10. "Pussy" - 44 Whiskers
and Snow-White Fur
Who forgot it? Surely nobody! Because the following events took place on the
Florida Keys, after the citizens had burned the suspected witch. And this time
we don’t have just a historical story full of suspense, but also a biological
peculiarity. But back to the beginning:
We remember: Key
Largo, a striving metropole at the Caribbean Sea, got in big trouble in the
year 1607, allegedly caused by the curse of a witch. In spring 1608 the witch
seemed to be found and was burned on the stake in March. But this was not at
all the end of the story. Because one of the main evidences to be working as a
witch was the possession of a cat. Well, it was none of the usual suspected
black cats the woman owned, but a snow-white one – but this small imperfection
within the evidence was generally accepted.
That there was
something special with this cat, already Key Largo’s local chronicler Seat
Altea noted: „The cate beaste, which one was owened bye the thoroughly bade
witche, haseth been a absolutely pecurliarily animale. White like da snowe of
tha winter time ande very thicke thee fur, the cat gaveth an very cute picture.
But as soone as thy tryeth to pet tha beaste, it turneth into a so very baade
creatur, whicheth scratcheth, hisseth, ande attacketh eache human foote, which
it could gette.” Also, it obviously was not able to say „meow.” Beside that its
tail measured exactly one English foot, 30.5 centimeters. And as every animal,
especially pets, have to get a name, the citizens of Key Largo gave the witches
cat simply the common name “Pussy.”
Yes, she looks nice. But attention! She is a descendant
of the witch's cat: Snow-white fur, 44 whiskers and
sometimes very bad mood are typical for
"biquatrobarbar" cats
And another specialty
Altea could report: “When the weirde beaste haseth been arrested together with
tha witche, the guarde responsible noteth something very strange. Because on
eache side of tha mouthe the animal has accurately 22 longe whiskers. Such
never was founde at an cate beaste.”
The responsible jail
warden, Leo Gali was his name according to the files, even went further
according to the chroniclers report. To solve the riddle of the 44 whiskers he
started an experiment, in which he teared out some of the poor cat’s hairs. And
he performed that with extreme scientific precision, as he pulled out seven
hairs from the right and five from the left. But, as Altea noted, the warden to
shed some blood: „During these experimente the stubborne beaste gaveth four
dozzen of deepe wounde to thee poore guardsman, some of them through the skinne
down to the bones of the hande.”
But the experiment hat
astonishing results too: Because just one day later all whiskers had grown
back. The number 44 was complete again. Mister Gali repeated the experiment
several times – even had to take some days sick leave due to his wounds, what
is recorded in the Florida Key Archive for the year 1608 – but the result was
always the same: 44 whiskers one day later!
Unfortunately – or fortunately for both involved – the experiment ended at the day, when the witch of Key Largo finished her lifetime burning on the stake. Because one moment of carelessness was enough, “and the bewitcheth beaste escapeth from the hangmanes graspe and fleeeth in tha yelling masse of peoples.”
Well, basically nothing special. But when we have a closer look into the files in the archive of the Florida Keys, we find really weird notes. For example, one year later, which means the early summer on 1609, the channel pilot’s log of Key Largo has the entry: “Today a strange white cat beaste with three kittyens were sneaking along the channel and around the African Queen. [Of course he didn’t mean the boat from the movie, located there today, but his black girl friend in his bedroom.] When I had tryeth, to pet the cute kittens, all three ofe them diggeth theyr claws into mine lefte foote. Chaseth them away then.” What he had spotted before: All four cats had exactly 44 whiskers each!
Two years later, the
island of Islamorada. Village chronicler Casagrande: “We writeth the year of
the Lord 1511, some days befor a bearded man arriveth with gifte, white cates
the number ten runneth over the islande. Cute beaste, but from time to time
reacting very aggressively. Granny Peter had counteth, that alle cates haveth
44 whiskerth at the mouthes.”
Then, in 1613, in the “Key
Largo Kourier” – again handwritten in 72-dot-italics – the huge headline: “The
Witches’ Cat is Back – And Haveth Reproduceth Scaringly!” The author
Tordessilas reports, that 44 of the white cats had been counted, and obviously
all of them had 44 whiskers, “and sometimes beeth unpredictable.”
