According to the zoologist, Paul Leyhausen, a cat who lives in rural area has a territory of 0.5 to 1 square kilometer(*1). If each of the cats on the Tashirojima Island has one square kilometers territory, the total sum amounts to 120 square kilometers, that is thirty-eight-fold of the whole island.
So, how do they keep their territories? Yes, fighting.
In the afternoon there happened a conflict between a moo cat and a mackerel-tabby. Hearing their angry meowing, I headed to the battlefield to enjoy watching the fight.
Arriving the battlefield, I found a moo cat approaching to a concrete block beside a mackerel tabby.
14:45:32 The moo marching toward the concrete block beside the mackerel tabby
The 19th century Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, insists the importance of taking a height in his ON WAR:
The moo abiding by this principle mounted on the concrete block.
14:46:54 The moo takes the concrete block and squares off against the mac. The mac, cowed by the moo, flattens his ears.
While the moo taking the height, mac showed no sign of obstructing it. Exposing his right flank to the enemy, he seems to be an underdog. Some military experts may point out the mac's tactical resemblance to the Napoleon's maneuver in the battle of Austerlitz, in which the Emperor abandoned Pratzen Height to the Allied forces and had his right flank vulnerable.
The mac, pressing himself close to the ground and flattening his ears, is likely to have intention to reenact the Napoleon's triumphant victory in 1805.
According to Paul Leyhausen, a cat's pulling down its ears sideways is defensive behavior.
So, what is the advantage of being defensive? Clausewitz writes:
The moo from the height threw a couple of punches to the mac and the mac managed to defend them. Then another came, who was a long-hair Siberian!!
14:47:06 The long-hair joins the fight.
It evokes Russian army who came late to join the Austrian to form allied force against Napoleon's Grande Armee (*2). Now the battle of three cats is about to begin.
The long-hair has a larger body than those of the combatants. He passed in front of the spectator and went straight to the moo.
14:48:16 The long-hair comes behind the moo.
Noticing the long-hair arriving, the moo stopped the attack. They seemed to begin meeting about military plan.
The long-hair, however, does not seem to ally with the moo. After staying for some thirty seconds, the long-hair passed the moo and went under the floor of the house to face the mac.
14:49:00 The long-hair goes under the floor of the house in the darkness and faces the mac whose ears get back to normal position. The moo freezes.
The mac, facing the long-hair, got his ears back to the normal position. The moo, meanwhile, stopped moving. and in a couple of minutes he abandoned the concrete block.
14:50:40 The moo leaves the battlefield.
The battle seemed to be over, but it was not the end of the story. The long-hair, quickly coming out of the darkness, chased the moo, turned the corner of the house, and caught up the moo on a narrow path.
14:51:00 The long hair chases the moo and catches up.
The moo stopped and turned around to face the long-hair. The two cats faced each other and stood still for some 60 seconds.
Then the long-hair slowly passed the moo and went away.
14:52:02 The long-hair leaves the battlefield. The moo too leaves a little later.
The moo then left the place and headed opposite direction.
So what is the lesson we learn from this incident? The end of it is completely different from that of the 1805 campaign. Some military experts may argue that the long-hair's intention was to make the mac to counterbalance the moo and to prevent the moo's expansion.
But it can also be said that from sociobiological point of view the long-hair is a cat who has evolved to be altruistic to survive in a highly populated feline society, in which, selfish territorial behavior may not be beneficial to the group as a whole.
What was impressive was that the long-hair looked confident to troubleshoot. He did not resort to arms nor paws. He even did not utter a meow, just swaggered around and gazed at the two rival cats one after another and alleviated their anger.
It would be controversial whether the long-hair's deed is a sort of AAI or animal assisted intervention as both the client and the therapist are cats, but what is certain is that the long hair spontaneously intervened in the conflict and prevented as a third party the fight between the two hostile cats.
So, who is the long-hair? Is he a cat police or a catabinieri? If so, he is the only policeman stationed on the island.
(*1) Paul Leyhausen, Cat Behavior, Garland Publishing, 1979
(*2) Russian army in the 1805 campaign arrived late to reinforce Austrians because Russians still employed the older Julian calendar.
So, how do they keep their territories? Yes, fighting.
In the afternoon there happened a conflict between a moo cat and a mackerel-tabby. Hearing their angry meowing, I headed to the battlefield to enjoy watching the fight.
