OFF: Rats, Cats, and packets of fags.

[Richard Lockwood]

> >Get an Abysinnian cat.  Those bastards will take out anything.  We had
one
> >that brought in between fifteen and twenty-five rabbits a year, a live
> >magpie (through the cat flap), game birds, and (once) a hare.
>
> For many years my folks kept a cat which was a hybrid- his mother was
> an ordinary domestic moggy, but his father was a Scottish feral cat. He
> was affectionate with us, but ferocious with anything else. Aside from
> the usual slaughter of birds and rodents, he would often chase and attack
> dogs, and while I don't remember him ever taking a hare (! pretty
> impressive, that), he did once bring in a live snake, which proceeded to
> escape into the larder, causing incredible consternation in the household,
> although it was a harmless grass snake as it turned out. In the end the
> snake survived, but in somewhat shortened form.
>
> Another memorable catch was a huge pheasant, although I suspect this
> may have been stolen from someone's kitchen rather than freshly killed.
> Even so, it was quite a feat to drag it back to the house- the thing was
> about twice his size.

Respect!  (Both snake and pheasant!)  My mother's abby once brought in a
live snipe (possibly a woodcock) through the catflap, and we had a black cat
whilst living in Newcastle that once successfully hunted and killed a Hot
And Still Steaming Sunday Roast.  (They can be vicious if only wounded)  We
never found out where it caught it from, but we discovered him dismembering
it on the kitchen floor.

To make this vaguely on-topic, my cat (who has lived with my parents for the
last twelve years, and has never caught anything bigger than a mouse
(although she had a novel way of getting those - she'd sit on a fencepost
and wait for one to scurry past, then just drop on it.  Must have scared the
buggers to death!)) is called Zarozinia.  She's getting old, and dribbles a
lot.  Her sister's called Arioch.  Strange but true.

:-)

Cheers,

Rich.