Cattitude - Episode 279 Living in Harmony with Wildlife: Simple Steps You Can Take

<v Speaker 1>Love. This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk pets.
<v Speaker 2>Welcome cat levers, Welcome to Cat and Cheata. I'm your
<v Speaker 2>show host Michelle Burne. Today we have a super special
<v Speaker 2>special show. We have a guest from PETA, people for
<v Speaker 2>the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and he is going to
<v Speaker 2>tell us how crushing cans can literally save wildlife. And
<v Speaker 2>we have some simple tips for being a good neighbor
<v Speaker 2>to the animals. So stay tuned, we'll be right back.
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<v Speaker 4>Let's talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
<v Speaker 2>Welcome back everyone. I am so excited to introduce Jacob
<v Speaker 2>Shaw from PETA and we're gonna talk about some simple
<v Speaker 2>steps that all of us can take to live in
<v Speaker 2>closer harmony with nature, things we could do to save
<v Speaker 2>the animals.
<v Speaker 5>Welcome Jacob, thank you, Michelle, thanks so much for.
<v Speaker 2>I'm so excited to have you on. Before we get started,
<v Speaker 2>there might be some people, maybe like five out there
<v Speaker 2>are listening that are not familiar with Peter, Can you
<v Speaker 2>just explain what PETA is.
<v Speaker 5>Of course, so PEDA stands for People for the Ethical
<v Speaker 5>Treatment of Animals and we are the largest animal rights
<v Speaker 5>organization in the world with more than ten million members
<v Speaker 5>and supporters globally, and PETA focuses on the areas where
<v Speaker 5>the largest number of animals suffer most intensely for the
<v Speaker 5>longest periods of time. So that's animals who are used
<v Speaker 5>and killed in the food industry and the clothing industry,
<v Speaker 5>who are exploited and killed in laboratory experiments, and any
<v Speaker 5>entertainment industry. But you know, we also focus on how
<v Speaker 5>we can live in fharmony with wildlife, ways we can
<v Speaker 5>be more kind to the animals who live amongst us,
<v Speaker 5>and we also obviously work on cruelty cases involving dogs,
<v Speaker 5>cats and other companion animals.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm excited to have you on. I've been a
<v Speaker 2>fan of PEDA for years. Do you know how many
<v Speaker 2>long Peda's been in existence.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, Pita is actually approaching our forty five year anniversary
<v Speaker 5>this year. We were started in nineteen eighty, so that's
<v Speaker 5>forty five years of really just fantastic life saving work
<v Speaker 5>that has made such a big difference in the lives
<v Speaker 5>of thousands and thousands and thousands of animals.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, you have, and I've known Apita for a very
<v Speaker 2>long time, so thanks for all you do. Let's get
<v Speaker 2>talking about what we can do to be a good
<v Speaker 2>neighbor to our animals. So let's talk about something that
<v Speaker 2>probably people just aren't aware of. How can people dispose
<v Speaker 2>properly dispose of trash to ensure animals safety.
<v Speaker 5>Right, So, our trash can really easily and quickly, unknown
<v Speaker 5>to us, can become a deadly trap for hungry animal.
<v Speaker 5>Right So, whether we're talking about a raccoon or awesome,
<v Speaker 5>a lot of these animals who live in our yards,
<v Speaker 5>in our neighborhoods, they'll try to lick the last revealing
<v Speaker 5>food scrap so to be inside of can or a bottle,
<v Speaker 5>and in the process their heads can become stuck inside,
<v Speaker 5>which obviously leaves them and as fordable sit situation where
<v Speaker 5>they will often start to death or die of dehydration.
<v Speaker 5>But fortunately it could not be easier for us to
<v Speaker 5>save these animals lives by just taking a few moments
<v Speaker 5>before we throw away our cans and bottles to just
<v Speaker 5>make sure we crush cans, put lids back on top
<v Speaker 5>of jars and bottles before we dispose of them.
