“Are you trying to get in on this?” I say. That’s what it looks like. The tortoise is poised at the edge of the fray, head up, waiting to bite an unguarded appendage. For a moment the dog has the cat pinned to the floor, and the cat’s tail is waving slowly back and forth in front of the tortoise’s face. But he misses his chance: the cat rears up, sinks its claws into the dog’s neck and bites in the manner of a leopard trying to take down a wildebeest. The dog steps over the tortoise and drags the cat to the opposite corner of the room, where the fight continues.