View Full Version : Cats on the trail?
hikerboy57
05-21-2011, 15:42
There seems to be a lot of debate about dogs on the trail by both dog lovers and anti"caninists. But what aboout cats on the trail? what precautions should be taken to ensure your cat has a good trail experience?certainly would help with shelter mice, but does anyone have experience bringing their cat?leash/no leash?
DaveSail
05-21-2011, 15:53
I read about a guy whose cat rode all the way to Katahdin on
the top of his pack . As you guessed , he was a big hit in the
shelters dispatching a lot of mice ! You probably can read
about him here with an appropriate search . David
saw a pic of a cat on top of a pack. I think was in AWOL's book
I read about a guy whose cat rode all the way to Katahdin on
the top of his pack . As you guessed , he was a big hit in the
shelters dispatching a lot of mice ! You probably can read
about him here with an appropriate search . David
Yes, Jim Adams AKA "Geek" should chime in here about Ziggy!
johnnybgood
05-21-2011, 16:02
Jim Adams (aka "the Geek" had a Manx named Ziggy that walked to Blood Mtn and then rode the top of his pack the rest of the way.
WingedMonkey
05-21-2011, 16:18
I've never heard of anyone hiking with a cat while sober.
:banana
hikerboy57
05-21-2011, 16:22
I've never heard of anyone hiking with a cat while sober.
:bananaI didnt know cats got drunk.
Skidsteer
05-21-2011, 16:32
I've never heard of anyone hiking with a cat while sober.
:banana
I see you've met Geek. :D
Sorry Geek, just too easy to pass up.
Jersey Tim
05-21-2011, 16:43
I read about that in Awol's book too. Having never owned a cat, I wondered how the guy kept the cat from taking off after squirrels, or crapping on his pack, or wandering away during the night.
LoneRidgeRunner
05-21-2011, 17:18
Personally I love dogs but I hate cats... Tom Cats will piss all over your gear too..and it stinks worse than dog piss
Cats make nice coyote food around here, I suppose the trail would be the same. Personally I wouldn't want to wake up with somebody's cat or dog for that matter on my bag in the morning.
Personally I love dogs but I hate cats... Tom Cats will piss all over your gear too..and it stinks worse than dog piss
Oh no here we go. You just insulted me. I'm a cat lover and my cats are trained and would never piss on your gear! :D
Frogdown
05-21-2011, 18:15
I have cats and dogs - love them all. Just like HYOH! Love your own animals!
Jonnycat
05-21-2011, 20:30
As long as they are leashed and stay out of water sources! :D :D :D
Jim Adams
05-21-2011, 23:34
I see you've met Geek. :D
Sorry Geek, just too easy to pass up.
LOL...so true, so true!
I did not initally plan to hike with a cat. I got Ziggy by accident on the river portion of a 5,000 mile, 13 month trip.
Ziggy rode the top of my external frame pack from near Woody Gap to Fontana (he walked to Woody). The permits at the Smokies used to read "dogs prohibited" but they heard about Ziggy coming up the trail and when I got there they were "stamped over" with "no pets". I had a buddy of mine from Knoxville pick him up on his motorcycle and keep him for the week that it took me to get through the park and then I got him back. He stayed on a leash through the entire trip unless the other hikers wanted him to roam free or while we were camping away from shelters. I never had a complaint from anyone and most of the time they wanted him free to catch mice. He was neutered and did not piss on equipment. He would crawl into my bag via the face opening and most mornings would wake up inside my sleeping bag at my feet...he was a great furnace! When I got to Abol Bridge I left him at Abol Campground and paid the girl there to keep him until I summited. I got him back the next night and then he rode the back of my bicycle from Maine back to Pennsylvania.
He weighed about a pound when I got him. He weighed 14 pounds at the end of the trip. He weighed 21 pounds at death.
When he was 1 year old he had been in 25 states...all human powered.:cool:
geek
Jim Adams
05-21-2011, 23:41
Go to photo gallery search. Type in Ziggy. There is a picture of him on my pack.
If you have the movie Trail Magic, there is a short scene on the porch at Fontana with Ziggy on my pack.
His picture is also in the 1990 Hikers photo book at the ATC headquarters.
He had about 10-15 different meows that I learned and knew what each one meant...we talked alot.
geek
springerfever
05-22-2011, 06:27
cool story...that was one fat cat !!!!!
mweinstone
05-22-2011, 07:23
if you guys knew geek it makes even a better story. he means he talked to ziggy alot when he says it. intelegent, vocal, current , intelectual conversation. not like here kitty and din din. were talking world economic structures and the nature of the human exsperience. and such.
Jim Adams
05-22-2011, 07:58
cool story...that was one fat cat !!!!!
Ziggy wasn't fat...he was that big. He would stand in the driveway, look up at the roof of the garage and just leap up there. He was big.
Leading to another thread here......being Manx, he had the facial hair flair around his face, the tuffs of hair on his ears, the long back legs and a very stort tail.....I had to put him to sleep on Dec. 29, 1993 when he drug himself home with his front paws. Someone had shot him and severed his spine and he was paralyzed from near the waist down. I think someone thought that he was a bobcat...he was that big and his markings were very similar......but bobcats are protected here.:mad:
geek
I've seen a couple of hikers with cats. (Unfortunately I wasn't on the trail when Geek was hiking with Ziggy. I love cats, and he was a special one.)
One was a girl who was hiking with her crazy father in '06. They had a lot of weird things going on and had been investigated by DSS in one or two states. When I ran into them, the girl had a cat riding on top her external-frame pack.
Another was a young NOBO who had found a kitten. (This was in Grayson Highlands a couple of years ago.) I offered to take the kitten from him and bring it home with me to take care of. He said no, he was going to keep it with him while he was hiking. Don't know how that turned out.
springerfever
05-22-2011, 08:58
Jim,
During your thru with Ziggy did you have to carry cat food with you or did Ziggy feed off the land (i.e. mice in the shelters/etc) ?