<v Speaker 2>It's such a little fix. And you're right, these animals
<v Speaker 2>are in areas. I mean, I live in suburbs but
<v Speaker 2>in Fort Lauderdale, and you wouldn't think there'd be so
<v Speaker 2>many raccoons around, but there are and possums too, you know,
<v Speaker 2>besides all the other creatures. So thanks for sharing that
<v Speaker 2>just quick fix to save who knows how many animals.
<v Speaker 2>Let's talk about not so friendly creatures in your home.
<v Speaker 2>So Peter is ethical to all animals, so that includes
<v Speaker 2>you know, mice and bugs and other little creatures, and
<v Speaker 2>the best way to you know, not to do anything
<v Speaker 2>violent them, but what is the best way to deter
<v Speaker 2>them from even getting into your home so you don't
<v Speaker 2>have to go to the next step, which is you know,
<v Speaker 2>alternatives for removing them.
<v Speaker 5>So small animals, whether we're talking about you know, mice, rats, insects,
<v Speaker 5>any of these little guys. You know, they only enter
<v Speaker 5>our owns when food and shelter is available to them.
<v Speaker 5>So it's really all of our responsibility make sure that
<v Speaker 5>our homes are inviting uninviting to them as possible. And
<v Speaker 5>you know, saying making our homes uninviting to them, it
<v Speaker 5>may sound abstract, but it's really just a matter of
<v Speaker 5>two simple things, right. It's making sure that one our
<v Speaker 5>food and trash is kept in true proof containers, you
<v Speaker 5>know it's not accessible, and then sealing off any entry
<v Speaker 5>points where the animals can get inside of our homes.
<v Speaker 5>Because obviously one mouse can come in, others are going
<v Speaker 5>to follow. So you know, if you see cracks and
<v Speaker 5>foals in your exterior walls along the floorboards, obviously the
<v Speaker 5>proactive thing to do is to seal those up before
<v Speaker 5>it becomes an issue. And then lastly, you know we
<v Speaker 5>can deter animals with these safe, natural, non toxic substances.
<v Speaker 5>Is that work really well as deterance. So we're talking
<v Speaker 5>about vinegar and synonym for ants, and something like pepperbin
<v Speaker 5>oil or eucalyptus oil works really well for mice and
<v Speaker 5>rats too, because it irritates the inside of the nasal
<v Speaker 5>cavities and sends the message, Hey, you don't want to
<v Speaker 5>come in here, this is not a welcoming space.
<v Speaker 2>I've heard also peppermint oil being a deterrent for roaches
<v Speaker 2>as well.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, and ammonia soap cotton balls is also another good
<v Speaker 5>deterrent that has a similar effect. It's a snow that
<v Speaker 5>you know animals don't like and will almost always tell them.
<v Speaker 5>Anybody keep moving.
<v Speaker 2>And then another idea is that when you mentioned you know,
<v Speaker 2>watching you know, cracks and holes and stuff, I have
<v Speaker 2>heard that mice can get into a crack that's as
<v Speaker 2>big as small as like the quarter, not the flat quarter,
<v Speaker 2>just a couple of millimeters. So you really have to
<v Speaker 2>be diligent about watching those openings in your home.
<v Speaker 5>Absolutely.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 5>I mean, something that I've heard people suggest doing, which
<v Speaker 5>I think is a great tip, is no one it
<v Speaker 5>gets dark out if you walk along the exterior wall
<v Speaker 5>of trying to flashlight through if light is getting in.
<v Speaker 5>But obviously mean there's some sort of crack where presumably
<v Speaker 5>an animal could get in as well. So that's a
<v Speaker 5>good way to just identify where these openings may be
<v Speaker 5>and then find them seal them.
<v Speaker 2>Ow, Okay, thanks for that. What about for you know
<v Speaker 2>people that want to just say, well, what if I
<v Speaker 2>use a sticky trap? Is it that bad for mice
<v Speaker 2>and rats?
