When the first hunter-gatherers began
to grow crops and settle into villages, one problem that presented itself
immediately was how to store grain and keep it safe from the ravages of rats,
mice, and other varmints. As if in answer to a prayer, cats began to appear at
food-storage sites in order to feed on the vermin and, coincidentally, protect
the grain so humans could survive. Humans noticed, and made the cats welcome
with warmth and shelter and food so the felines would take up residence in the
area. From that point, it was a short step to find me sitting in my Barcalounger
watching an Eagles game with a tabby purring in my lap.
Among domesticated animals, cats are
unusual since we can't ride them, we don't eat them, we can't milk them, we
don't make coats out of their pelts, and they can't pull a plow. They don't
even care about pleasing us, like dogs do. From the beginning, it has been
simply a straightforward business relationship, and one which THEY initiated.
It is sometimes said that we did not
domesticate cats; they domesticated themselves. Another way to put it is that
they domesticated us, rather than the other way around. In any event, we owe
them a debt we can never repay for helping us through the difficult and
dangerous transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. If it were not
for cats, we might still be feeding ourselves by wandering through the
Wissahickon plucking spotted lanternflies off trees.
Copyright2019MichaelKubacki
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