by Matthew Cobb
It’s always pleasing when posts on this blog website connect. Yesterday Jerry posted an artful Turkish cat fishing by the sea. Its technique was pretty effective, but nowhere near as smart as that of Orlando the Marmalade Cat, whom we met the other day. In this beautiful illustration by Kathleen Hale from A Camping Holiday, Orlando teaches his son, Tinkle, how to fish for three-spine sticklebacks (click to embiggen). I think this technique would only work in very still water, which may explain why the Turkish cat wasn’t using it.
Note the natural history detail—the nest that the male builds in an attempt to persuade a female to come and lay her eggs so he can fertilise them (mind you, the males should really all have red bellies if this is the mating season). And the way the fish are drawn really shows the influence of Japanese art on Hale.
When I hear ‘fisher cat’ I immediately think of these guys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal), more commonly known as just ‘fishers’. In reality they don’t fish and aren’t felines…but they are one of my favourites!
I sometimes lament the fact that, these days, so few books for grownups are illustrated….
b&
No little fishies! Go back in your hiding spots! DO NOT go near the surface!
The illustration with the colorful little carp and the concept of how they’ll be caught are so cute!
Beautiful illustration!