<v Speaker 5>Well, so killing these animals is not going to do
<v Speaker 5>anything to stop others from moving in, right, We know
<v Speaker 5>that the only effective long term solutions of all involve
<v Speaker 5>prevention and assurance. But speaking of glue traps, I mean,
<v Speaker 5>blue traps are the worst possible option by any measure.
<v Speaker 5>I mean they are responsible for more animal suffering than
<v Speaker 5>any other wildlife control product that's available today. And that's
<v Speaker 5>because after animals walk across the surface of the trap,
<v Speaker 5>whether we're talking about you know, mice and rats, or
<v Speaker 5>birds who often find themselves stuck in glue traps, or
<v Speaker 5>even kittens and puppies, I mean, these animals are stuck
<v Speaker 5>to the glue and they are left to suffer a
<v Speaker 5>slow screw sheeting where they'll die of dehydration, starvation, or
<v Speaker 5>blood loss, and oftentimes their mouths and nobstrils become wood
<v Speaker 5>shut and they suffocate, or other times the animal's actually
<v Speaker 5>thrown out in the garbage while they're still stuck to
<v Speaker 5>the trap, still alive, and they're crushed to death. So
<v Speaker 5>this is just the most terrifying and painful way for
<v Speaker 5>an animal to die. But that's why we're seeing countries
<v Speaker 5>around the world banning blue traps, and we're seeing great
<v Speaker 5>progress here in the US as well. West Hollywood and
<v Speaker 5>Ohi to cities in California have introduced their own blue
<v Speaker 5>trap bands in the last couple of years, and cities
<v Speaker 5>and states around the country are looking into doing the
<v Speaker 5>same thing. So really great progress there, and that's why
<v Speaker 5>Peter urges everyone to never ever buy or use blue traps.
<v Speaker 5>Tell your friends and neighbors never use them, and we
<v Speaker 5>encourage everyone to tell their city council members to dan
<v Speaker 5>blue traps in their cities as well.
<v Speaker 2>Great idea, and there are humane traps. What should people
<v Speaker 2>be aware of when they call a pet control company?
<v Speaker 5>So first and foremost, you know, always keep front of
<v Speaker 5>mind that lethal solutions just don't work. Right, as we've
<v Speaker 5>been talking about, if one animal can get inside of
<v Speaker 5>our homes, others will follow as long as food, water,
<v Speaker 5>and shelter are available to them. So we want to
<v Speaker 5>make sure that we're talking to the company about prioritizing
<v Speaker 5>prevention and exclusion. And when you look up, you know
<v Speaker 5>and I was about to say the phone book, but
<v Speaker 5>most people probably use a computer for this these days.
<v Speaker 5>You know, try to find a humane wildlife removal company,
<v Speaker 5>you know, humane is the key word there, that will
<v Speaker 5>safely relocate these animals. We should steer clear of any
<v Speaker 5>company that is using traps, poisons another week for weapons. Obviously,
<v Speaker 5>those don't qualify as humane because fundamentally they're not effective,
<v Speaker 5>they don't work in a long term, and they inflict
<v Speaker 5>terrible suffering on animals who really are doing nothing wrong.
<v Speaker 5>All they're doing is taking us up on the unknowing
<v Speaker 5>offer we've often put out to them by you know,
<v Speaker 5>putting food and garbage out in places they can reach
<v Speaker 5>that you know, traps them to come in the first place.
<v Speaker 5>So they're not meaning to do us any harm. So
<v Speaker 5>we should really find just a way to make our
<v Speaker 5>homes inaccessible to them and let them move along rather
<v Speaker 5>than inflicting suffering on them.
<v Speaker 2>I absolutely agree. And there's also the consideration that of
<v Speaker 2>past control companies are using poison on say your lawn
<v Speaker 2>or around your house, then that gets into the grass
<v Speaker 2>and the water gets on you know, your dog's feed,
<v Speaker 2>or cats if you have cat communities. Around your home.
<v Speaker 2>So just all around, not a good idea.
