We are lucky to have YouTube access to the full NOVA documentary on cats: “Cat Tales”. It’s about 54 minutes long, and well worth watching. Note that a woman’s brain responds to the sound of a baby crying before the woman is aware of detecting it. No free will! And note that the sound of a cat’s meow induces the same brain response. (This is all in the first nine minutes.)
I like the video because it’s science oriented, concentrating on the origin, biology, and behavior of the domestic cat. Spare an hour and have a look:
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Today is the World Cup game, between Croatia and Morocco, that will determine third place. (The final, tomorrow, pits Argentina versus France.) But any team would benefit from enlisting the cat Indy.
Indy is a great goalkeeper: only one ball gets through in the video below, and he makes a gazillion saves. Why isn’t he playing for Argentina?
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The English national team had to leave the race for the World Cup, but they won a great consolation prize: a lovely Qatari tabby. As the Guardian reports (click on screenshot above):
England’s footballers are coming home without the World Cup trophy but were not entirely empty-handed on leaving their training base in Al Wakrah on Sunday.
The defenders Kyle Walker and John Stones, who both started for Gareth Southgate’s team in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by France, befriended a stray tabby cat during their four-week stay in Qatar.
Stones named their handsome new feline companion Dave, while Walker had said they planned to adopt the cat and bring him home to England should the Three Lions ultimately triumph.
Despite that dream again failing to become a reality, it seems the players had become too fond of Dave to say a final farewell when they departed Al Wakrah.
The cat was transported to a local veterinary clinic for tests and vaccinations and will spend four months in quarantine before what is presumably a free transfer to Manchester City – or to the care of Stones or Walker, who both play for the Premier League champions.
“They’re still undecided as who’s having him but he’s going back,” said a woman tasked with taking Dave to the vet’s on Sunday, in a video posted by Rich McCarthy on Twitter.
“He was just there one day so we’ve just adopted him, me and Stonesy,” Walker told the FA’s official media channel during England’s World Cup campaign. “Dave is welcome to the table … Some people really don’t like the cat, but I love him.”
“First day we got there … Dave pops out,” Stones said. “Every night he’s sat there waiting for his food.”
Walker also told journalists that Dave was involved in a fight with a rival cat before the last-eight defeat by Les Bleus. “Dave’s fine, thank you for asking,” Walker revealed.
Dave is not the only cat to have grabbed the media’s attention in Qatar. Before their quarter-final defeat by Croatia, Brazil’s press conference was invaded by a cat that sat in view of the cameras next to the forward Vinícius Junior, before being thrown off the table by a team official.
The Express adds that three England players are vying to give Dave a home.
Here’s a video of Dave on his way home:
h/t: Ginger K., Matthew Cobb
Peter Bonetti, Chelsea and England goalkeeper of the 60s & 70s was known as “The Cat” for his extreme agility. He just had the misfortune of being a contemporary of Gordon Banks. https://goalkeepingmatters.com/2020/04/12/you-only-get-nine-the-passing-of-peter-the-cat-bonetti/
That PBS video was great. In light of it, I’ve always found this attached video strange for two reasons: a) the cat is supposed to be a fearless predator but then becomes afraid of the rat and b) a rat “knows” that it will generally be attacked by cats—and yet here’s one that is chasing a cat or, even weirder, wanting to play (if that’s the case). One would think that the rat would run away and not go after the cat!
What accounts for such a mishap in the “wiring” of both animals?
https://twitter.com/eva_christine/status/1604042444953112577
Only explanation I have is that it’s a domesticated indoor/outdoor cat, and thus doesn’t see the rat as prey.
Then again, my first cat was allowed out whenever he wanted (we lived in the suburbs), and if chipmunks are sentient and speak in complex sentences with each other, they talk about him as their Hitler. He was responsible for the destruction of hundreds of chipmunk lineages. Not to mention squirrels, moles, mice, birds…He also beat up all of the neighborhood cats and dogs. He would always come prancing up to the door in that gait that he only employed when he was bringing us a “present”: with enormous pride and glee.
The craziest part? He was literally the sweetest cat I have ever known (when it comes to humans), and I’ve known probably 50 different cats through my own experience and via friends and family. He never once bit, hissed, scratched, or did anything but show unceasing affection to every human he met, even little kids who pulled his tail. He was literally the best cat ever…except for the animals outside his house, to which he was a terror. He was a beast on the streets, but a sweetheart on the sheets 😛
Indy is a great goalkeeper: only one ball gets through in the video below, and he makes a gazillion saves. Why isn’t he playing for Argentina?
Indy saved all the shots – the VAR decision was wrong (not for the first time…). I only saw the original language subtitles briefing, but I suspect Indy would be playing for Turkey?
D’oh – “briefly” not “briefing” – thanks so much, autocarrot!
The caption for the Brazil press conference is great: “A cat (left) visits …”.
I love the goalkeeper video—so clever.
I love the cat goalie! Better than 95% of goalies with whom I’ve played hockey in beer leagues. And the “video review” shots starting at around 2:10 to show that the ball didn’t cross the goal line were precious. I can’t the cat’s servant put down fake grass and everything, but we’ll do just about anything for our cats, won’t we?
Yes, Indy is even better than Van Der Sar, the goalie of Man United during their glory years (contributing substantially to that glory). He had the nickname ‘ice rabbit’ (for always keeping his cool), but ‘red cat’ would even do better after seeing Indy’s exploits.
Sadly the ‘cat tales’ video is ‘not available in your country’.
Is it true that the house cat meow has evolved to resemble human babies’ cry? How does the wild Felis sylvestris lybica sound?
I could not find a proper sound track of a Felis sylvestris lybica, but I found a study:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15482056/