I encountered some of you guys on B forum, just thought i would say

[old ned]

I encountered some of you guys on B forum, just thought i would say hello.

 

[cristo]

Hi Ned. Welcome to PF!

 

[Kurdt]

Hey old ned, welcome to PF!

 

[Evo]

Hey Old Ned!

 

[dlgoff]

Welcome old ned.

 

[Evo]

Are you going to be around for awhile? I want to see those stone etchings.

 

[old ned]

Are you going to be around for awhile? I want to see those stone etchings.

Alas, they have gone to the museum, along with the elongated leaf shaped ring and dot decorated pendant thing i found, in fact i gave them loads of things i have found.
I wish i did not take this option, it was like a prisoner giving his personal bits and bobs to a jailor i thought i would at least get a thankyou.

 

[Evo]

Too bad ned.

 

[old ned]

An aside, did you guys know about the murder of cats in the old days, it seems witches were not the only hunted things, the killing of cats may have hastened the black death, how crazy is that.

 

[Borek]

I heard cats were burnt just like witches.

 

[Evo]

An aside, did you guys know about the murder of cats in the old days, it seems witches were not the only hunted things, the killing of cats may have hastened the black death, how crazy is that.

Yes, I have read that. The rat population was out of control without the cats.

 

[lisab]

Hi Ned! Welcome to PF - hope you like it here.

Sad that people were so unenlightened about kitties back then, isn't it .

 

[old ned]

Hi Ned! Welcome to PF - hope you like it here.

Sad that people were so unenlightened about kitties back then, isn't it .

One can only wonder, i can not even imagine killing animals as some sort of revenge, but in Germany, France, they were even putting animals on trial, pigs, horses, rats etc, they must have had some good enterprenters in those days.

 

[~christina~]

Hi old ned! I welcome you to PF, like everyone else here.

The killing of cats may have, "hastened" the black death like you speak, due to the original purpose of the cat. Cats were used to keep grain stores, free of rats. When there aren't any cats, the rat population expands, and thus fleas become a bigger problem. (obvious of course)

 

[Ouabache]

Welcome Ol' Ned! nice to see you on PF..
On this kitty discussion, i see they are also very susceptible to contacting plague from rat fleas. (http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcfleas.htm" ). So even if they could have aided in keeping down the rat pop'n, they could have accelerated the spread of the plague.

 

[~christina~]

On this kitty discussion, i see they are also very susceptible to contacting plague from rat fleas. (http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcfleas.htm" ). So even if they could have aided in keeping down the rat pop'n, they could have accelerated the spread of the plague.

I don't think that is true, that the cats could have, "accelerated the spread of the plague." The reason is that, the major carriers of the plague were the black rats. Even if the cats were susceptible to the disease, it doesn't mean that they were a major contributor to the spread of the disease. (the amount of rats compared with cats and the fact that the rats did not die of the disease, whilst the cats did)
link: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...57C0A962958260&n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Cats

 

[hypatia]

Hello and welcome, enjoy your stay.

 

[turbo]

Wecome, Old Ned!

Interesting tidbit - the Egyptians used domesticated ferrets to guard their granaries because the ferrets would eat the pests (insects, rodents, etc) and not eat the grain. Eventually, Eqyptian royalty got into their cat-fetish and cats became all the rage.

On cargo ships, a mix of ferrets and cats was employed. Ferrets could get into much tighter spaces to "ferret out" their prey, and if they could not catch the rats, etc, they could at least drive them out to more open areas where the cats had a chance to kill them.

 

[Ouabache]

I don't think that is true, that the cats could have, "accelerated the spread of the plague." The reason is that, the major carriers of the plague were the black rats. Even if the cats were susceptible to the disease, it doesn't mean that they were a major contributor to the spread of the disease. (the amount of rats compared with cats and the fact that the rats did not die of the disease, whilst the cats did)
link: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...57C0A962958260&n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Cats

What I mean, is if cats were allowed to roam free in an environment with a high incidence of Black Death (and not hunted down like a witches in early Britain), they themselves, would be a vector for the bacterium. If your infected cat came around and rubbed against your legs for attention, any scratches on your skin would allow transmission of the disease. (they do lick their fur to clean themselves though i don't know, off hand, how long the bacteria may survive in saliva, and also any sores on their skin are potentially infectious) So in addition to the rats carrying fleas, the cats would be a contagion and carry the disease closer to their human companions, thereby accelerating spread of the disease.