<v Speaker 5>Oh, definitely not. Yeah, we see this this issue called
<v Speaker 5>secondary poisoning where oftentimes you know, a mouse or a
<v Speaker 5>rat will ingest the poison, and you know, larger animals
<v Speaker 5>will eat them, and it moves up and up and up,
<v Speaker 5>and you end up having you know, eagles and hawks
<v Speaker 5>and even mountain lions dying of poison related debts. We've actually, similarly,
<v Speaker 5>we've seen great progress there where California has banned the
<v Speaker 5>use of first and second generation and anti coagulant or denticides.
<v Speaker 5>It's a mouthful, but it's basically, you know, one of
<v Speaker 5>the most popular kinds of poison. They are really horrific
<v Speaker 5>because they basically prevent animals as blood from clotting, so
<v Speaker 5>they slowly bleed out internally. You know, really really awful.
<v Speaker 5>But I think it's just a great opportunity for us
<v Speaker 5>to remember that, you know, whether we're talking about a
<v Speaker 5>mountain lion, an owl and eagle, a dog, cat, a mouse,
<v Speaker 5>or a rat, every animal is someone who is capable
<v Speaker 5>of feeling fear and pain and love and joy, just
<v Speaker 5>like we do. You know, they have relationships that are
<v Speaker 5>meaningful and important to them. They have families, they have
<v Speaker 5>lives that they value much in the same way we
<v Speaker 5>value our own lives. So there are so many opportunities
<v Speaker 5>for us to be more considerate of them and to
<v Speaker 5>be kinder to them. So you know, this is just
<v Speaker 5>one of many.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, let's talk You've hit on this a little bit prior,
<v Speaker 2>but let's talk a little bit more. What attracts wildlife
<v Speaker 2>to our home and how can we make our homes
<v Speaker 2>less inviting.
<v Speaker 5>Animals are always looking for two things when it comes
<v Speaker 5>to its conversation, right, it's food and shelter. So with shelter,
<v Speaker 5>they'll often find that in overgrown shrubbery or plants that's
<v Speaker 5>you know, right along the exterior of our homes. So
<v Speaker 5>one easy thing to do that a lot of people
<v Speaker 5>don't think of is just trimming that back of it
<v Speaker 5>so there's some separation between the shrubs and the bushes
<v Speaker 5>in our homes or apartments. And then you know, the
<v Speaker 5>other thing again is there's any cracks holes entry points
<v Speaker 5>in the walls, making sure that those are sealed up.
<v Speaker 5>And then as far as food goes, in addition to
<v Speaker 5>what we talked about with you know, keeping it in
<v Speaker 5>true proof containers, keeping garbage and cans and in bags.
<v Speaker 5>You know, we also want to make sure that if
<v Speaker 5>we have companion animals, we're not leaving out food for them.
<v Speaker 5>I have a dog who I am obsessed with. It's
<v Speaker 5>named Lily. But I make sure that overnight I'm not
<v Speaker 5>leaving for food out in the bowl, because all that
<v Speaker 5>will do is attract animals. But we're talking about mice
<v Speaker 5>or insects, and even something like a bird feeder can
<v Speaker 5>be an unknowing attracted right if you're throwing out little
<v Speaker 5>scraps for birds, Oftentimes those scraps end up being attractive
<v Speaker 5>to mice and other animals as well.
<v Speaker 2>So true. And also in warm climates you tend to
<v Speaker 2>have feral colonies of cats. Some people use the term
<v Speaker 2>feeder breeders. Toy'll leave food out for the cats and
<v Speaker 2>not take it in, and then they are wondering why
<v Speaker 2>they see little prints of you know, raccoons and passlam
<v Speaker 2>and all of that, and that also brings other creatures
<v Speaker 2>that you probably don't want.
