animals (Page 4) lori100: The State Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg ‘hires’ cats to protect its artworks against rodents. The so-called ‘guard cats’ go unnoticed as they dwell in the attics and basements, away from the tourist eye. The museum administration has been ‘employing’ these highly skillful ‘guards’ ever since the museum was founded in 1764. Even though nowadays rats and mice can easily be exterminated using chemicals, the museum cannot do without cats who have become its living legend and mascot. ---------Since then, Hermitage cats have been taken good care of. Each so-called “hermit” carries a passport with a photo certifying that he is qualified to pursue the difficult task of protecting the museum basements against rodents. The cats are well looked after, fed properly, attended to if ill and respected for their hard work. Museum employees know all male and female cats by their names, and the name for each cat is picked carefully, to suit his or her character. lori100: I remember when that news story ^^^ came out....none of his neighbors knew of the tiger until they drugged and carried the tiger out of the apartment....----------Ming was a young tiger, approximately 2 years old, who lived in an apartment on the fifth floor of a large living complex in Harlem, New York in 2003. His owner, Antoine Yates, had several pets in his home, both normal and exotic. At the same time that he was keeping Ming in one of his bedrooms, he was raising an alligator named “Al” in another bedroom. Ming's existence became known and reported in the media[1] when Yates appeared at a nearby hospital emergency room with deep bite marks in his thigh. He claimed that his pet pit bull had bitten him, but the medical personnel were suspicious, because the width of the bite marks suggested an animal with a very large jaw. ------------------In addition, Yates had taken roommates, unaware at first of the animals in the home. According to the New York Daily News, A woman who shared a Harlem apartment with a 425-pound tiger said today she was terrified at first, but soon got used to living with the man-eater down the hall. Caroline Domingo told the Daily News she couldn't believe her eyes when she spotted the big cat roaming free in the apartment where she and her husband rented a room from tiger-owner Antoine Yates. But eventually, she said, "We all became family."[ (Edited by lori100) | Animals Chat Room Similar Conversations |