Arriving the battlefield, I found a moo cat approaching to a concrete block beside a mackerel tabby.
14:45:32 The moo marching toward the concrete block beside the mackerel tabby
The 19th century Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, insists the importance of taking a height in his ON WAR:
First, every height may be regarded as an obstacle to approach; secondly, although the range is not perceptibly greater in shooting down from a height, yet, all geometrical relations being taken into consideration, we have a better chance of hitting than in the opposite case; thirdly, an elevation gives a better command of view
The moo abiding by this principle mounted on the concrete block.
14:46:54 The moo takes the concrete block and squares off against the mac. The mac, cowed by the moo, flattens his ears.
While the moo taking the height, mac showed no sign of obstructing it. Exposing his right flank to the enemy, he seems to be an underdog. Some military experts may point out the mac's tactical resemblance to the Napoleon's maneuver in the battle of Austerlitz, in which the Emperor abandoned Pratzen Height to the Allied forces and had his right flank vulnerable.
The mac, pressing himself close to the ground and flattening his ears, is likely to have intention to reenact the Napoleon's triumphant victory in 1805.
According to Paul Leyhausen, a cat's pulling down its ears sideways is defensive behavior.
So, what is the advantage of being defensive? Clausewitz writes:
Defense is the stronger form of waging war.In order to win the battle, the mac shall keep in mind Clausewitz saying:
If defense is the stronger form of war, yet has a negative object, it follows that it should be used only so long as weakness compels, and be abandoned as soon as we are strong enough to pursue a positive object.The mac's intention presumably is to feign weakness, in order to entice the enemy to attack his right flank, when he makes a decisive counterattack.
The moo from the height threw a couple of punches to the mac and the mac managed to defend them. Then another came, who was a long-hair Siberian!!
14:47:06 The long-hair joins the fight.
It evokes Russian army who came late to join the Austrian to form allied force against Napoleon's Grande Armee (*2). Now the battle of three cats is about to begin.
The long-hair has a larger body than those of the combatants. He passed in front of the spectator and went straight to the moo.
14:48:16 The long-hair comes behind the moo.
Noticing the long-hair arriving, the moo stopped the attack. They seemed to begin meeting about military plan.
The long-hair, however, does not seem to ally with the moo. After staying for some thirty seconds, the long-hair passed the moo and went under the floor of the house to face the mac.
14:49:00 The long-hair goes under the floor of the house in the darkness and faces the mac whose ears get back to normal position. The moo freezes.
The mac, facing the long-hair, got his ears back to the normal position. The moo, meanwhile, stopped moving. and in a couple of minutes he abandoned the concrete block.
14:50:40 The moo leaves the battlefield.
The battle seemed to be over, but it was not the end of the story. The long-hair, quickly coming out of the darkness, chased the moo, turned the corner of the house, and caught up the moo on a narrow path.
14:51:00 The long hair chases the moo and catches up.
The moo stopped and turned around to face the long-hair. The two cats faced each other and stood still for some 60 seconds.
Then the long-hair slowly passed the moo and went away.
14:52:02 The long-hair leaves the battlefield. The moo too leaves a little later.
The moo then left the place and headed opposite direction.
So what is the lesson we learn from this incident? The end of it is completely different from that of the 1805 campaign. Some military experts may argue that the long-hair's intention was to make the mac to counterbalance the moo and to prevent the moo's expansion.
But it can also be said that from sociobiological point of view the long-hair is a cat who has evolved to be altruistic to survive in a highly populated feline society, in which, selfish territorial behavior may not be beneficial to the group as a whole.
What was impressive was that the long-hair looked confident to troubleshoot. He did not resort to arms nor paws. He even did not utter a meow, just swaggered around and gazed at the two rival cats one after another and alleviated their anger.
It would be controversial whether the long-hair's deed is a sort of AAI or animal assisted intervention as both the client and the therapist are cats, but what is certain is that the long hair spontaneously intervened in the conflict and prevented as a third party the fight between the two hostile cats.
So, who is the long-hair? Is he a cat police or a catabinieri? If so, he is the only policeman stationed on the island.
(*1) Paul Leyhausen, Cat Behavior, Garland Publishing, 1979
(*2) Russian army in the 1805 campaign arrived late to reinforce Austrians because Russians still employed the older Julian calendar.
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