The
Cat Who Guarded the Museum
| From 1909 to 1929, Cat Mike
guarded the British Museum. Mike had a disdain for other cats and
apparently didn't like people either, except for two: the
official gatekeeper, who was his owner; and Egyptologist Sir Ernest A.
Wallis Budge. Only those two could touch him, talk to him, or
feed him. Mike's small tombstone, near the Great Russell Street entrance to the Museum, bears the inscription: "He assisted in keeping the main gate of the British Museum from February 1909 to January 1929." |