notes to animals

[cellio]

Dear Baldur,

It is wonderful -- nay, astonishing -- that you chose to get some exercise last night. If cats could sweat you probably would have worked one up. That's great for an elderly tubby tabby. So I really hesitate to say anything, but... that squeak-toy was not provided by any of the household humans, and you know how I feel about ambulatory toys, especially on the similarly-colored carpet where I might not see their remains. I'm sorry I took it away from you while it was still moving, but you know the rules. Yeah yeah, cycle of life and all that, but not where I'm going to have to deal with it, ok?

Dear squeak-toy,

I hope you made it. If you did, please warn all your murine friends that the cats who reside here are either too stupid or too self-centered to kill you quickly, and they are also too well-fed to eat you afterward, so your death would be in vain. We'll all be happier if you try another house. I nominate the guy up the block who never shovels his sidewalks; he's got a karma deficit.

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

If you had a small child, you would have bigger problems.

This is part of why our daughter insists on not leaving her door open--not even a crack--at night.

"OK. I caught it. I beat it up a little. Now let's give it to their Kitten. It's not like THEY are teaching her how!"

[cellio]

I am glad that none of my cats have ever felt the need to teach this stupid human how to hunt. :-)

[siderea]

Oy, don't be casting imprecations on your poor cats' intellect or character. Turns out that while hunting is instinctual in cats, eating your toys/prey is a learned behavior. They're not dumb or lazy, they're just educationally underprivileged, leading to occupational behavioral deficits. :}

[cellio]

That's learned? Wow, I didn't know.

I guess in this regard they are underprivileged. I failed to arrange for Embla (who came to me as an adult stray) to educate them.

[siderea]

Or so some animal show on PBS told me. It certainly explains the readily observable.

[byronhaverford.livejournal.com]

I had never really thought of mice as a "plague" until I moved into this house -- the basement is something of a mouse magnet, and we store edible things like canvas tents down there.

I know, I know, irony....

[cellio]

That is ironic!

I don't know how it would work in the context of a larger house, but one of the other Pennsic home-owners (Baroness Megan, in fact) taught me a trick. Since the mobile houses are stored out in a field all year it's natural that they'll attract critters unless they're really well sealed. She recommended leaving a cardboard box with some tissues and such on the floor somewhere. If mice get in they're likely to use the provided space and nesting materials because it's easy, making it more likely that they'll leave the rest of your stuff alone.

Mind, none of the home-owners I know store canvas in them because of the storage conditions, so I don't know if it'll help with that.

[amergina.livejournal.com]

Hey, at least your cats kill 'em.

I had mice eating the corn-based cat litter for months. Granted, you don't often look for food in the bathroom, but still...

[alienor.livejournal.com]

This whole comment stream is making me paranoid!

[cellio]

Oh my...

I guess it makes sense that food-based litter would be attractive to critters. I've never used the corn-based stuff myself so I don't have that particular experience.