Tuesday 23 December 2014

Cats Or Kangaroos?

Just like fellow Blogland resident Yorkshire Pudding did the other day on this post, I have decided to address one of the really serious issues and pressing problems humanity are facing these days. I don't mean the continuing threat of Ebola, the troubled relationship (not really a strong enough term, I know) between the police and African Americans in the US, the increasing numbers of people joining the Pegida movement in Germany, the struggle for survival of millions and millions of refugees all over the world, or any of the other big issues brought to our attention daily by the news.
No, I mean the really serious questions such as this one:
Are there cats or kangaroos on my new top?

The photos on my previous posts showed me wearing a new top with a pattern that I firmly believed to be cats. My sister thought the same when we found it browsing a clothes shop together.

After someone asked in their comment to my previous post whether these were kangaroos, my sister zoomed in on the pictures and is now convinced that they are, indeed, kangaroos. This was the subject of a telephone conversation we had yesterday morning, and since I still insist on them being cats (look at the ears! the shape of the head! the length and shape of the tail! the running motion suggested by the silhouette instead of the skipping/jumping way a kangaroo moves!), she suggested I hold an opinion poll right here on my blog, and let my readers decide.
(No matter the outcome of the poll, I am still going to be convinced they are cats.)

Here is a close up of the fabric. I even looked at the shop's website, hoping maybe to find the item described in detail as "short dress/tunic top with cat pattern print in black and white, 100 % cotton", but it doesn't say a word about the pattern, just gives general information about the item.



To prove my point, here are pictures of cat and kangaroo silhouettes I found on the internet (guess which is which):




Now, tell me what you think is the pattern on my top: Cats or kangaroos?

Addendum 24.12.2014:
Someone who does not wish to appar on this blog sent me this picture of a cheetah for comparison:


It's very obvious now, isn't it?

39 comments:

  1. I think they are Christmas trees.

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    1. If you focus on the black part of the pattern, that's certainly a possibility, Adrian.

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  2. Catgaroos? Kangacats?
    12

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  3. I can see why one would think of kangaroos (the angle of the body makes the front paws look kangarooish) but the heads definitely look like cats...........So there is my expert opinion on this burning question.

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  4. OTH, I am not happy with the tails shape nor length.

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    1. Well, it's not a naturalist representation of a cat. But still... a cat.

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  5. Little men with short arms in tin helmets and a white animal on each shoulder.

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    1. A very interesting interpretation, Frances!

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  6. The heads and ears look like cats', but the front paws and the tails more like kangaroos. So I would say, like Anonymous 12 did, it is a creature between both of it. Catgaroos or Kangacats, a very new breed. ;-)

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    1. Thank you, Mum! By the way, I am still going to bring it over for you to sew that button back on... (you offered).

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  7. The altitude here must make me see things differently. Either that or I am just slaphappy today! But, I see neither cats or 'roos.

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  8. Delighted with the way you inserted a really serious issue into the pressing problems facing the world today ... :-) They are cats of course!

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    1. It's so obvious, isn't it! Thank you, Jill :-)

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  9. They look like cats to me. The back would be more humped if they were kangaroos.

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  10. Oh, kangaroos definitely! Though I may be a bit biased, since I attended one of only two high schools in North America which have kangaroos for a school mascot!! Happy Christmas to you, Meike, and to your kangaroos. Or cats if that turns out to be the result of your poll. xoxox

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    1. Well, Carol, you are entitled to your belief, so if those are kangaroos for you, then that's fine with me - I'll still stick to my original impression of them being cats :-)
      Merry Christmas to you and yours, too!

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  11. Cats, but i'm prejudiced (we only have 9 of the critters living with us right now!).

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    1. That makes you an expert in recognizing their silhouette. Thank you!

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  12. Ha, ha! I was one of those who thought kangaroo when I first saw it...but of course, it must be cats! Cats can look like kangaroos.
    Cat Lenny Sleeps Like A Kangaroo....are you able to see that on YouTube? See if you can!

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    1. Thank you, Kay - I've made my first convert :-D
      Yes, I've just looked up Lenny. He still looks very much a cat to me, but I must admit I've not seen kangaroos asleep yet, just resting in the shade of a big tree at the zoo in Stuttgart, and that was different.

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    2. I loved how his big tail was all curled up and his paws in such a way to remind you of a kangaroo. I must say that the size of the cats in England really impressed me. Of course, the way that people take care of their pets in England is something to be admired. I don't think I ever see a stray animal when I am there, not ever.

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  13. ! would say a big cat as opposed to a domestic cat. My first thought was a jaguar. You can tell by the tail that it's not a Kangaroo, nor is the head shape.
    Enjoyable debate though, and Merry Christmas Meike. :)

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    1. Exactly, Karen, it is definitely a cheetah - so "big cat" is certainly true! (Head shape does not quite fit a jaguar, but it's pretty close - much closer than a kangaroo anyway!)
      Glad I provided some entertainment :-)

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  14. Definitely Cat heads. and someone with no knowledge of cat anatomy! Merry Xmas :)

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    1. If you look at the cheetah picture, it becomes very obvious what kind of cat the pattern is supposed to be. Merry Christmas to you, too :-)

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  15. We see what we want to see. I think the pattern may show some kind of hybrid animal - a wallaby crossed with a panther perhaps - a wallather or a panaby?

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    1. I like both creations, wallather and panaby. But I am now 100 % sure that the pattern represents a cheetah. You're definitely right about us seeing what we want to see!

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  16. A frog sitting in a flowery pond. In the black part which seems to pop out to me.
    FUN post!

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    1. When my Mum first saw the top, she, too, looked at the black part and couldn't immediately work out what it was supposed to be :-)

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  17. I see what your mum means. It's a bit like the famous picture of a candlestick in black or two white faces facing each other. As it's Christmas, maybe they should be Christmas trees after all?

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    1. That's right, Maggie! Now that you've mentioned it, the pattern does indeed remind one of the vase/faces picture.

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  18. Well after all those comments what can I say? I think that the clincher is the ears.

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    1. And the shape of the head. And the missing "hump" that would make it a kangaroo. And the shape of the tail. And just about everything :-)

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  19. Looks like cats to me, Meike. :-)

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