Roaming kitten, a photo from Free State, East

Photographer's Note

African Wild Cat (Felis Lybica)

Once upon a time the cat did not live in the houses of men. She lived only in the bush or in the jungle.

One cat became friendly with a rabbit. She went everywhere with the rabbit and was astonished at the craftiness of her friend. One day a duiker (small African antelope), fought with the rabbit and killed it with its horns. As her friend was dead the cat lived with the duiker. Then the duiker was killed by a leopard, so the cat decided to live with the leopard. A few days later they met with a lion. The lion fought the leopard and killed it. The poor cat then made friends with the lion and lived with him until one day they met a herd of elephant. A huge bull fought with the lion and killed it.

The cat thought to herself, "I must make friends with an animal as large and strong as this elephant - surely nothing can defeat it!" But her troubles were not yet over, for one day a hunter shot the elephant with a poisoned arrow and the elephant died.

Now the cat did not know what to do, for she had never seen a two-legged animal such as this. She thought hard and said to herself, "if this man can kill a huge animal like an elephant, I had better make friends with him so that I can live in safety." She followed the hunter back to his home, and when the hunter entered his hut the cat crept up on to the veranda. She heard sounds of quarrelling in the hut and saw the man in flight from a woman who was beating him with a stick for stirring porridge.

The cat said to herself, "Now I have seen the strongest of all creatures - a woman!"

Ever after this the cat has lived in the huts with the women, because it is they who are all-powerful.

With Genetic Science scientists are now certain that the domestic cats are descended from the African wild cat shown in this photo. These cats are becoming increasingly rare in South Africa due to their ability to breed with domestic cats and from the diseases transmitted to them from their domestic cousins.

marula, masdog, jhm, bibiweb, jp80, carper, nwoehnl, Liora, Robpulp, JRushen, Nath, claudees, broken_nail has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ksnyder (84) 2004-10-12 23:16

Great color and detail. Very nice!

randompics (961) 2004-10-13 1:52

nice portrait of the cat :) nice background and good details.

HOBO (5282) 2004-10-13 2:22

Good capture showing the cat's attention. You can really see its concentration, having something in focus.

geist_21 (664) 2004-10-13 2:31

A very well composed and focused photo. The light is well used, and although the background is not focused, makes a very good effect here, in the colours and on increasing the attention over the cat. Indeed I would say this is a domestic cat if I wouldn't have read your note. And about your story, well, I prefer to argue for total equality to avoid wars over who is more powerful (speaking about man and woman, of course):p

masdog (95) 2004-10-13 4:45

Very good photo. I like your choice of subjects, the framing of your shot, and the amount of detail you captured. Interesting photo note as well....

jhm (211734) 2004-10-13 7:55

Hallo Gerhard, ik had u niet herkent hier op de TE, want ik hou zeker van deze prachtige wilde kat, de hoek vanwaar u de foto heeft gemaakt is schitterend, ik hou van katten, de meest sluwe dier in onze beschaving. Mooi gedaan.

burdallet (0) 2004-10-13 11:53

Chat alors .. ! ( in french .. can't be translate )

djenno (0) 2004-10-13 14:07

This is one beautiful kitty! Lovely story too.

bibiweb (8) 2004-10-13 14:46

Excellent shot, very sharp! And I enjoyed your story too...

explomars (4302) 2004-10-13 14:56

Super cliché moi qui adore les chats.génial de par la netteté et le ombres.bravo et merci.Phil

carper (96) 2004-10-28 2:22

prachtig Gerhard,
Schitterend kop van een poesiekat. Heel mooi genomen met een schitterend dof en een mooie verdeling van de foto, erg goed werk

nwoehnl (122) 2004-10-28 14:36

A wonderful portrait you made here, Gerhard. You used the strong light very much to the advantage of your photo - I really like how it accentuates the coat and the "beard" of the cat. I also like the alert look you captured. Beautiful use of DOF, and great note :-) Well done.

Liora (1857) 2004-10-29 2:16

What a beauty Gerhard - such a magnificent portrait of my favorite species... The textures and colors are truly amazing. The note is fantastic as well, and I'm only saddened by the grim tones at the end... Just for the info - I read yesterday that a group of American scientist managed to clone a cat which does not cause an allergic reaction in people (the neutralized one of its genes or something like that). Somehow I don't think it's a good idea for the cat, but fashion is fashion and money is money.

Robpulp (917) 2005-03-22 16:52

Hi, love the photo and love the story. Thanks for sharing.
rob

Fly (366) 2005-09-26 7:00

Hallo Gerhard, laat ek my stuiwer ook hier ingooi! Very sharp, emotive image. Pity about what appears to be fencing/enclosure shadows on the cat's face. Look forward to seeing more of your stuff - keep it up.
Groete
JP

JRushen (549) 2005-11-11 17:11

Just stumbled on this delightful shot. Excellent lighting capturing the thoughtful expression and readiness of the cat. The note completes it.

fkk (2039) 2006-01-28 6:39

Merhabalar Gerhard;
Great capture nice POV,

kedinin durusunu cok sevdim, uzaklara dogru bakmasi fotografa ayri derinlik katmis güzel bir portre resmi olmus, renkler ve detay ise süper...
bütün kedileri ayirmaksizin cok seviyorum ama sen bu kare ile kedilerin güzel yüzünü bir kez daha bizlerle paylasmisin....
BRAVOOOOO

catman-fatih

voodoo-girl (696) 2006-03-09 14:37

Cette photo est très réussie. Elle est très nette, le fond flou donne de belle couleur, et le modèle est adorable.
Merci beaucoup Gerhard.
Mel

semra (141) 2006-03-26 8:38

perfect photo
lght,color,compozotion...
what i can say different
well done

Shoot_Score (650) 2006-12-21 3:16

Dear Gerhard.

"Once upon a time ..." is correct. Unfortunately we have a situation where people have pet-cats which are not always kept under control. < Hunting them is a no-no here.>

We now have cats which go back to "wild"... while they still have access to domestic feed...

Sadly they wreak havoc on wild birds, rodents etc.

HAve a look at one of those "ferals" < not as sophisticated as your shot as I surprised this one in the dark >

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/photo537928.htm

broken_nail (190) 2007-11-03 22:39

Hi Gerhard,

The picture is beautiful (I love cats!).
The story is fantastic (I am a woman!).

... to avoid contrasts and reactions from men I explain that reading the note I felt sad (all animals died) but the last part made me laugh.

Great work!

Bye bye
Gatti Matti

Photo Information

Copyright: Gerhard Theron (GerhardT) (76)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-09-28
Categories: Nature
Camera: Minolta Dimage Z1
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Cats of the world, My favorite photos (2) (Gatti Matti), Cats in Africa [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2004-10-12 17:00
Favorites: 4 [view]