Page 35 - Chiron Calling Autum 2021/Spring 2022

have a special relationship that dates back thousands of years. When researchers conducted the first global study of ancient cat
DNA they found that felines had been domesticated in the Near
East and Egypt some 15,000 years ago, and later spread to Europe thanks in part to mariners, from
the Phoenicians to the Vikings, who often took them on board to ward off rodents (another frequent human companion at sea, though not by design). It is likely that the ancient Egyptians were the first seafarers to realize the true value of having cats as shipmates. A few thousand years later, the Romans took chickens on board military ships to predict the outcomes of battles—if the hens ate, victory could be expected. Roman general Publius Claudius Pulcher tried this trick before the Battle of Drepana against the Carthaginians in 249 B.C. He ignored the bad omen and threw the birds overboard. The Roman fleet was nearly wiped out.
In addition to offering sailors this much needed companionship on long voyages,
the cats main
distant lights. It was also common for crews to adopt cats from the foreign lands they visited, they served as souvenirs as well as reminders of their pets at home.
Sailors also believed cats on
ships to be lucky. This might in
part be due to the simple logic that
a cat-less ship overrun by rats was definitely unlucky! However, it
is likely to be connected with the cat’s long-standing reputation for luck in general, such as the saying they have nine lives. Cats were
also reputed to be able to predict
the weather. Sometimes it was said that they could actually control the weather, using their tails to call up winds for good or ill depending on their mood. Some sailors went as
far as to believe that if the ship’s cat fell overboard then it would retaliate by calling up a fearsome storm to sink the ship. Some naval crewmen believed in the luck of a mascot onboard a ship so much that if it left the ships company so too did, they.
Cats were believed to have miraculous powers that could
in reality, cats are able to detect slight changes in the weather, as
a result of their very sensitive inner ears, which also allow them to land upright when falling.
Low atmospheric pressure, a common precursor of stormy weather, often makes cats nervous and restless. Cats naturally react to barometric pressure changes, through which a keen observer can detect unusual behaviour and predict an incoming storm. The tradition that every ship needs a mascot made cats very welcome among sailors.
While some mascots were smuggled on board by sailors, others were official gifts from foreign governments destined to either remain the ships mascot or transported back to the ships home country.
The animals that voyaged with
the fleets grew so numerous that
the Royal Navy’s training facility
on Whale Island, Portsmouth, built
a “sailor’s zoo” in 1893. “By 1935 there were lions in spacious cages, marsupials in grass paddocks and birds in aviaries. When British
naval officers rescued a polar bear cub from drifting ice off Greenland during World War II, they took
her on board their cruiser and
made her their mascot. But before long, Barbara outgrew her new accommodation and her custodians dropped her off at Whale Island. Unfortunately, despite many appeals
role was to rid
vermin from
ships. Without
the presence
of cats, a crew
might find their
ship overrun
with rats and
mice that would
eat into the
provisions, chew through ropes and spread disease. A good ratter was thus highly popular on-board ship. Sailors believed that polydactyl cats - those with more than the normal number of toes on their feet - were better at catching pests. This may be connected with the suggestion that the extra digit gives a polydactyl cat better balance when at sea. In some places polydactyl cats were known as “ship’s cats”.
Apart from cats being functional, more superstitious sailors believed that cats protected them by bringing good luck. Other sailors thought that the keen eyesight of cats would help guide them from a shipwreck at night as they can easily detect
Without the presence of cats, a crew might find their ship overrun with rats and mice that would eat into the provisions, chew through ropes and spread disease
protect ships from dangerous weather. Sometimes, fishermen’s wives would keep black
cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence
to protect their husbands at sea.
It was believed to be lucky if a cat approached a sailor on deck, but unlucky if it only came halfway, and then retreated. Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails. If a ship›s cat fell or was thrown overboard, it was thought that it would summon a terrible storm to sink the ship and that if the ship was able to survive, it would
be cursed with nine years of bad luck. Other beliefs included, if a cat licked its fur against the grain, it meant a hail storm was coming; if it sneezed it meant rain; and if it was frisky it meant wind.
Some of these beliefs are rooted
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