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[baziunc]

Maggie the Cat
She loves a nice pat.
When  the clock strikes five
For the food dish she dives.

Phyliz, I have a white box with x.

I do, too.

[Phyl]

Tuxedo cat gets bath from Chestnut horse
https://twitter.com/Awesome_planet_/status/883724623518588928

[Phyl]

Cat Genie (@CatGenie) tweeted at 1:20 PM on Tue, Jul 11, 2017:
Stray Cat Saunters Into Firehouse and Decides the Crew Will Be His Forever Humans. @LoveMeowdotcom  @TheCatnipTimes https://t.co/Jq9y2aZsDL
(https://twitter.com/CatGenie/status/884839765526405122?s=03)

[Phyl]

Thought y'all might want to be mindful of this date:
August21, 2017




**all information is quoted from NASA, unless otherwise noted
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html
"On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature?s most awe inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun's tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun's disk. NASA created this website to provide a guide to this amazing event. Here you will find activities, events, broadcasts, and resources from NASA and our partners across the nation."



"Do animals really change their behavior durinng a total solar eclispe?
It has been reported during many eclipses that many different animals are startled by totality and change their behavior thinking that twilight has arrived. You can explore this yourself with your own pets, or by watching local wildlife, especially birds."
Anwsers to more questions: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/faq

For full details and links please read my post #5380,  in The Beakroom and Cheers threads.

[Phyl]

Alley Cat Allies (@alleycatallies) tweeted at 1:11 PM on Tue, Oct 24, 2017:
Otters don't want to live inside & neither does the average community cat. Share this video to help bust the myth! https://t.co/SfrqQLX4Lm
(https://twitter.com/alleycatallies/status/922888270299660289?s=03)

[Phyl]

Here's a cool cat quiz from a very worthy organization.


Alley Cat Allies (@alleycatallies) tweeted at 10:22 AM on Fri, Oct 27, 2017:
Happy Friday! Ever wonder which Atlantic City boardwalk cat you are? Take our Buzzfeed quiz to find out! https://t.co/Sp2rxxGbtp #Cats
(https://twitter.com/alleycatallies/status/923932949623595008?s=03)

[Phyl]

A Street  Cat Named 'Bob"


A true and engaging story of how a man at the bottom saves a cat's life and inturn gets rescued himself.
The story of 'A Street Cat Named Bob' has been made into, two motion pictures and numerous books authored by Bowen.
And, several magazine articles, numerous television appearances and a royal visit by Dutchess Catherine .


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227639/James-Bowen-Best-selling-true-story-busker-got-life-track-thanks-stray-cat-film.html
From Wikipedia article on James Bowen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bowen_(author)

Bob known for his penchant for scarfs .



And, his famous 'kitty hand shake'.





https://www.the-sun.com/news/1011494/street-cat-named-bob-died-hit-car-owner-best-friend/

[Phyl]

A true and engaging story of how a man at the bottom saves a cat's life and inturn gets rescued himself.
The story of 'A Street Cat Named Bob' has been made into, two motion pictures and numerous books authored by Bowen.
And, several magazine articles, numerous television appearances and a royal visit by Duchess Catherine .

From Wikipedia article on James Bowen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bowen_(author)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227639/James-Bowen-Best-selling-true-story-busker-got-life-track-thanks-stray-cat-film.html




Cat on 73 bus (2)Photo by acb on flickr
｜The cat was, like all London commuters, completely aloof, and neither the noisy children in the back nor the large dog in the vestibule area nor, indeed, the juddering of the bus perturbed him one whit.


Bob known for his penchant for scarfs .



And, his famous 'kitty hand shake'.





https://www.the-sun.com/news/1011494/street-cat-named-bob-died-hit-car-owner-best-friend/

[Phyl]

2006- June 15, 2020
Rest In Peace, Bob
ihojmytyg

[Phyl]

My 20 year old Maggie on 11-2022

[Phyl]

My Maggie celebrated her 21st birthday today.
Making her age 100 in cat years.

[Phyl]

[Phyl]

This is from  Nat'l Geographic Premium /digital subscription  only.  I searched out the same article via a different source. However,  I couldn't find the article.
With some minor editing---I think you'll find it  a  most interesting read.






 Photo: Vincent J. Muse/National Geographic

BYCHRISTIAN ELLIOTT
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 13, 2024

The CIA called the operation Acoustic Kitty. But it’s not easy to convince a cat, of all animals, to go exactly where it’s directed and stay within range of a radio receiver.
Before digital technology and microelectronics, spying was hard, and everything was on the table. Throughout the 20th century, “intelligence services worldwide looked at animals as a possible way of both clandestinely getting into locations that an individual wouldn't otherwise have access to, and for carrying messages or equipment,” says Robert Wallace, who directed the CIA’s Office of Technical Service, the branch responsible for spy gadgets, in the 1990s. “You look at all the alternatives and if one looks viable, you’re gonna pursue it, until either you prove that you can’t do it, or a better way comes along.”
As outlandish as it may sound today, the CIA was quite serious about Operation Acoustic Kitty. And it was just one of many efforts to recruit animal secret agents for their sensory capabilities and ability to blend in–with varying degrees of success. But what makes an animal a good spy candidate? And do furry and feathery secret agents still have a role to play in espionage today?

Acoustic Kitty was a feline cyborg—a blend of unassuming household pet and high-tech. In a minor surgery, a veterinarian inserted a small microphone inside its pointy ear–an excellent natural funnel for directing sound. Then, they wired the microphone to a battery pack under the cat’s loose skin, connected to an external antenna woven through the cat’s long fur.

The surgery itself was pretty revolutionary, Wallace says. “This was before pacemakers, we weren’t putting electronics into mammals, because it’s a very inhospitable environment–it’s humid, it’s warm, it’s wet.” The cat was just fine, he recalls, although the project manager fainted at the sight of blood. And the technology worked–the cat bug could pick up and transmit conversations. But there was a problem–despite its CIA training, Acoustic Kitty had a mind of its own and wasn’t great at staying near its targets. A field test in a public park, likely full of distractions like pigeons and squirrels, proved Acoustic Kitty wasn’t going to work out.
“You kind of wonder what they were thinking,” says David Welker, a CIA agency historian. “Did nobody own a cat? You can't make a cat do anything. As a proud cat owner, I could have told them that wouldn’t work.”  After five years and likely millions of dollars in research and development, the project was scrapped in 1967, for reasons any cat owner might have anticipated.
Innate curiosity may seem like a good trait for espionage, but it’s also known to kill the cat. In a popular account by Victor Marchetti, a former CIA officer and critic of the agency, that’s exactly how the story ends. On Acoustic Kitty’s first mission—that field test in a park—the cat spy wandered across a street and was promptly run over by a taxi.
“Marchetti’s version is a lot more fun,” said Wallace, but in reality, the cat lived a normal life after the spy gear was removed. That’s the official CIA position too, according to Welker.

**In the 1960s, the CIA invested approximately US$20 million in Operation Acoustic Kitty to create the world's first cat spy

[Phyl]