Ever in search of better mousetrap, I’ve been reading about Toxoplasmosis.
This disease is transmissable by about 1% of cats, in the form of parasitic spores, and can be harmful to children and pregnant women, who are not therefore supposed to go anywhere near litter trays.
One curious aspect of this bug is that when it is eaten by rodents they lose their fear of predators, making them much easier to catch.
Today’s invention is therefore a ‘green’, rat- or mousetrap in the form of two-layer litter tray. Placed somewhere with a big feline population, the top layer would allow cats to do their business as usual but have a perforated base through which the spore-laden faeces could fall into the lower tray. Then the upper tray would be closed (using a timer like that in a cat feeder).
The lower tray would be essentially a tunnel in which some bait could be placed.
When the smell of cat had abated somewhat, the lower tray could be opened (using the same clockwork mechanism) and large numbers of rodentine pests would then pass through the tunnel, become infected and thus rendered much more vulnerable to the local cats (and dogs).