<v Speaker 5>Around exactly exactly. Yeah, that's I mean, that's why this
<v Speaker 5>is sort of an adjacent or tangential point. But there
<v Speaker 5>are just millions and millions of homeless, unwonted dogs and
<v Speaker 5>cats in the US. So if you are ready to
<v Speaker 5>take one of these amazing animals into your home, make
<v Speaker 5>them a member of your family. We always encourage people
<v Speaker 5>to actually adopt these animals rather than you know, if
<v Speaker 5>there are cats who live outside in your neighborhood, rather
<v Speaker 5>than just feeding them and leaving them out on the
<v Speaker 5>streets where there are so many dangers, whether that's being
<v Speaker 5>hit by a car, getting sick some sort of infection,
<v Speaker 5>or being hurt by a fruel person who intends to
<v Speaker 5>do them harm. You know, if you have this cat
<v Speaker 5>who's coming to your porch, to your front door, wherever
<v Speaker 5>it is, you know, if you're confident they're not someone
<v Speaker 5>else's cat, you know, take them in, take them to
<v Speaker 5>the vet, get them, you know, checked up, make sure
<v Speaker 5>they're being taken care of, and have them become a
<v Speaker 5>real member of your family rather than just you know,
<v Speaker 5>a neighbor who drops by every so often.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly, and make sure they're fixed. You can usually tell
<v Speaker 2>by an ear notch.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, and yes, thank you for saying that, right.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, there are some fair fairal colonies that it's
<v Speaker 2>just hard to trap. But there are great cat trappers
<v Speaker 2>out there. I actually hired one, so I know from experience.
<v Speaker 2>I had a whole situation and I had to keep
<v Speaker 2>my yard free from anything that was toxic to save
<v Speaker 2>the kittens. And we're going to talk about that in
<v Speaker 2>the second half of the show. But I also want
<v Speaker 2>people to know where Jacob that can people go to
<v Speaker 2>find more information about PETA and more information on how
<v Speaker 2>to live in harmony with wildlife.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, so anyone who wants more information on you know,
<v Speaker 5>whether this is a wild life protection tip or just
<v Speaker 5>any of the myriad ways that in our daily lives
<v Speaker 5>it can be kindered to animals through how we eat.
<v Speaker 5>You know, what clothes we buy, what household and cosmetic
<v Speaker 5>products we buy, you know what forms of entertainment we
<v Speaker 5>engage with. You know, there are so so many ways
<v Speaker 5>for us to be kinder to animals, and the best
<v Speaker 5>place to start is to visit Peter dot org.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much for coming on Catitude and sharing
<v Speaker 2>this fantastic informative information.
<v Speaker 5>Thank you, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you.
<v Speaker 5>Have a great day.
<v Speaker 2>We're going to take a quick break and we'll being
<v Speaker 2>right back.
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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back everyone. I hope you enjoyed the first part
<v Speaker 2>of the show with Jacob from Peta. So I'm going
<v Speaker 2>to tell you my own story where I had to,
<v Speaker 2>you know, think out of the box in order to
<v Speaker 2>save creatures from anything toxic. It's kind of a funny story.
<v Speaker 2>If you are a longtime listener of Catitude, you might
<v Speaker 2>have heard it already, but for those of you that haven't,
<v Speaker 2>it is so in context with what we talked about
<v Speaker 2>in the first half I just have to share it
<v Speaker 2>with you. So when I first moved into my current home,
<v Speaker 2>there were two cats, Sammy and Jethro, and Sammy got pregnant.
<v Speaker 2>She was a skinny cat. I thought she was just
<v Speaker 2>eating well, you know, it turned out she was pregnant
<v Speaker 2>and end of September, about nine years ago, she had
<v Speaker 2>three babies. Mollie's one of her babies. The other two
<v Speaker 2>were adopted out. So it was interesting because the day
<v Speaker 2>that they were born, there was a storm. I think
<v Speaker 2>there was a hurricane warning, which is typical where I live,
<v Speaker 2>you know, South Florida. And first we had to protect
<v Speaker 2>the babies because Sammy had them hidden in a spot
<v Speaker 2>where there was a downpour and that would have drowned.
