My Cat’s Eyes Say it’s 2 O’Clock - The Ninja Tricks of the Trade

Jeremy Kenarangi on Monday, November 23, 2009 11:00PM

It’s a fact: Ninjas are sly, sneaky devils. They’re full of all kinds of tricks and will go to great lengths to complete their mission. In this article we look at some of those tactics and tricks employed by ninjas, showing you just how clever these paid assassins are.

With watches non-existent during the feudal days of japan, ninjas had to find ways to be able to tell time. Nothing was more embarrassing than being THAT ninja who never knew what time it was. That’s why they devised the rather clever method of telling time by using cat’s eyes. As you may or may not know, cat’s eyes are very sensitive to light due to their tapetum, a built in reflector in the back of their eyes. To compensate for this, cats have elliptical shaped pupils which allow for a wider range of movement than a human’s pupil. This allows cats the ability to completely open their pupils at night and close their pupils to a mere slit during the day. It’s all a bit technical but at the end of the day, it is possible to tell the time of day by looking at a cat’s eyes.

Another tactic employed by ninjas, was using the stars to navigate around at night. But unlike sailors who also used this as means of navigating, ninjas had other ways of telling their direction such as tree stumps. Merely a tree stump to you and me, a tree stump for a ninja was a virtual compass, it’s growth rings becoming narrower and closer together as they approached North and wider apart as they approached South. Next time you’re lost in the woods and come across a stump try it out and let us know if it works. Ninjas also employed the sun in navigating with the use of three sticks. By driving a foot long stick into the ground and observing the shadow, he/she would then place a twig at the end of the shadow. Then, waiting 15 minutes after the shadow has moved, they would place another twig at the end of the new shadow and place their right foot on the first twig and left food on the second twig. This would face them True North.

So ninjas knew how to tell time and what direction they were going but what about sleep? A person has to sleep, even a ninja. They especially needed a place where they couldn’t be found and disturbed. So, like true ninjas, they took to the trees. By wrapping their long sash from limb to limb in a spider web-like fashion, ninjas were able to sleep in these makeshift hammocks. It’s here I’d like to throw out the obligatory “don’t try this at home kids” as the idea of a ten year old boy (or girl) climbing a forty foot sycamore and crafting a ninja hammock sounds like a recipe for disaster.

When it came time for a drink of cool, refreshing water, ninjas were trained to recognize areas with high concentrations of ants or crickets and specific plants as these all signaled a water source was nearby. Food came usually in the form of rations brought along for the mission, although ninjas were not below stealing food from others as well (kind of like the Hamburglar only he didn’t sleep in trees and assassinate people).

Finally, ninjas employed one last known trick - a box of crickets. While at first seemingly useless, crickets made for an excellent way of concealing a ninja’s footsteps and other small sounds. A hapless fool walking by would hear the crickets and think nothing of it, continuing on their merry way. Ninjas often employed this tactic especially when traveling through areas known to have patrolling samurai. As long as the ninja didn’t sneeze or cough, the chirping of crickets would usually be enough to allow a ninja slip by. While a clever tactic, it does beg the question - what about ninjas who were allergic to or had a phobia of crickets? I guess we’ll never know.

In any event, I think this article shows just how clever ninjas really were and maybe the ninjas were onto something with the whole cat eyes telling the time thing. You could certainly try taping a cat to your wrist if you can’t afford a fancy Fossil watch…although the watch probably won’t scratch your face off.

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