SeeYou190 Welcome to Florida! At least I have yet to encounter an alligator, bear, python, iguana, or gila monster! The mockingbirds and burrowing owls are the worst!
Welcome to Florida! At least I have yet to encounter an alligator, bear, python, iguana, or gila monster! The mockingbirds and burrowing owls are the worst!
Hey, hey, hey! Mockingbirds are the official state bird. I had one that would imitate the cheep-cheep sound of my car when I locked or unlocked the door. I admit they can be a little . . . umm . . . how shall I say . . . agressively territorial, though. I was born in Florida, and for 35 years I lived three blocks from the ocean. That's how I knew about the snakes. Gnats, mosquitoes, horseflies, stink bugs, bed bugs, red bugs, chiggers, fire ants, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, bumble bees, sweat bees, fierce honey bees, beetles-the-size-of-baseballs, roaches-the-size-of-your-thumb, skunks, jellyfish, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, sand spurs, cactii, yuccas (Spanish bayonettes), briars, etc . . . not to mention tourists . . . plenty of other stuff you've yet to encounter. The Sunshine State. Good luck.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
richhotrainOK, here we go again, another anti-feline thread, launched and nurtured by cat haters. And I say that as I sit here with my morning coffee and my beloved cat sitting on my lap as we both read this awful horrible thread. Shame on all of you.
I'm not exactly a cat-hater, Rich, but I must admit to favouring dogs. My remarks were mostly in jest, as I don't particularly like killing animals, even the mice, squirrels, and chipmunks that are destroying my 130 year old garage.
Dog and cat dander isn't very conducive to clean track, though, and even when we had dogs in the house, they weren't allowed in the layout room.We had a couple of cats, too, and fortunately, one moved out with my daughter when she got her own place.The other one we got, as a kitten, for our two younger kids, and while it was okay at first, it became a real menace as it got bigger. The first incident was when it leapt up onto the dining room table, apparently to get a better look at the chandelier. Unfortunately, the kids were roughhousing in the bedroom above, and the jiggling light fixture was apparently too interesting to ignore. We weren't aware of the incident until cat and chandelier crashed to the table, then to the floor.After that, the cat was never the same, and became increasingly aggressive. We eventually confined her to an otherwise un-used small back room, but she apparently sensed my dislike of her and everytime I walked by outside the open, but screened window, she'd be clinging to the screen, screeching and yowling. An uncle with a dairy farm offered to take her, as he needed a barn cat. I manage to get the deranged cat into a very sturdy cardboard box only by throwing an army greatcoat over her to avoid getting clawed or bitten. We then drove over to my wife's parents' house where the uncle was visiting. "Put the box in the trunk of my car.", he said, "I'll be leaving in a couple of minutes."We later heard the rest of the tale: Apparently, somewhere along the drive home, and unbeknowst to the uncle, the cat managed to get out of the box. He told us that when he opened the trunk, the cat, in his words, "burst out of the trunk like a missile leaving its silo!" He never saw it again.
On a more positive note, one of my all-time favourite cartoons is The Cat Came Back.
It's suitable for both cat-lovers and cat-haters.
Wayne
TOP 11 WAYS OF KEEPING CATS OFF LAYOUTS11. The sand pit has got to go. You have enough logs for the Shays to haul.10. Install your layout on the ceiling. 9. Make your backdrop a lifesize photo of an attacking rotweiller. 8. Install a throw switch in your track wiring:Layout in use: 12 volts DC Layout unattended: 15,000 volts AC via cattle fence charger.7. Remove basement/attic stairs.6. Install loaded mousetraps on all gondolas.5. Equip crossing gates with razor saws and Exacto knives.4. Hang catnip in tunnel. Cat peeks in one end--- 40 car 2-8-8-2 at full throttle goes in the other. Your cat will never forget this.3. Hook up rail sounds to your son's Marshall guitar amp set to ten. Select "diesel roar" when cat takes first swipe at caboose. Works every time.2. Find your cat sleeping on the layout. Gently place Walkman headphones over its ears and play the Mighty Mouse theme song at full volume. Cats hate the Mighty Mouse theme song and will permanently associate it with the layout.AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO KEEP CATS OFF LAYOUTS?1. Convert to Z scale and put the layout in a drawer!