<v Speaker 2>Then we had to sea where she hid them. It
<v Speaker 2>turned out she hid them in the engine of my
<v Speaker 2>partner's truck, so not a good idea. You know. It
<v Speaker 2>was bizarre because she was so skinny sammy that she
<v Speaker 2>could arch herself around. Of Course, the car hadn't been
<v Speaker 2>used in a while, so it wasn't hot or anything,
<v Speaker 2>and she had her three babies near their nursing and
<v Speaker 2>we just thought, oh my gosh. And then she moved
<v Speaker 2>a little, the babies would PLoP out, so of course
<v Speaker 2>we put a cushion underneath the car just in case
<v Speaker 2>she went in there again. And then we went to
<v Speaker 2>around and we just rearranged the whole. We had an
<v Speaker 2>area of the side of the house that was like
<v Speaker 2>a little dog run. We added a tarb some shrubs.
<v Speaker 2>I kind of don't know what my partner was thinking.
<v Speaker 2>He was thinking, you know, magical cat land or something,
<v Speaker 2>because guess what happens when kittens are about two weeks old.
<v Speaker 2>They walk, they start going all over the place, and
<v Speaker 2>cars don't see kittens very well. So we didn't want
<v Speaker 2>to have one of those situations. So it was a
<v Speaker 2>kind of a gated area that had a harp. It'd
<v Speaker 2>add trees. We bought kitten milk, we bought special things
<v Speaker 2>for them to play with, everything we could do to
<v Speaker 2>keep the cats safe and from getting out. He might
<v Speaker 2>be thinking, so what if they got out, Well, not
<v Speaker 2>only would they possibly go into the street, and we
<v Speaker 2>would horrifically, you know, have one of them killed by
<v Speaker 2>being run over, because that's definitely possible. You know, people
<v Speaker 2>don't pay attention all the time. I whanted something tiny
<v Speaker 2>on the road you can't see it, so it's not
<v Speaker 2>always the driver either, So we didn't want that to happen.
<v Speaker 2>And then my neighbor next door, who my former neighbor
<v Speaker 2>from next door, He has a BB gun and he
<v Speaker 2>calls us and says, hey, raccoons are out, watch your kittens.
<v Speaker 2>And I thought, oh my gosh, what in the world
<v Speaker 2>do I do now? So he has a BB gun
<v Speaker 2>and he offered a pellot one of the rod the raccoons,
<v Speaker 2>and I thought, no, I don't want to do that.
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to hurt you know, nature, it's their habitat.
<v Speaker 5>You know.
<v Speaker 2>It's funny. I don't in a rural area, but there
<v Speaker 2>are raccoons and they are bold, and there are possums too,
<v Speaker 2>So I researched what could I do because whatever I
<v Speaker 2>did put in the grass, One, it affects wildlife. Two,
<v Speaker 2>it affects the animals that are around. Three it's gonna
<v Speaker 2>affect the kittens possibly, and of course not that the
<v Speaker 2>humans should be fourth. But what you have on the water,
<v Speaker 2>the chemicals could sometimes affect, you know, the water that
<v Speaker 2>you use. So I didn't want anything toxic. So I
<v Speaker 2>did a lot of research online what could I use,
<v Speaker 2>and so there was you know, there's a lot of
<v Speaker 2>things you have to be careful about. So I found
<v Speaker 2>this mixture and I'm going from memory here, but what
<v Speaker 2>I remember it was like hot sauce and vinegar and
<v Speaker 2>I don't know one or two other things that were
<v Speaker 2>kind of smelly. It was really smelly.
<v Speaker 1>And what I.
<v Speaker 2>Needed to do is I had to put like a cloth.
<v Speaker 2>I took a couple of old towels and cut them
<v Speaker 2>into strips and put them all around the perimeter of
<v Speaker 2>my property. And this was to deter the raccoons from
<v Speaker 2>coming in to get the kittens, because you know, raccoons
<v Speaker 2>and little baby kittens, wildlife pray. I don't want to
<v Speaker 2>go any further. So that's what I did. So picture this.
<v Speaker 2>I had a bunch of rags all around my house.
