Campus kittens; rough rodents
The article that accompanies the above picture suggests that being a cat in China has been a tough job for a long time.
When I worked in Luoyang there was a novelty factor about a cat sighting – a bit like spotting a snow leopard in the wild. That novelty didn’t extend to the instances in the backstreets where felines could be seen squirming for release from their bondage outside establishments that didn’t resemble pet shops: a case of today’s stray cat being tomorrow’s gourmet lunch.
Here in Fujian, at least around the campus at Jimei, felines seem to be held in slightly higher regard. The campus residents are a lot friendlier towards cats than I have witnessed elsewhere in China, and have been known to feed them rather than feed on them. It is common to see small groups of cats sunning themselves in the open while the kittens nip playfully at the grown up’s ears.
I’ve come to the conclusion that their numbers must have something to do with the prodigious rat population. This preponderance of rodents, together with the locals’ tolerance, makes Jimei something of a feline heaven in China. Or is it?
The rats here are big and bold - just ask my colleague down the corridor who awoke a few weeks ago to the sensation of something large, brown, and alive crawling around at the foot of his bed. In deference to any rat lovers who may be reading, I’ll refrain from describing the furry intruder’s last moments.
Anything less than a fully fledged adult cat that attempts to take on one of these mega-vermin is likely to suffer a nasty shock. Rats here seem to have outgrown the gene that instinctively tells them to run and hide at the first sight of feline features. These creatures laugh in the face of whiskers. The old rules of cat ‘n mouse are a thing of the past. Perhaps the rats know it’s their year.
Edited to bring readers this latest news on the fate of Beijing’s Olympic felines.