Keeping cat off your tying desk
Ok it's funny, but what do you do about a fly tying cat. Mine loves to play with the tools. I was told to cover my desk with aluminum foil. So far it's worked. Any other ideas, he's agreat cat. dan
[This message has been edited by Danny Gober (edited 17 February 2006).]
Buy him his own set of tools.
My wifes 15lbs. bunny would eat the feathers that fell on to the floor from my tying table. And of course I'd get yelled at by my wife when she'd see him hop by with a red or purple saddle hackle hanging from his mouth.
I just keep everything bundled up in rubbermaid tubs and no problems. One of my cats would sneak in and grab this small piece of bucktail I used to leave laying around. Finally I just gave it to them and they've been playing with it ever since. Now that they have that bucktail it would seem that they could care less about any of the other stuff. I still close the door at night though, just in case.
Jeremy
I have a tomcat that likes to sit in my lap while I am at the vise. I tried giving him a piece of something but he didn't want that. However, if I left something close to the edge of the desk a foot would come up over the edge and he'd "steal" it. He'd carry it around for days and keep it in his "toy basket". After he destroyed it he'd want to "steal" something else. He's happy; I'm happy.
Donald
Shoot the Cat. Probably get a lot of great dubbing off of an entire cat. Could you send photos to each of so that we could see what colors and if we would be interested in swapping materials?
Sorry I couldn't resist. I am a dog person but don't wish any ill will towards your cat. I think the rubbermaid idea is best and safest for you and your cat. I could only imagine how hard it would be to pass some of the things on my desk through the digestive system of a cat.
If your cat doesn't like being combed, keep a comb at your tying station and whenever he comes around, comb a little dubbing off of him. Let him see you bag it. (I use small, ziplock-style bags from Michael's.). For some reason or other, taking and keeping their fur like that seems to bother some cats.
The last time I was tying with artic fox, my sister's sheltie came sniffing around. I let him sniff a patch of the fur. He got a very worried look on is face as if to ask, "What did HE do to annoy you?". I had to re-assure the dog that all was OK.
Ed
Our cat is very fond of sitting on my desk while I tye. He's never tried to play with any tools or eat any materials though so I've never tried to get rid of him while tying. As his fur makes a great mottled gray nymph dubbing he tends to vacate the desk whenever he sees me coming at him with a pair of scissors and what my wife describes as "that look" in my eyes.
On the other hand, we've got a black Labrador Retriever that is just the right height to steal materials off of my desk when he's sitting down. He's particularly fond of calf tails and elk and moose hair and has actually become quite stealthy at stealing these whenever he can while my attention is diverted with the actual tying of the fly.
Perhaps a Labrador Retreiver Streamer is in order for my next dozen flies...
-Darryl
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"If we carry purism to it's logical conclusion, to do it right you'd have to live naked in a cave, hit your trout on the head with rocks, and eat them raw. But, so as not to violate another essential element of the fly-fishing tradition, the rocks would have to be quarried in England and cost $300 each."
~John Gierach
My one wish is that when I die my wife doesn't sell my fishing stuff for what I told her I paid for it...
This is what I do, it's a 5 step process but it's pretty easy to master:
Step 1: pick up cat
Step 2: walk to the front door
Step 3: open front door
Step 4: throw cat outside
Step 5: close door.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>This is what I do, it's a 5 step process but it's pretty easy to master:
Step 1: pick up cat
Step 2: walk to the front door
Step 3: open front door
Step 4: throw cat outside
Step 5: close door.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hmmm, a cat lover?
In this day and age of way too many stray cats and dogs, simply throwing the cat out the door is not really an acceptable solution.
[This message has been edited by Magneto (edited 18 February 2006).]
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