Poor night’s sleep last night. In no small part due to being pounced on at 3.30 by the neighbour’s cat, which climbed in through an open window.
This has prompted some reflection on the national characteristics of cats. In the US, I notice that cats tend initially to be friendly until they discover that I have nothing of interest to offer them. Here in South Africa, they look at me as if I’m an axe-murderer, dart for a corner, and then creep through the house in the dark of night so that they can sit on your head. Admittedly, this is an unscientific poll – my N of South African cats is too low to be able to make statements of any real statistical significance. But I do think that this is an under-explored avenue of enquiry, and look forward to seeing a paper on it at APSA.