cat. The original litter contained seven little ones, but Jack and Tootsie are the only ones left.

An accident to one of the exhibitors who was viewing the sights at the Chutes was the occasion for the creating of another class of cats yesterday. While a young man, who desires his name to be kept quiet, was leaning over the railing watching the sea lion disporting in the icy water he noticed some animals swinging around in the pool. Crawling over the rail to get a closer view he fell into the pond. He then observed that the creatures he had seen were also a variety of cats, called cat-fish. (2)

1. The Richmond Climax June 8th 1904
2. Los Angeles Herald January 18th 1907 p.9

Devo – Beautiful World

It`s a Beautiful World We Live In
A Sweet Romatic Place
Beautiful People Everywhere
The Way They Show They Care
Makes Me Want To Say

It`s A Beautiful World (x3)
For You (x3)

It`s A Wonderful Time To Be Here,
It`s Nice To Be Alive,
Wonderful People Everywhere,
The Way They Comb Their Hair
Makes Me Want To Say,

It`s A Wonderful Place (x3)
For You (x3)……

RICHARD MUIRHEAD: MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: MYSTERY WILD CATS, BOTH IRISH AND SCOTTISH

In August 2008 Fortean Times published an article by Gary Cunningham on the subject of the elusive Irish Wild Cat and by this I do not mean escaped pumas or lynxes, but a bona fide Irish Wild Cat. So today, with a little extra money than usual, I paid 10 euros for a 24 hour session on the Irish Newspaper Archive in a step of faith, hoping I would find some references within the many Irish newspapers dating from the 18th century that are archived. I started my search at about 2.30pm today Monday and ended about 10 minutes ago at 8.05 pm and I have made some quite exciting discoveries covering Irish and Scottish wildcats, and Irish snakes, which I will mention here for the first time. (The cats, I mean; not the snakes. The latter are being passed on to Irish cryptozoologist, Ronan Coghlan. There is an interesting comment in the Irish paper The Nation's May 22nd 1897 edition: 'Contrary to the popular belief, there are some snakes in Ireland, but they are very rare.' 1)

Just go into Google, type in Irish Newspaper Archive and follow the instructions.

Freemans Journal August 24th 1838

'Mr Cahitl (? Hard to read) of Whiskey-hail, county Limerick, shot, on Thursday last, at Cragg-wood, three wild cats of monstrous size. These strange animals attacked the wood ranger a few days ago, who narrowly escaped with his life. So disfigured were his features, and so completely exhausted was he, that his family did not for a considerable time recognise him on being brought home. Mr Cahitl has taken the skins to send to the Royal Cork Institute.' (2)

I wonder what happened to the Royal Cork Institute?

Southern Star February 11th 1893

'This extract was a summary of a lecture on Irish natural history by the Rev. H Burton Deane at Clonakilty in Co. Cork. In it he says : "Rosscarberry is a capital place for otters, foxes, stoats, weasels, wild cat, and others of the furry tribe.”' (3)

Rosscarberry is in Co. Cork

So here we have wild cats being mentioned in the same breath as well known native Irish mammals.

Southern Star July 19th 1902

[Here we have an interesting coroboration with Cunningham`s reports from Fortean Times. Cunningham uncovered accounts from Ireland of wild cats with nail-like projections from their tails. For example near Kenry in Limerick (4) and one from Co. Mayo c. 1940-1950 (5)]

But the Southern Star report:

'Here is a wonderful examplificatin of the queer effects which sunstroke has on some timorous minded people:- “Dear Sir,permit me,through the medium of your Macroom Notes to put before the public of Macroon and district a danger which menaces thousands of human lives. There is at present in Coolcower wood a wild cat of the most bloodthirsty description which I saw with my own two eyes on Thursday evening last. This may sound like a hoax, but I pledge you my honour I am perfectly in earnest. I knew the animal as soon as I caught a glimpse of him, crouching as I believed, for a spring upon me. It was at least four feet long with great glaring eyes and a bushy tail about two foot in length with a nail in the end of it. I did not wait for further observations at the time but I can assure you it was a wild cat” Yours truly Pro Bono Publico.' (6)

There then follow a series of facetious comments by the editor, presumably. So here we have the 2nd reference to a Co. Cork wild cat.

The final report for today is from the Irish Independent of October 17th 1907, which has a head line – CAT NEARLY 5FT LONG 'A wild cat measuring 4ft 7in has been shot by Mr S A Bland a noted Arizona sportsman.' (7)It does not say whether or not it was shot in Ireland or England.

There is an item in the Irish Independent of May 21st 1906 on a wild cat being brought from the Cocos Island. I don`t know if this is significant.

The Scottish wild cat. This is from the Anglo-Celt of January 10th 1856. It is interesting because of its colouration:

'CAPTURE OF A WILD CAT. - On Friday week, a man caught, in a wood on Kirkennan-hill,parish of Buittle, a fine live specimen of that nearly extinct class of the savage creatures of Scotland - a wild cat. It had been driven by hunger and the inclemency of the weather from its native retreats into a baited trap. It is of a bluish gray colour, stands high, and measures three feet in length, from the nose to the tip of its tail. – Scotchmen.' (8)

Is this a normal colour for a Scottish wild cat? Seems a bit like a Kellas cat.

