A northern pine-woods dweller. Harmless on the ground, but dangerous when up in a tree. A big animal, sometimes reaching three hundred pounds weight. Its ears are tasselled and its eyes red, with horizontal slits. A mature Sliver Cat carries a tail eleven feet long with a hard ball on the end. Half of this ball is polished smooth, half is studded with a burr-like barbed growth. Like the Dingmaul, the Cat beats the ball on his chest in the mating season, being careful to use only the smooth side.
    But the chief function (or should it be secondary?) of this tail is to obtain food. Crouched on a limb overhanging the trail, the Cat pats the passer-by on the head with the polished side of his ball, and then slaps the burred side into the senseless victim’s hide and draws him up to the roost to be consumed.
    A Sliver Cat crouched on a limb, with his ball-tail poised for instant action, makes a startling silhouette against the full moon.