I really want to jump in on this one, as I have plenty of "dead cat and
other desiccated animals in the walls" stories from my days working
contracting and exploring historic houses, but I'll refrain because
somewhere in the world it is dinner time. All I can say is from all that I
have seen, I would be hard pressed to come to the conclusion that any had
been put there purposefully, even knowing how sick some of my fellow good
old boys are / were. Hiding of boots, thermoses, gloves, lunches, etc., is
a different story.
Dan W.
At 03:14 PM 10/25/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>I didn't see the original posting about this...and probably shouldn't
>bother replying...but...I have seen a (dead) desicated or "mummified" cat
>that was found under a house floor (in the crawl space). Upon drying...the
>skin pulls back...so it would be 'normal' for the mouth to be gaping
>wide...and the form to look "grotesque" (contorted)...even if the animal
>died while curled up sleeping. My point being, they don't have to die a
>traumatic death to look this way...natural desication creates such a
>look...from my limited experience with such dead bodies. Cats can crawl
>into small spaces...and die 'accidentally' inside walls, etc. I doubt
>many, if any, were put into the walls on purpose (unwillingly, etc.).
>
>At 07:15 PM 10/22/2004 +0100, you wrote:
>>In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest processor
>><[log in to unmask]> writes
>> >I am still rather puzzled by your statement that cats mummified in
>> grotesque
>> >positions are proof positive that they were placed there unwillingly,
>> unless
>> >they were actually set in the plaster which is not the situation with the
>> >mummified cats which were alleged in the program to have been used to ward
>> >off witches. How do you get a live cat placed within a wall cavity to
>> hold a
>> >grotesque position while it starves to death and why would the position it
>> >died in be any different from that of a cat which was trapped accidentally
>> >within the same cavity?
>>
>>I've seen cats which were either put into walls dead, or they
>>unfortunately starved to death in the wall at the very moment they put
>>their claws into a mouse.
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