Cat-rabbit Hybrids

West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 16 (AP)—Stewart Morgan has a cat—at least it’s a cat when viewed from the front, but take a look from the rear, and it’s a rabbit.

Morgan says the animal, promptly named “Cabbit,” is jet black, has the head, shoulders and forelegs of a cat, but just below the shoulder joint the spinal column does a squads left and—presto—the cat becomes a rabbit. The hind legs are like those of a rabbit and operate kangeroo-fashion.

Even the fur, said Morgan, is only cat fur about halfway, and the rest of the body covered with fur like that of a rabbit.

The tail is nothing but a boneless tuft of black fur.

Neighbors suggested that the creature was nothing but a manx cat, but encyclopedias, while acknowledging the similarity, don’t say a word about the hindquarters hopping around like a rabbit.

The “cabbit” has a normal feline appetite. He eats meat and drinks milk, but ignores such rabbit delicacies as lettuce and carrots.

The fact, he might pass off as a cat, if he’s stop the kangaroo-jumping with his back feet.

As for its ancestral origin—Morgan said he didn’t know. It was just a stray, he explained.

We are indebted this week to a charming lady secretary for the story of a natural phenomenon which, we venture to assert, may yet make the name of Three Rivers [Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada] and Cape Madeline resound throughout the world.

It seems that a lady resident of the cape has a cat which, not long ago, added to the feline population in a big way. Amongst the number of her progeny was one animal whose front section is reported to be catlike in every respect though its rear portion is pure rabbit.

Moreover, this strange animal does not miaouw like a real cat (though it purrs) and it has seven toes on each foot. It shows a fondness for hay as an article of diet and has a fuzzy rabbit-like tail which indicates that in this or preceding generations one of its ancestors contracted a mésalliance with an enterprising jackrabbit.

This column intends to pursue its investigations further. In the meanwhile we suggest that the animal should be called a “cabbit” with “buncat” as an alternative. It all sounds very intriguing and if we can get pictures and data we may yet be able to produce a local rival to the quints.

We have seen and heard of different kinds of mixed breeds and grafted things, but never before of a cat and rabbit. Mr. J. W. Hodge, driver of a transfer auto in Newberry, has shown us a living curiosity in the shape of half rabbit and half cat, which is a freak of nature wrong.

The "thing" came from Spartanburg, and if you don’t believe it is what we say it is (it is hard to believe off hand) get Mr. Hodge to show it to you. Being so unusual it is an interesting object to look at.

The rabbit cat or cat rabbit has puzzled us since seeing it, and you don’t know what to call it—but call it by any other name and it is not as sweet as a rose, although some girl wanting it for a pet might call it cute. It is a strange looking animal, from its "bunny cotton-tail" and rabbit like hind legs to its cat like fore part and head. [The end of this article, which is composed of the author’s lengthy scientific speculations, is here omitted.]

W. H. Kisinger of Truemans, Pa., is the owner of a most peculiar animal. It was born of a cat mother, but has the body, legs and tail of a rabbit, with the head of a cat. It runs like a rabbit, by jumping up and kicking with its hind feet. It has cat claws on its hind feet, but has both rabbit and cat claws on its front feet. She has had three litters of kittens, but none resembling her. She is sitting up most of the time, and stands up and walks around, when looking for anything that alarms her. She catches mice, frogs and bats. When necessary she can jump six feet in the air and catch a bat with her mouth.

The boys at the J. N. Miller store have a great curiosity in the way of an animal that is half cat and half rabbit. It has a cat head and fore legs, but from the shoulders back it is rabbit.

A dispatch from Tamaqua, Pa., says: Richard Miller of Hauto has a curiosity in the shape of an animal that is half cat and half rabbit. The front portion of the creature, with the exception of its red eyes, is thta of a cat, while the rear half is that of a rabbit. One half of the animal’s body is covered with the whit hair of a cat, while the remainder of its body is covered with the reddish brown fur of a rabbit, ending in a short, bushy tail. It moves about with half run and half hop, and is very tame. It lives on vegetables and mik, and has no use for meat. It is about one-half the size of a full grown cat.

