Mingo’s fifth hand

Holder first saw a snakelike tip slipping between the doghouses. It curled around a puppy’s leg and gently drew him next door; a kitten followed, tail-first and almost without protest. Then Mingo appeared, tall, slender and spiderlike, holding the puppy while his tail clasped the kitten’s leg. Holder’s point: for some animals, a “hand” is wherever the grip is strongest. Mingo’s fifth hand was his tail.