Monday, February 23, 2009

cat and history -part 3


There are also negative superstitions about cats in many cultures.
An example would be the belief that a black cat "crossing your path" leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' familiars used to augment a witch's powers and skills.
This belief led to the widespread extermination of cats in Europe in medieval times.
Killing the cats aggravated epidemics of the Black Plague in places where there were not enough cats left to keep rat populations down.
The plague was spread by fleas carried by infected rats.
An exaggerated fear of cats is known as ailurophobia.