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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!ubc-visi!alberta!auvax!madrid
From: madrid@auvax
Newsgroups: net.garden
Subject: Re: Re: mousetraps
Message-ID: <253@auvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Sep-83 13:50:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: auvax.253
Posted: Fri Sep  2 13:50:46 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Sep-83 18:19:42 EDT
Lines: 27


Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a ferocious neighborhood
tom who was threatening our kittens.  In fact, he injured one quite
badly (but not incurably).  Naturally, we wanted to express our
inhospitability in terms that the tom would understand and respect.

We put diluted household ammonia in a squeeze bottle, and mounted
a watch.  (This was during a lazy summer in the late '60s, the
participants were the inhabitants of a co-op house, so there was
always one or more people available.  Aah, nostalgia!)  I guess
this cat (and, I hope, cats in general) really hate the smell of
ammonia.  (Not an unreasonable supposition.  It's disagreeably
pungent to humans, and a cat's sense of smell is more acute by
a very large factor.)  Anyway, it only took a couple of body-hits
and said tom took the hint.  He would cross the road to pass by
our area.  

P.S.  Later that summer, the tom was injured by a car in such a way
that it was necessary to neuter him.  From then on, he was a
very amiable pussycat.  Why, oh why, do pet owners not neuter all
but breeding stock as a matter of course?  It's kinder to the
neighbors, kinder to unwanted generations which follow, and a
way of protecting the pet against injury resulting from fights.
Is it because the owners want a vicarious sex life through their pet?

                                         R.
                                         auvax!madrid