honing? divining?

one of those round metal stick ... things.

Honing steel, or sharpening steel, or just a steel.

Honing! Gotcha. Although it would be funny to make him try and divine water with it.

I told you guys the water company came out with a divining rod when we asked them to mark where the water lines were during our house build, right? The SO was all, "What is he doing!?!" and our builder looked out and was all, "Oh, witching for water."

My mother swears we found all the wells on our old property by having a cousin "witch" for them. I reserve judgment.

I've skipped madly to the end to ask cat-capturing advice: Sammie the Cat, after two days gone, has returned to my patio, and is pleased to see me. I found a bunch of pale fur in the driveway the morning he didn't come back and I was halfway sure he'd been eaten by something. It's been raining heavily the whole time, though, and I know he has some hidey-place he goes to when it rains, so that's probably where he's been. (I am certain he does not have a human.) After that little panic, I'm determined not to let him get away again. BUT! It's nighttime, and the vet doesn't open until 9am. Should I leave him in a kennel-box all night long? Presuming I can even get him in it. Should I bring him in or leave him outside? I don't want him inside until he's been checked by the vet and I know he's not bringing my inside kitties any diseases. I've never had to capture a cat before, and as friendly as he is towards me, I know he's not going to just walk into that box. What should I do? He's usually here in the mornings for food, but what if he leaves again and doesn't come back? fret

If you can grab him, at least lock him in a bathroom or something. My parents keep the ferals they capture in a bathroom until they can get to a vet (and they've had some sad cases that were terminal and contaigious.) I don't think it is necessary to keep him totally outside the house. If you are really worried, in the bathroom in a crate, with a towel barrier at the threshold and wash your hands after contact. Most of the buggyboos require at least a swapping of spit.

My mother swears we found all the wells on our old property by having a cousin "witch" for them.

Could be true without water divining being valid. I've been told that if you dig deep enough any place you hit water, and mostly within the range of standard well digging equipment. So wherever a water diviner choose, chances are it will work. Not a geologist so ...

Zen, I have successfully caught feral cats by putting food inside a carrier cage, tying a string to the door, and watching until they were inside to pull the string and shut the door. If he's calm about you being around you might be able to just walk over and shut the door on him while he eats. If you have a utility room or extra bathroom, somewhere you can put him (in the carrier) and shut out your cats, that's probably what I would do overnight. He may well yowl and struggle the whole time he's in the carrier. Or he might relax, and just wait to see what happens next.

I gotta admit something: as much as I love my vets and the techs, it seems like the practice has expanded beyond what a single office manager can handle. I kinda wish msbelle had moved here, because I think she'd whip it into shape. I think only having one manager probably abetted the mixup with MK.

The divining he did was basically walking the line along the property. I mean, it wasn't a big range between the access and the fire hydrant where the line could possibly have been. And I'd drawn on the map where the lines were when they laid them. So we were pretty much having him mark them for liability purposes.

But it was still pretty disconcerting to see him tromping around out there with his Y shaped stick. That's my public utility!