A Cat Named Fish and a Fish Named Cat  (1st edition copyright 2006; Author H. Wayne Thornton)    Creatures ... A Guide to the Creatures in the Story of A Cat Named Fish and a Fish Named Cat.  For children, parents, and teachers to share: Children's Questions for the Author: Is there really such a thing as a Maine Coon Cat like the cat named "Fish" in this folktale? "Fish" is a made up, fictional character.  But, he is based on the actual Maine Coon Cat breed -- a large unique breed native to the United States. Do Maine Coon Cats ever get very large? Yes, healthy full grown males can grow as big as 18 pounds.  That is quite large for a domestic cat. What do you mean in the beginning of the story when you refer to the Maine Coon Cat as a "tom"? "Tom" is commonly used to describe a male cat. Did you ever see a Maine Coon Cat? Yes, when I was a child in Oklahoma living not too far from the Canadian River which was southwest of us.  We had outdoor cats around our place, along with about 7 or 8 dogs and assorted wild creatures.  One of the cats was a Maine Coon Cat. Do catfish living in ponds really get very large, like the 25-pound catfish named "Cat" in this story? Yes, 25 pounds is large for a catfish in a backwoods pond.  There are bigger ones, though.  Some catfish as large as 100 pounds have been caught in rivers and large lakes in the US. Did you ever see a catfish that big? Yes, my father and grandfather caught a 98-pound catfish in Lake Texoma long ago. Are there other creatures in this story? Yes, two in particular are important in carrying out the story.  They are the red-winged black birds who sing out a warning ditty and a wise crow called She-Crow that talks to both the cat and the catfish.  Also, several other creatures are at least mentioned in passing as the story unfolds -- dogs, bullfrogs, locusts, dragonflies, damselflies, fireflies, horses, snakes, wood ducks, a bobcat, a Bobwhite, a muskrat, and a crawdad. What is a Bobwhite? It's a quail that got its name because the call it makes sounds like "bob white" or "bob-bob white." Wood duck sounds like a very plain bird.  Are they plain? No way!  Just the opposite.  They are strikingly colorful and iridescent, and quite cocky looking with that crest of feathers at the back of their heads. Can red-wing blackbirds really talk and make up ditties or rhymes like in this book? Yes, in their own language they talk to one another all the time.  As for their ditties, well, I think I hear them when I listen closely. Are crows really smart, like She-Crow in this story? Yes, they are quite smart; and, yes, they too talk in their own language to one another all the time. Is a muskrat really a rat? No, not at all.  It's a furry rodent that spends its life in and around water.  Its back feet even have webs between the toes. A dragonfly is not really a dragon, is it? No, and damselflies are not damsels, and fireflies do not catch on fire and do not start fires.  Each is fascinating in its own special way.  The dragonfly and the damselfly belong to the special insect group called the odonata order. Take a good look at a big dragonfly.  Don't they remind you of a big helicopter?  However, the firefly (or lightening bug) belongs to another insect order called coleoptera.  All three of these creatures fly, just as a butterfly can fly, although butterflies are in a completely different insect order called lepidoptera.  You can look it up! Why is a firefly called a firefly or lightening bug? They somehow make themselves glow and flicker on and off in the dark -- a bright neon yellow-green color.