MANX CAT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 1 October 1927, Page 13

MANX CAT

MYSTERY OF ITS DESCENT. The Isle of Man has a little export trade which is never mentioned in the official returns. It is the export of Manx cats, and it goes on steadily all through the summer, states VV. Redpath-Scott in the “Daily Mail.” Crossing from Douglas to Liverpool recently, 1 noticed that four women passengers on the ship were bringing back Manx cats as holiday souvenirs. Apart from the distinction of being tailless, Manx cats have a good reputation as mousers. But cats are not much in evidence on tha Isle of Man. During a holiday there recently I saw only one. Although so many Manx cats are taken away every summer by visitors, there is no sign of the breed dying out. Several people on the island make a business of rearing anil selling them, and I was told that a good specimen could be bought for 5s How the Isle of Man came to possess this race of tailless cats is a mystery. There is a romantic theory that they are descendants of tailless cats from Spain which escaped on to the island when two ships of the Armada were wrecked off Spanish Point, near Port Erin.. Some naturalists hold that the Manx cat is merely a cross between an ordinary British cat and a rabbit. They point out that the hind legs of the tailless cat are bigger than those of the ordinary cat, and much more like the hind legs of a rabbit. Another theory is that the cats were originally brought to the island from Japan. An amusing explanation, current in Manx nurseries, is that the Manx eat was the last of the animals to get into the Ark. and that its unpunctuality cost it its tail, which was trapped when Noah slammed the door. Said the cat. and he was Manx, Oh, Captain Noah, wait! I'll catch the mice to give you thanks And pay for being late . . , So the cafi got in—but oh! His tail was just too slow 1