To Dismay of Inspectors, Prowling Cats Keep Rodents on the Run at City Delis

[Flaxbee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/nyregion/21cats.html?ex=1198904400&en=fbd67708504f5c51&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Across the city, delis and bodegas are a familiar and vital part of the streetscape, modest places where customers can pick up necessities, a container of milk, a can of soup, a loaf of bread.

Amid the goods found in the stores, there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: their cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons.

When a bodega cat is on the prowl, workers say, rats and mice vanish.


more - link above

[Parche]

1. Hey Flaxee

I love kitties....I miss mine.....:hi:

[Flaxbee]

4. hiya Parche!

:hi:

sharpshooter kitty!

what are your holiday plans, after you destroy the office radio? Feel like singing Feliz Navidad? :P

[DS1]

2. mine cleaned out a house in short order

I almost felt bad for the critters

[Flaxbee]

5. we had two who really didn't care, and then Linda the Champion

Mouser came to live with us (this was years ago) and within about 2 days there were a dozen mouse carcasses in the basement. She didn't even eat them, just caught 'em and killed 'em.

[ThomCat]

3. I absolutely prefer that places have a cat

than have chemical fumes wafting through the air. And I'm sure the cats do a damned better job. :)

[Flaxbee]

6. absolutely! I'd rather not ingest poison, thank you.

And cats really are fastidiously clean - yes, a few hairs waft here and there, but much better than mice/rat-borne illnesses and turds in the sandwiches.

Idiotic regulations.

How're you doing today, ThomCat? :hi:

[ThomCat]

7. Hi Flaxbee!

:hi:

Today's okay. It's not a wonderful day, but it's not a bad day either. :P

The weather is getting bad though, so I'm not sure how tonight will go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Are you done with your christmas shopping? :)

[Flaxbee]

9. I have a pretty big extended family, so we don't really "do" gifts...

5 sisters, their kids, etc. So yes, I sent a few gift cards, ordered a few online gifts, and that was it! Hooray!

I've planned our holiday dinners, though, and now need to go food shopping.

How about you? Done shopping? I hope the weather doesn't cause you too much pain and discomfort. :hug:

[ThomCat]

10. I haven't been able to get out to do any shopping at all.

And because of my hand situation, I haven't sent out any holiday cards this year. I just hope people understand that I'm in a tough spot and can't jump through holiday hoops anymore. :(

[Flaxbee]

12. I'm sure they do (understand, that is) and if not, fuck 'em

You can only do what you can do. And the 'holiday hoops' are by and large a bunch of bullshit, anyway. You're a great person who spreads kindness wherever you go all year 'round. You're a holiday present just by *being*.

Though I do find some of the holiday rituals to be nice and comforting; I hope you can participate in some of those.

[sasquatch]

8. That's what my Dad's cat Bart does

One day my Dad was in the barn with our indoor/outdoor cat Bart killed a mouse and was waling by my Dad with his "trophy". My Dad was afraid he'd eat it so he threw it away. Bart then glared at him and five minutes later he killed another one.
:D

[Flaxbee]

13. eat the mouse? Of course!

though many of ours just bring them to us as gifts, in various states of dismemberment... ;)

[Arkansas Granny]

11. I much prefer cats to rats any day of the week. My kitty has kept

my house rodent free for years. Not only that, I've never seen a rodent trap or poison that could keep my feet warm at night and greet me when I come home at night.

[Flaxbee]

14. Cats are probably the most humane mouse/rat killer, too --

poison just seems so hideous, as do traps. And as you point out, neither poison nor traps have the extra benefit of purring, kitty head-butts, and all those other wonderful cat-centric things.