Well, this has been rather amusing, espeically to someone who is pretty neutral about pets - no dog or cat in the fight.
My wife had cats for years, I liked them well enough, and they never bothered my trains - the layout is in a deticated room above the detached garage..... But, the workbench is in the basement, also the litter box location via a pet door.
Cats, they are alternate life form adults who let you live with them, as long as you open the cans and clean the box......
Dogs, dogs are for people who like children, not just their own children, but all children. That possibly leaves me out.........
I know I'm self involved, but I have to say, I do prefer to not have to be responseable for the potty habits of others, creatures or humans. I know, that makes me a not so good parent or dog owner.......
But here is what ended cat ownership at our house. The wife typically had two cats, ocasionally replacing an old one with a young one that looked pretty much the same.....
Our cats were allowed outdoors, but seldom left the yard or stayed out all night.
One day the younger one simply disappeared. Exhaustive searching (one trip to the local pound) yielded no results. Cat #1 gone, she never returned.....
Several months later, cat #2, a much older girl, who was having some health issues, thought it would be a good idea to use the grandson's crib as a littler box rather than make the trip down two flights of steps.
The next day, while at work, I received a call from the wife, asking if I could provide the cat with her final trip to the vet that evening. I dutifully complied.
I could not help but wonder as I put her in the cat carrier what she might be thinking? Like maybe "I guess peeing in the baby's bed was not really such a good idea?"
Since then the wife says no more pets, too much trouble.......I just stay quiet.....
Sheldon
I have no cats, but my neighbor has three or four: all outdoor, spayed, females. They are very friendly and seem to have accepted me as the biggest, dumbest, and slowest member of the pack.
Every once in a while one of them deposits a bird or a small rabbit or something on my doorstep. I guess they think that I'm too stupid or too slow to ever catch one on my own.
That's really good, Robert. Our old cat used to do that too, than sit there and look at you like "aren't you proud of me now!" He always left "trophys" on the back porch. Old Whiskers died about 10 yrs ago. Never got another one.
Mike.
My You Tube
I do not post much here but I do frequent a lot. I have a cat and to all of you that bash cats and MRR, I say why do you have a cat?
Scott
babefluff I say why do you have a cat?
Happy wife, happy life. She had to build the cat door to keep them out of the train room though.
Up until this afternoon I had a 3 rail floor layout, it had fallen into disuse since the cats arrived, and they were knocking stuff over, so I put it away, last few pieces are on their way to the basement.
7j43k SouthPenn I'll trump your cats, dogs, and mice with a scared and hungry squirel in the dark running around my layout, for 2 days. If it was rabid, you win. Ed
SouthPenn I'll trump your cats, dogs, and mice with a scared and hungry squirel in the dark running around my layout, for 2 days.
I'll trump your cats, dogs, and mice with a scared and hungry squirel in the dark running around my layout, for 2 days.
If it was rabid, you win.
Ed
I didn't get close enough to find out. Squirrels have some nasty teeth.
We had a cat once. It liked leaving gifts of dead animals at the back door. I fixed that by putting a collar on him that had a bell on it.
Just showing he loves you by trying to feed you.
My cat tried to do that once...
Background story - He has a toy mouse, that squeaks, and that is approximately the correct size.
He brought me a mouse in the middle of the night, woke me up, and set it in my hand.
I thought, "How sweet, you brought me your toy mouse."
Then the mouse moved.....
It got flung across the room, I turned on the light, and the cat looked where the mouse got flung too, then back to me, then back and forth a few times, then he looked at me and he had the funniest look on his face... Like, "Why in the world did you do that? I spent (who knows how long) catching that thing, brought it to you because I love you, and you just threw it across the room? What did you go and do that for?"
I then ordered him, to, "First off, don't you ever do that again. Second, go get it, and kill it this time."
My cat then bopped me in the nose, and went after the mouse.
Yep... I am the one who got my nose bopped...
My cat is no longer allowed in my room at night....