<v Speaker 2>And I live in a private, one story house, so
<v Speaker 2>it's all around my house. There's a lake behind, so
<v Speaker 2>it went to, you know, a few feet before the lake,
<v Speaker 2>but it was all around and I just hope this
<v Speaker 2>would keep the raccoons away. Well, and here's where the
<v Speaker 2>funning part comes in. I ran some errands, came back,
<v Speaker 2>and my partner says, look at this letter. I said
<v Speaker 2>what he says, look at this letter. Now, we had
<v Speaker 2>only lived in our home about I don't know six
<v Speaker 2>months at this time, and didn't know the neighbors too well.
<v Speaker 2>And my neighbor next door wrote a very nice, neat
<v Speaker 2>letter that went into great detail about how somebody puts
<v Speaker 2>something smelly all over the property and who could have
<v Speaker 2>done this? And this stinks and why are these wags there?
<v Speaker 2>And this is just horrible and you know, who in
<v Speaker 2>the right mind would do this? And I read it
<v Speaker 2>and I thought, oh my gosh, I haven't even met
<v Speaker 2>this neighbor and I've already upset her. What in the world.
<v Speaker 2>So right away I went over to her home because
<v Speaker 2>I want to take care of the problem. And I'm
<v Speaker 2>a person of action. I don't like to wait, I'm
<v Speaker 2>gonna do it now. Person. So I go over to
<v Speaker 2>her home and I said, I got your note and
<v Speaker 2>she said, yes, who could have done this? I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>This is crazy, this has never happened before. This is crazy,
<v Speaker 2>blah blah blah. And I said wait, wait, it was me.
<v Speaker 2>And she goes, now, why would you do something to
<v Speaker 2>put something so smelly by our property? I said, well,
<v Speaker 2>this is why, and I explained the story with the
<v Speaker 2>raccoons and you know, could possibly attack the little kittens
<v Speaker 2>and that sort of a thing, and she goes, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I understand, and I told her it would only be
<v Speaker 2>for a few more days. We had already decided to
<v Speaker 2>adopt Molly and I was going to adopt out the
<v Speaker 2>other two cats, so it was just a matter of
<v Speaker 2>a couple days. I explained that I really didn't want
<v Speaker 2>the little kittens to be eaten by the raccoons or
<v Speaker 2>attacked by the raccoons or possums or anything else, and
<v Speaker 2>she thankfully understood. She does not have any fur babies,
<v Speaker 2>but she's very compassionate. So I think I had the
<v Speaker 2>smelly rags around my house for about a week. It
<v Speaker 2>rained in between, so I had to make the mixture
<v Speaker 2>again with more smelly rags, but the problem was resolved.
<v Speaker 2>Nothing toxic for the cats or for wildlife, and it
<v Speaker 2>kept the raccoons away. So this is my story to
<v Speaker 2>how you can live with wildlife and do it in
<v Speaker 2>a natural, unharming way. And by the way, the mixture
<v Speaker 2>with toxic would not harm the raccoons if they went
<v Speaker 2>by it, but the raccoons would not go by it
<v Speaker 2>because of the smells of the mixture, you know, the
<v Speaker 2>hot sauce and the vinegar, and because of that, the
<v Speaker 2>raccoons didn't want any part of it. So it was
<v Speaker 2>just a win win all around. So thanks everyone for
<v Speaker 2>listening to this episode of CATA two. Thank you Jacob
<v Speaker 2>from Peter for coming on and telling us ways to
<v Speaker 2>live better with nature, to be more cognizant of what
<v Speaker 2>we do so we keep all the animals in mind.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks to everyone listening to Catitude. I appreciate your listenership.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks to my cat crew, Dennis, Charlotte and Molly. Thanks
<v Speaker 2>so much to my producer Mark Winter for working his
<v Speaker 2>magic and making every episode sound amazing. And hey, lose
<v Speaker 2>the attitude have Catitude.
<v Speaker 4>Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlifradio
<v Speaker 4>dot com.