Linda Edwards, age 13, of Gastonia, N.C.,for her question:

ARE A CAT'S WHISKERS OF ANY USE?

A cat's mustache is very handsome, and she goes to a lot of trouble to keep it neat and clean. But in the animal world, even the most handsome features usually have some useful purpose. For example, the stiff hairs of a cat's whiskers are attached to sensitive nerves around her mouth and nose. She also has a few of these sensitive hairs where you would expect to find eyebrows.

When the tips of a cat's whiskers touch a solid object, the nerves around their roots flash the news to her brain. When she pokes her furry head into a hole, she can tell how tall and how high it is  without even looking. This is very helpful when she prowls through the bushes in the dead of night. A cat cannot see in total darkness  but her sensitive whiskers tell her when there are impassable objects in her path.