The Sixty-Five Mile Per Hour Cat

[RobesonsRme.com]

Have you ever seen a domestic house cat running at sixty-five mph?

I have, and a sight it was, but it was so quick, I had to think really hard about what I'd just seen in order to recreate the event in my mind.

Several years ago, I was driving to work early in the morning. It was Spring or Summer, as it was good daylight and it was only about 5:30AM.

I was on the Interstate, clipping along with most everybody else at about 65 mph, the usual 10 mph above the posted speed limit that we all drive here.

I was a few car lengths behind the vehicle in front of me, a late model silver-grey pick-up.

We were in the outside lane, headed west.

All of a sudden I saw a grey tabby cat drop out from under the rear-end of the truck. He must have been clutching onto the spare tire or possibly the differential.

That cat hit the concrete at 65 mph, tumbled head over heels twice and caught his footing before the third flip. His little legs were moving so fast they were just a blur.

Well Sir, he crossed the inside west-bound lane on the diagonal, cut a six or seven inch wide swath through the somewhat tall and not recently mowed grass in the median, down across and out of the drainage "V" in the center, up through the grass on the other side and then across the two east-bound lanes, over the shoulder, into the tall grass on the other side of the Interstate and on down the hill and out of sight.

I know his claws must have been worn down to nubs and his foot pads must have been smoking hot when he finally stopped, where ever and when ever that might have been.

I guess he had been taking his repose under the back-end of the truck when the guy came out of the house, got in, started it up and drove away. He should have gotten off right then, but he hesitated.

I watched the papers for a couple of weeks to see if anyone posted a missing cat ad. I was going to call and ask if they owned a silver-grey truck and if they'd said yes, I was going to suggest they place some ads in some Mississippi papers as well, as they might actually have a better chance of finding him there.

Charlie Noyes

[philco]

We lost a cat that way when I was a kid. One our neighbors was driving in the car behind us and saw it come out from under the car and dash into the weeds along the side of the road never to be seen again. I don't think we were traveling at quite 65 mph at the time.

[Ramrod]

I havent seen that....BUT...
I have seen a momma cat have kittens inside the rear bag of the lawnmower....without anyone knowing....
The ones that tried to exit as it started, werent as lucky as the ones that stayed put..
Explain that to your older sister.
Mark

[orvet]

It was in the 1960s, when engine compartments had a bit more room in them, when I heard of a cat sleeping on the engine and then getting caught in the fan when the guy started the car the next morning and startled the cat awake.
He said he had to steam clean his engine.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Dale, I think cats are well known to crawl up inside the fan housing on a cold day seeking warmth. I'm sure it works.

If they don't exit prior to one's next cranking of the engine, they have no escape.

Messy, I'm sure.

Charlie

[gringo]

It was in the 1960s, when engine compartments had a bit more room in them, when I heard of a cat sleeping on the engine and then getting caught in the fan when the guy started the car the next morning and startled the cat awake.
He said he had to steam clean his engine.

welll..confession time...
i had this dog...a sheltie...shetland sheep dog...now if anyone has ever seen a herd dog in action..
imagine that on drugs...
this dog was a monster on things moving without her permission...fans, aircraft at 30 thou...anything at all...and it had best go where she demanded...right now.

so i go into rock springs cafe for coffee...back in the 80's...smaller then, everyone knew that dog, so i could leave her outside an have a cup...which i do...
but it is friday night...kinda crowded...so i get it to go...by the time i go outside, here is pippin, ALL over this brand new corvette...well..last thing a poor person needs is the rich guy who owns the entire rock springs area, thinking your dog just scratched the poop out of his new vette...with good reason...

so..i get the dog back in the truck an am giving her the verbal what in the heck are yo doing now???
{this is while i am refreshing her ice water an pamperin the heck out of her.}
as the two of us are going on...to the amusment of the local hang out front folks....
the owner of the new vette comes out..he picked up some dolly parton look alike in his bar, an gonna give her a ride home in his new vette...now i know this cause he is real loud so all of us know he got lucky...
so he starts the engine just like you are not supposed to, but does impress the uneducated with the VAROOM of a tuned engine...
so VAROOOOscheechthudbangMMMMMMM
as a mechanic, i was really interested in this noise...have heard several self destructions in my life....

yeck..cat waraped around the clutch fan...in 103 degree heat...
so i says...if that were my car, i'd get it to the car wash....then jumped in my truck and headed for the bradshaws for a few weeks of hideout...
continued later...times up here at the library...

[gringo]

so...to continue...
i scram after talking to the owner of the vette...the blond bimbo is no longer intrested in doing the ride with the dude...
and i find a sudden intrest in prospecting...

i come back around three weeks later...enuff gold to embarass myself if i show anyone...
i am sitting in front of the cafe, with friends..discussing the fine points of moving tons of dirt an rocks to get a nugget...sure is good exersize.
so we are sitting there...sheltie in question is strutting around with something in her mouth...now, shelties don't strut...or if they do, you break them of it...they are so full of themselves anyway...
so i call her over..."drop it" i command...she listens{we had long talks about listening to me}
plunk..right at my feet, she dropps the rear leg off this kittie she had run up under the hood of the vette...

yeck... and she was so proud of her effort...
i throw the leg up on top of the cafe, to keep the damn dog from showing the owner...
dang...