Let’s start a cat flap

Patrick Galbraith asks why cute creatures get a predation pass

LAST SUNDAY I LOOKED across the lane from a small cottage I’m renovating and saw something both horrifying and very sweet. Two little children were standing outside a wooden stable, looking in at five kittens that weren’t much more than a couple of weeks old. The children were delighted by the furry creatures and were fascinated to hear, from the lady who rents the stable, that nobody really knows where the kittens’ mother came from — she just appeared one evening, heavily pregnant, and settled down for the night. “Like Mary?” the little girl asked? “I suppose so,” the child’s mother replied. Over the days that followed, I found myself watching the little creatures as they rolled around playfully in the late autumn sun. They are sweet but I really…

You're reading a preview of

The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, December/January 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.