On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:01:47 -0500, Bert Byfield
wrote:

:: Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close
:: and
:ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard.
::The cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with
::her and kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up
:though she never harmed a pet rabbit).
::After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
::rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after
::that.
:
: Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are
: easy to find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I
: suppose a tom cat would be better, because they're bigger. Dan
:
ead squirrels might give an idea to a cat. Unfixed male cats are the
:most butch. The only cat I ever had (I am 65) that killed a rat was an
:unfixed male. I woke up to find a trophy of half a rat.

I am also 65! Betcha you're at least a little confused about Medicare. I
spent a lot of time trying to figure out all the complexities and still
figure I barely have the lay of the land, and I'm probably wrong about a
lot of ideas I have about it.

I'm not sure they'll let me have an unfixed male cat in Berkeley, at
least one that gets out. Of course, maybe I'll be the only person who
knows it's unfixed.

My last girlfriend's male cat used to bring in dead or dieing birds. She
was pretty upset when that happened. Mice too, I think. My sister's cat
brought in a dead mouse a few days ago and freaked her out at 1:30 AM.

I seem to be on top of the rat problem here. I keep traps in the attic,
where I must have caught around 25 of them, but none in the last 2-3
years, I think. I used to hear them scurrying around in the attic, and
after I had my roof replaced, I cleaned out the attic good and proper,
including every dropping. Since then, a small flood in the attic (broken
vent pipe), brought up the urine smell from the wood up there and it's
still a problem in hot weather. I'm going to have to do something about
that.

Dan