The mental picture that your commentary created was just what I needed
today. Ice dams on my roof, leaking ceilings, frustrations at work, etc,
etc. I'll be chuckling all through my evening readings, thank you.

Kathy Dettwyler wrote:
> Another reason I think it is smell is that we have a 4 year old cat who
has,
> over the past year or so, gotten in touch with his "inner kitten" in a
big
> way.  Sparky likes to put his mouth right on the nipple of any female who
> will let him sit in her lap.  He then "kneads" the breast and purrs
> extremely loudly, and drools.  He does this through clothes, with no
visual
> cues or tactile cues to guide him, and gets his mouth right on the end of
> nipple first try, every time.  It's *got* to be the smell, even from
> no-longer-lactating and never-lactated women, right?  By the way, we
don't
> encourage this behavior, but he can be very persistent.  He will accept
an
> *armpit* as an alternative.


Haven't I heard it said that smell is the strongest sense? It seems logical
that the baby would be directed to the source of his nutrition by the
smell.