The authorities of the Iowa State College have had put to them a hard question by a farmer near Lake Mills, who has captured a strange animal which he wishes the college scientists to name. The animal looks like half cat and half rabbit. The head and shoulders exactly resemble a cat but it has the long hind legs and short cotton tail of a jackrabbit and in traveling it takes the gait of a rabbit. The animal eats meat and drinks milk and also loves vegetables and roots and corn. The farmer, William McLeun, captured the animal as it was running wild.

Some of the extremely old residents at Sayville, L. I., say it is a skoodum, which appears every seventeen years in the dark of the moon, after a hard winter, but Walter Kessings says it’s a half cat, half rabbit. Mr. Kessing is a farmer and a man of repute. He went into the woods with a friend from the city with the intention of getting material for a rabbit potpie.

There was a rustle in the underbrush, and an animal hopped out and darted for the road. There it halted, and, to the intense astonishment of Kessing and his friend, set up an able bodied yowl, the like of which is heard only at an Egyptian concert on a city back fence.

“Well, by gum!” exclaimed the farmer, “It lopes like a rabbit, it’s got the cottontail of a rabbit, but by jiminety! it talks like a tomcat!” Dropping his gun, Kessing leaped forward and caught the strange creature in his arm. He took it home and has it on exhibition. It is a sure enough half cat half rabbit, with sharp claws in the forefeet and the stumpy toes of the hare.

I. L. Harader, whose reputation for truth and veracity has never been blemished, reports an interesting study in nature at his home on the west side of town. A few days ago an old cat drifted into his possession from the adjacent brushy lands that lie to the south of his orchard, bringing with her a family of four kittens. About this there is nothing strange, but when it is asserted that these kittens are half rabbit half cat, the fore-quarters being that of the kitten while the hind-quarters is that of a rabbit, that they have the bunny cotton tail of the rabbit, and jump instead of walk; our fusion friends will receive a great shock in the fear that the cat-rabbit trust will destroy the value of the jack-rabbit as a substitute for beefsteak in the event of a democratic administration of national affairs. But seriously, there is no joke about the strange family at Elder Harader’s. The mongrels are worth seeing.

Nature cuts many queer capers but no more strange example of her oddities can be seen in this section than a pet which is owned by a barroom keeper in Lambertville, N. J., says an exchange. The animal is half cat and half rabbit and has some of the habits and nature of both animals, while its anatomy consists of a peculiar commingling of each.

The freak from its head to the middle of its body looks like an ordinary kitten, the head and front paws being perfectly formed. The hindquarters of the animal are those of a rabbit, with a typical "cotton tail." The front feet are armed with sharp, curling claws, while the hind feet are equipped with long, straight claws for use in running. The fur is white, gray, black and yellow, in spots, and in quality is in places soft, in others harsh.

To see it run one would think it a rabbit, except for its short ears. When not in motion it squats on its hind legs just as a rabbit does and if a piece of cabbage or apple be given it it will take it in its front paws and nibble it contentedly. This strange animal, if disturbed or maddened evinces at times all the nature of a cat, while again it will run away and hide behind any object of shelter. It is now about three months old.

There is a monstrosity at the stables of Col. Crit Davis that ought to be sent to the Columbian Exposition. We are quite well acquainted with the old time mule, a cross between the horse and the donkey; we have seen a cross between the Guinea-fowl and chicken, but the cat-rabbit or rabbit-cat is a curiosity never seen or heard of in this locality, until Mr. W. Shy “raised” this one. In the language of our friend G., it is “’alf and ’alf.” The fore part, head, fore legs and chest is that of a well-developed cat, while the other parts are that of a rabbit, even to the little white “molly cotton” tail. The hair of the cat part is like that of a cat and the rest like that of a rabbit, and what is stranger still, is that one part crawls while the other part hops, and by the conflicting movements locomotion is to a great extent frustrated. It eats both meat and bread as well as grass but catches no mice or rats. If anyone doubts this strange story he can go out to the stables and there see for himself.

West Oakland, California, has produced a nondescript, which is apparently a combination of cat and rabbit. The forelegs are those of a rabbit; it has a rabbit’s tail, conspicuous for its brevity and bushiness; it squats down like a rabbit, jumps like a rabbit, jumps like a rabbit, but mews like a cat. It is a black and white color, and very playful, and is inclined to scratch. The half cat and half rabbit is three months old. The mother of this ill-behaved little cross-grained animal is of the regular feline species.

