Offtopicat :)

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan and list,

My name is Lisa, and I don't think I've ever posted before. I am a real

lurker, and I use my work email to get the HS list, so I apologize for being

non-productive. I just signed up for a free email acct., so in my spare

time, I hope to contribute more fully.

 

I was really intrigued by Jan's post about cats and mice. It's funny,

because just this morning I had a conversation with my parents about a cat

we once had. She was born on my bed and lived for almost 20 years with us,

until she finally succumbed to kidney failure. I kid you not, but this cat,

Viola, used to bring home at least 2 or 3 huge sewer rats a day. Twice she

chased injured ones into our home, where they would inevitably hide behind

really heavy pieces of furniture. Needless to say, it was disturbing. Coming

from a pacifist/vegetarian background, I always joined my family in a little

burial for the rats. Now comes the gross part: eventually we ran out of room

in our small backyard. I mean, this cat was on a killing spree that you

wouldn't believe. It always freaked us out. Finally, my dad started burying

them on the schoolyard adjacent to our home (ugh!).

 

What's weird is that my mother, in desperation, once called the City of

Seattle "rat patrol" people, and the guy told her to just be patient, rats

only live for a year or so! Around this time, I started getting bizarre

paranoid fantasies about rats coming into our toilets through the sewer

system. (BTW, it's *not* an urban myth; about 75 cases of such are reported

each year in our city.) I've always loved animals, but it was hard for me to

get really close to this cat due to her homicidal tendencies. Now I live on

the 14th floor of a condo and my four cats are strictly indoor. We tried

everything with Viola the Killer, yet nothing could curb her taste for

rodents. She pretty much hunted them right up until she died. For people who

feel like me, and who are owned by outdoor cats and who live in places where

you don't get a hard freeze each winter, it's kind of a no-win situation.

 

After all of the wonderful, spiritual things I've read on this list, I

cannot believe that my first post is about rat killing. Hope this wasn't too

gross for all of you!

 

Love,

Lisa

[Guest guest]

Wow Lisa, what a mighty rat catcher

Viola was!!The city of seattle should have given her a medal!

She probobly caught more than the average exterminator at $15 an hour!

But i definitely wouldn't have liked

all those rat corpses, much less injured rats

hiding in my house--ugh!!rats spook me out...

and in japan the word for rat and mouse is the

same so i really got scared when my husband said

there was a nezumi in the kitchen!!! Didn't have

a cat either then..which is probably why there

was something in the kitchen

in japan the word for foot and leg is the same too--

ashi--so jan i know what it is to have a broken

ashi--only in my case it was the metatarsals!

But i was in a cast and forbidden to put any

weight on it for weeks and weeks--your tender

love for the little mice is touching--

I've been lurking here for quite a few weeks--

the NDS got too much for me and i went to highlights,

but it was too lonely and since the people i

specially love (harsha, jerry, michael r ,gloria, mark ,mary

andrew, greg, victor, christiana, david--ie the ones who went to the

retreat this summer--but where is oh?don't see her on either list)

all post over here, i came here--also i don't miss the food fights on

NDS!! and Harsha i STILL haven't got the nerve up to call

the housemaster--so my radio is still there--are you sure you

don't know anyone coming this way on the holidays--i drive to trenton

every week--i could easily go all the way to almost nyc--in

fact some day i'm actually driving to nyc for burritos and

satsang with greg's gang....nora