It's playtime now

Our photographer Susantha Wijegunasekera captured this picture of little children enjoying themselves at the recently opened preschool in Seelawatta, Mullaitivu.

It was built by the Sri Lanka Army for the children who had been resettled in Seelawatta after the dawn of peace. It is funded by well-wishers.

There are about 25 to 30 children attending the school. It has a well-equipped playground and the teachers are Etrich Jeevanisa and Prasanna Sujatha.

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Being nourished

Our photographer Saman Sri Wedage captured this endearing picture of little kittens feeding from their mother at a spot opposite the Fort Railway station.

We have some information for you about orange-coloured cats. The males have an X and a Y chromosome and the Y is dormant when it comes to colour, so if a male's X chromosome carries the dominant orange colour it will be an orange cat.

Females get two X chromosomes but what's interesting here is that if a female gets an X chromosome with the dominant orange colour and her other X chromosome is for a different colour (which most times it is), those two colours will blend and this is usually when you get a calico or tri-coloured cat.

This is also the answer to why all calico cats are females (although I think there are a very teeny tiny number of male calicos just because nature isn't perfect).

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[Some amazing facts about cats]

* On the average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. This means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life.

*Unlike dogs, cats do not have a sweet tooth. Scientists believe this is due to a mutation in a key taste receptor.

*When a cat chases its prey, it keeps its head level. Dogs and humans bob their heads up and down.

*A group of cats is called a "clowder."

*Female cats tend to be right pawed, while male cats are more often left pawed. Interestingly, while 90 percent of humans are right handed, the remaining 10 percent of lefties also tend to be male.

*A cat can't climb head first down a tree because every claw on a cat's paw points the same way. To get down from a tree, a cat must back down.

*Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10