I have got up to about 1913 with the wild cat search and will try and bring more to you on Thursday Jan. 21st

1 Nation. May 22nd 1897
2 Freemans Journal August 24th 1838
3 Southern Star February 11th 1893
4 G.Cunningham. The Irish Wildcat Fortean Times August 2008 p.41
5 Ibid p.42
6 Southern Star July 19th 1902
7 Irish Independent October 17th 1907
8 Anglo-Celt January 10th 1856


Now Music time! Simple Minds-Sanctify Yourself

Is this the age of the thunder and rage
Can you feel the ground move `round your feet
If you take one step closer,it`ll lead to another
The crossroad above is where we meet
I shout out for shelter, I need you for something
The whole world is out,there all on the street
Control yourself,love is all you need
Control yourself,in your eyes
Sanctify yourself,sanctify
Be apart of me,sanctify
Sanctify yourself, sanctify
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free

NEIL ARNOLD: The Vampire Cat

There are many dark and hideous legends across the world concerning vampyric entities that take on varying forms. From inflating, winged dogs that increase in size when sucking the blood of victims, to night-prowling bat-babies. In the Netherlands there is a sinister legend pertaining to Keijenborg, and also the nearby Kraanborg and Steenderen. The apparition in question was said to prowl the grounds of an old farm. It appears that the presence of the monster brought poltergeist activity too, as doors were often slammed shut or left open, buckets of Holy Water thrown about the place, and the increasing failure of machinery. The beast was first seen in the attic of the property and described as a cross between a bat and a cat! A priest was called in immediately but could not rid the property of the wicked presence, and most of the cattle fell ill and could not produce milk.

A priest was then called from the Monastery of Kraanborg, and with the help of six farmers, a car and six horses, they somehow managed to extract the monster from the farm. Although legend of the monster is vague, the creature was described as having very long teeth and bright green eyes. It is said that the entity was removed and cast to some desolate place where it still exists today.

Across Europe there are legends of fearsome critters known as Cat-Witches, which appear in the form of giant black cats. Slavic Gypsies believe in similar forms meanwhile the Romani witch, known as the Chovihani, hunts after dark in the form of a big, black cat.

In Japan the vampire cat is said to have two tails and as it laps at the blood of its victim, its body inflates to the exact size of the person it feeds on. Canadian folklore speaks of winged black cats, which are said to hover in the sky and then drop down on unsuspecting cattle. During the 1950s residents of Nacaome in Honduras suffered great loss of cattle after several sightings of a giant, black bird-like creature with leather wings. The creature was blamed for several cattle mutilations in the area. The monster was said to strangle its prey with its strong, whip-like tail.

A majority of vampire-cats are potent in folklore. Interestingly, some of the original ‘goatsucker’ reports from Puerto Rico described a cat-like creature, at times described as having wings. However, delve into monster folklore throughout the world and you’ll uncover a bizarre vampire menagerie pertaining to winged cats, dogs, monkeys, etc, all with one sinister motive: to drain blood. From the Chu’Uan-T’ou of China – a fish-eating, bat-winged monster said to have a human head – to Huxwhukw, or ‘canninbal bird’ of Amerindian lore. One thing is for sure, our livestock have more to worry about than Foot and Mouth Disease!

DAVEY CURTIS IS MOANING AGAIN

6 months after turning up on our doorstep and moving in, even Pringles the cat has had enough of me and hit the bottle! Or in this case the box of cider.

LINDSAY SELBY: A Cat Update

The only photo I have been able to get of Eustace so far is this one of him peering through the stairs. The kitten is, however, very curious so has no fear of the camera lens. Both cats are doing well. Clarice kitten is just a joy but you find me very tired this morning because I stayed up most of the night with her. She kept crying and I thought she was ill.(I say crying...more like squeaking). However, she seems fine this morning so I suspect she just wanted a cuddle. Eustace enjoyed having an early breakfast as I was downstairs from 4am so fed them at 5.30am.

Eustace is spending more and more time downstairs now and actually got up next to me on the sofa last night for a few minutes and let me stroke him for a few seconds. This is from a cat who just over a week ago wouldn't come out from under the bed. He has been nicknamed 'Mystery cat' by a friend as he looks like he is wearing a superhero mask and cloak when you see him close up. Clarice has been nicknamed 'turbo mog' due to the amazing turn of speed she has when she runs into the kitchen.

I am just so pleased to have them here after three days with no Baggins cat; I felt lost and the house was too quiet and too tidy. What a blessing pets are: they keep you going because you have to care for them and keep you on your toes. Clarice is due her second set of vaccinations in a week so this will be an adventure for her; the trip to the vets. Probably be an adventure for me as well if her current behaviour is anything to go by lol.