After a short time the
cats seemed to have left the town, because no further reports follow. But
instead from Vaca Key (1614) and from Big Pine Key. Here, in the files of the “Old
Wooden Bridge Marina”, it is noted under the date May 21st 1615,
that an astonishing big number of white cats with 44 whiskers is threatening
the marina, already some hotel guests had been hurt. In the basement of the
hotel still today an old sign can be found, then standing between the house and
the marina directly at the walkway: „Beware from the cates beastes, for eacheth
damage our insurance does note paye!”
But here too the cats
vanished as quick, as they had showed up. The last destination seemed to be Key
West, where with a little bit of luck you still today can find numerous
descendants of the witch’s cat. Although not all of them are snow-white any
more, one thing they all have in common: the 44 whiskers. I have been able to
count them at some of them myself.
This leads to the
question, if something like that is possible at all. What would be easier, than
asking the world’s leading expert for cats, Professor Dr. Kitty Whisker-Count
from the “Princington School of Catology” in Great Britain.
“As with all animals
cats too can have inheritable genetic mutations. Just remember the cats with
six toes at their front paws – polidactyl is the specialist term – which got
famous by Hemingway’s house in Cuba,” Whisker-Count explained on my phone
request. “Biquatrobarbaria” would be the term for the deviation with 44
whiskers, which could be nearly “exclusively found in the region of the Florida
Keys.” This would be always accompanied by an exact tail length of one foot.
They roam Hemingway's houses: "Polydactile" cats. The additional toe on the inside is easy to recognize
Even more the
professor can tell about these very special species of cats: “The get just very
seldom used to the presence of humans. Even, when they take care of them for
years, they are never safe of the cats, for the case they are scared or simply
just in a bad mood.”
What was new even for
the cat expert – her main point of effort are genetic deviations of domestic
cats and their wild living relatives – was the extensive report from the early
17th Century. Surprised Whisker-Count stated: “Until now we all had
been convinced, that their first mentioning was in Darwin’s book ‘On The Origin
Of Species’.”
So some lessons can be
learned from the story. It is pretty likely, that the cats with 44 whiskers on
Key West are descendants of the cat, which once was the pet, owned by the
alleged witch of Key Largo.
Also their occasional
aggressiveness seems to be inherited. And by this Key Largo’s jail warden Leo
Gali with his – admittedly very painful for both sides – experiments was ahead
of Darwin for more than two hundred years.
By the way, in the
meantime the “Princington School of Catology” – of course for good payment – is
looking for a picture of Mr. Gali, which should be put on one level with a
large portrait of Charles Darwin in the big lecture hall. Should some of his
descendants have such a picture: Contact person is Professor Dr. Kitty
Whisker-Count, to be reached by the E-Mail address K.Whisker-Count@princington.catology.org
And with regard to the subject internet, there are another news to be
reported. About three years ago, when the stories about the 44-whisker-cats
shortly hit the local media, there were quite some cat owners, who gave their
darlings an extensive hair count.
And surprise: Not just all cats had the mentioned number of whiskers – some of
them even had snow-white fur. Reason enough for smart friends of the cats, to
start an own breeding program. Allegedly, to secure the surviving of the rare
species and prevent them from extinction.
It is definitely disputable, if it is good for cats to
put them in small parcels with holes in it for
transport overseas. But without any doubt this
is a descendant of the witch cats too.
But what causes doubts in observers and animal lovers, is the way of distribution. That the cats are offered via the internet under the address www.44cats.biz seems to be okay. But the fact, that they don’t have to be picked up or are brought by an animal transport, but are delivered by the postal service like books or DVDs in a cardboard box, gives reason to have some doubts into the seriousness of the company.
According to the company’s information, the cats nevertheless are so undemanding, that they even survive tours of several days without any problems. So, if your cat loves to jump into boxes, maybe it’s related to the witch’s cat. Just start to count your cat’s whiskers to be sure.
© Mig Phönix 2008