a squirrel.

Account for the difference.

The natural habit of the cat is to hunt alone and rely upon stealth,
while dogs hunt in packs and tire their prey by running and by
terrifying noises.

Other differences and their explanations, which the pupils should be led
to discover are:

The dog is a more useful animal to man than is the cat.

The cat's body is longer and more slender, and this gives it greater
suppleness in crawling and leaping.

The cat's eye is larger and the pupil is especially large at night, to
enable it to see.

The cat's whiskers are longer; they help in guiding it at night.

The cat's tongue is rougher; it uses it for cleaning bones.

The pads on the cat's feet are softer, so that it can move more silently
in stealing upon its prey.

The cat's claws are sharper, because it uses them for seizing its prey,
while the dog seizes its prey with its teeth.

The dog is more faithful to its master because it is a more sociable
animal. In its natural state every dog is faithful to the pack and to
the leader; the cat is not a social animal, but is by nature solitary
and independent.

The dog's sense of smell is keener than that of the cat, but its sense
of hearing is less acute. Account for these differences from the
animals' habits of hunting. Why does the cat bring home living animals
to her kittens, while the dog buries dead animals? The cat trains the
kittens to approach by stealth and then to pounce on the right spot.
Wild animals related to the dog bury the "kill" which is too large to be
eaten at one meal.

EXPERIMENTS FOR ASSISTING IN THE STUDY OF THE CAT

1. Gently scratch with a pin at some distance from where a cat is lying.
What do the movements of the cat indicate?

2. Put a fish in water and watch a cat trying to get it.

3. Sprinkle water on a cat's fur and find out why she dislikes being
wetted.

4. Attach a ball to a string and move it near a cat. Describe the
movements, as stalking, springing, seizing, retreating.

5. Put some catnip in a room out of reach of the cat and observe the
movements of the animal.

Nearly all children make pets of the house cat, and although the cat is
a domestic animal of thieving propensities and an enemy of birds, yet it
would be unwise to teach the younger children any enmity toward her.
The establishment of sympathy with animal life, the humanizing effect
upon child nature of having a kitty for a playfellow, will offset many
times ove