And everyone is happy.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Nice Kitty!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Outdoor cats don't like to visit my backyard more than once or twice. We keep a slingshot by our deck chairs. Don't worry, we use dried chick peas, not ball bearings, and the blackbirds get equal treatment when they are on the feeders.
I would consider getting another dog. That is as soon as somebody invents dog food that would make their poop glow in the dark. I hated searching for landmines when the leaves were on the ground in the fall!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thats funny Ricky! Earl....
hon30critter Outdoor cats don't like to visit my backyard more than once or twice. We keep a slingshot by our deck chairs. Don't worry, we use dried chick peas, not ball bearings, and the blackbirds get equal treatment when they are on the feeders. I would consider getting another dog. That is as soon as somebody invents dog food that would make their poop glow in the dark. I hated searching for landmines when the leaves were on the ground in the fall! Dave
Know that feeling I stepped in poop over the weekend.
The dog is not allowed in the train room because I am afraid he could swallow something that could hurt him say a dropped coupler.
Joe Staten Island West
I never knew that squirrels growl until I had to remove one that came inside.
It was trying to make a new home behind a radiator (it was summertime, so no slow cooking going on). I had someone hold a piece of wood at a 45 degree angle above the radiator and facing the window while I squirted it with a water pistol. It took 5 squirts of the water pistol before it shot up, bounced off the board, and went out the window. Oh yeah, did I mention that they growl?
__________________________________________________________________
Mike Kieran
Port Able Railway
I just do what the majority of the voices in my head vote on.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Since then the wife says no more pets, too much trouble.......I just stay quiet..... Sheldon
Happy Wife, happy life.
My family, when I was a kid, always seemed to have pets, cats in the early years but they didn't last long because small kids traumatize cats. Later it was a dog, a horse and many guinea pigs! So I've always had a mild fondness for animals but being transient much of my adult life never had a cat or dog - only a few small parrots.
My wife has had cats for most of her adult life in England before she immigrated here in 2011 - yes, I married a cat lady, LOL. The most she had was 5 in England and was down to 3 at the time she came here but they stayed behind with her adult daughter.
Of course she wanted a cat but for the first couple years we were kind of poor and living in basements and pets were not allowed. As soon as we bought a home, she was picking out her cat - this time a half Maine Coon who is pretty low maintenence and a nice cat. I do keep it out of the train room because I don't want trouble.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
ricktrains4824My cat is no longer allowed in my room at night....
If my wife and I locked our cat out, we've found she will claw the carpet at the edge of the door, destroying it. Since she is a rescue cat, we had to agree not to declaw her. We don't mind if she comes in and sleeps on the bed and she's mostly been no bother.
BroadwayLion Nice Kitty! ROAR
I was wondering when the big cat was going to roar
I always thought the worst possible malicious joke you could ever play on someone was to wait for your neighbour to finish his 15 year struggle to complete his marvelous layout and then give him a cat, then I find out people that have layouts actually DO have cats, who knew???
Mike Kieran I never knew that squirrels growl until I had to remove one that came inside. It was trying to make a new home behind a radiator (it was summertime, so no slow cooking going on). I had someone hold a piece of wood at a 45 degree angle above the radiator and facing the window while I squirted it with a water pistol. It took 5 squirts of the water pistol before it shot up, bounced off the board, and went out the window. Oh yeah, did I mention that they growl?
When I trapped the squirrel in my basement, he growled at me when I got close to the trap. That was a real surprise.
Like deer, they're not the cute, cuddly, and innocent creatures that they're perceived to be.
Mike KieranLike deer, they're not the cute, cuddly, and innocent creatures that they're perceived to be.
hon30critterOutdoor cats don't like to visit my backyard more than once or twice. We keep a slingshot by our deck chairs.
"Now I have a machine gun. Ho, Ho, Ho"
maxman hon30critter Outdoor cats don't like to visit my backyard more than once or twice. We keep a slingshot by our deck chairs. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho, Ho, Ho"
hon30critter Outdoor cats don't like to visit my backyard more than once or twice. We keep a slingshot by our deck chairs.
Take that all you miserable cat haters!
Alton Junction
You just need to include them in the hobby.
BMMECNYC
They look like they're cat-atonic to me.