An animal appeared in Beaufort, and two others at Columbia, S. C., which were asserted by whole neighbourhoods to be hybrids between the common cat and the gray rabbit, (Lepus Sylvaticus). Some of these accounts found their way into the public prints of America, and we perceive were republished in London. The hybrids were represented as having the fur of the rabbit with its short tail and long hind legs, sitting on its tarsus, and leaping in the manner of the hare. They were moreover said to be so wild they seldom came to the house; after some correspondence and frequent disappointments, one of the animals was sent to us from Beaufort. The teeth soon told the story: it was a true cat, born, however, with a short tail, with long hind legs, and claws that could scarcely be called retractile. It may prove a second edition of the Isle of Man cat. If, however, these strange animals should be excluded from an intercourse with other cats we are inclined to believe that the variety might be perpetuated, and it would be regarded, as it is now considered by many, a feline-lepine hybrid.

My observations on the structure and habits of the specimen in my possession, leave little doubt in my mind of its being a mule, or cross between the female cat and the buck rabbit. In August, 1837, I procured a female rumpy kitten, direct from the Island. Both in its appearance and habits it differs much from the common house cat: the head is smaller in proportion, and the body is short; a fud or brush like that of a rabbit, about an inch in length, extending from the lower vertebra, is the only indication it has of a tail. The hind legs are considerably longer than those of the common cat, and, in comparison with the fore legs, bear a marked similarity in proportion to those of the rabbit. Like this animal too, when about to fight, it springs from the ground and strikes with its fore and hind feet at the same time. The common cat strikes only with its fore paws, standing on its hind legs. The rumpy discharges its urine in a standing posture, like a rabbit, and can be carried by the ears apparently without pain. Like every species of the feline, it is carnivorous and fond of fish, and is an implacable enemy to rats and mice. My little oddity was six months old before it saw a mouse, but when a dead one was exhibited, it instantly displayed all the characteristics of a practised mouser. It has never had any offspring, although the common cat propagates its species when about twelve months old. Indeed, on this subject, although I have made many inquiries, I have not been able to establish a single instance in which a female rumpy was known to produce young. My opinion, as to the origin of the rumpy, has been strengthened by a coincident circumstance connected with this district. A few years ago, John Cunningham, Esq., of Hensol, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, stocked a piece of waste land on his estate with rabbits, which multiplied rapidly. In the immediate neighourhood of this warren rumpy cats are now plentiful, although previously altogether unknown in the locality. Not a doubt seems to exist as to the nature of their origin.”

“That Two Brute Animals of different Species do sometimes join in Copulation and that a Mongrel or spurious Beast partaking of the Nature of both the Parents, is begot betwixt them, every body must own, who knows any thing of the Generation of the Mule; but then it is to be observed, that this happens only between Animals of Kinds near of Kin to each other, as, e. gr., the Horse and the Ass, between whom the Mule is engendered. For this Reason I suspected the Story rife in almost every bodies Mouth about Two or Three Years ago, that at the Cross-Keys Inn in Northhampton, they had a Creature in the Fore-part of it a Cat, in the Hinder-part a Rabbet, that came of a She Cat, which had coupled with a Buck-Rabbet at a neighbouring House. The Rabbet and Cat do indeed agree in this, that they both are multifidous [i.e., an obsolete word that meant having feet with multiple toes]; but in other Respects, especially in the Shape of the Head, in the Fashion and Number of their Teeth, in their Manner of Living and Temper, do so much differ, that ‘tis scarce to be imagined there should ever be any such Intermixture. But however, that I might satisfy my self more fully in the Matter, I went to view this so much talk’d-of Monster, which to me after all appear’d to be only a common Cat with a bobb’d Tail, and somewhat more bushy than ordinary, and with blunter Claws! Things that may easily be accounted for. And it had the same way of squatting down upon its Tail, that Rabbets have; which no doubt it was taught. The Vulgar may still, if they please, believe that Relation; but I would not have it impose upon Persons of better understanding.” (Morton 1712, pp. 445-446.)