National Geographic: The Secret Life of Cats Page #2

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With such feline fertility,

unwanted cats are a sad

byproduct of our domestic bond

This scene may be

an echo from the past,

but the tragedy is still

being played out today.

Even now, hundreds of cats

are abandoned each day

in the U.S. alone.

What's to become of

a castaway?

He is suddenly faced

with the struggle

to survive in an alien world.

But the cat holds a wild card-

a gift from his ancestors.

He is one of the earth's

most adept hunters.

Good news for the cat...

but bad for the locals.

There's one more predator

on the prowl.

And when push comes to shove,

he's not a picky eater-

another key

to the cat's success.

In the face of adversity,

the cat often has the advantage

Armed with sharp claws,

he's not restricted to

terra firma.

The cat nearly always lands

on his feet.

This diminutive creature seems

to defy the odds.

With a flexible backbone

like a cheetah,

the cat can run up

to 30 miles per hour.

His agile body

is engineered for the chase.

But at times,

the best strategy

is to seek shelter...

and wait.

For the tables will soon turn

for felis catus.

Night belongs to the cat.

He is a creature designed

for the nocturnal hunt:

with night vision,

whiskers to help navigate,

a keen sense of smell,

and ears

tuned to signals that mere

humans could never perceive.

The faintest squeak-

even from a distance-

allows him to pinpoint

his prey...

and launch his assault.

Only the fortunate manage to

escape this master predator.

The cat is a marvel of

engineering.

His supple spine allows

acrobatics of which

we could only dream.

His uncanny sense of balance

almost always insures

a safe landing.

With persistence

and precision,

the cat gets his mouse.

This is a creature

designed to survive.

He has landed in the most

outlandish of places

and somehow managed to endure.

Near the Antarctic,

temperatures can

plunge to 50 below.

On a diet of seabirds

and the occasional

penguin carcass,

the cats of Macquarie Island

have persevered since

they were dropped here

by sealers over a century ago.

Half a world away,

the volcanic Galapagos Islands

offer little water

or prey to its immigrant cats.

Though lean,

the population persists.

Abandoned cats are struggling

to survive throughout

the world-even in the U.S.,

where there are an

estimated 50 million.

Here in Miami, Florida,

thousands of forsaken felines

have landed in the middle of

a raging controversy.

Though the dumping of

pets is prohibited

in Dade County parks,

it's not uncommon to

find colonies of up to 75

abandoned cats.

What are the consequences

of so many predators?

Don Chingquina of the

Tropical Audubon Society

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