# Wowbagger the Mercotan, Hero Cat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902 "2019-11-24T03:48:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/41 "2019-11-24T22:28:45Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Was the cheese cave safe? > StG It was the 3rd thing I checked, after the Mrs. and the hero cat. Cheeses were all fine, including the 20 year old cheddar, and a very, VERY nice 5 year old Vermont cheddar. The 7 year old gouda (from the Netherlands) was all right too. Sadly, the epoisses du Bourgogne smelled like it had peed itself, and had to be discarded. A shame, but the epoisses are nervous cheeses, at least those imported into the US. So this happens often. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/42 "2019-11-24T22:31:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and I believe that the proper past tense for “fling” is “yflong”. The poster yclept **Chronos** speaks truly. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/43 "2019-11-24T22:33:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It’s a freakin’ TARDIS disguised as a rambling lakeside residence. > > Cynthia must have quite a loud alarm call to be heard at the opposite end of The Manor. Either that, or the echos lined up just right. You gotta visit again and see just how lakeside the damn residence is these days, with rising water levels. Every storm is exciting now. And while the house is a bit on the largish size, it does have odd acoustics in that noise from the kitchen seems to reflect into the Master suite without diminution of sound. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/44 "2019-11-24T22:43:09Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You lived in the 'burbs, dear. You never had to navigate the streets around Homewood or east Baltimore after dark. > > I also suspect you weren’t at every Hopkins lax game, screaming your fool head off, like some Baltimorons I know (and love). No, I went to Goucher - back when it was still a woman’s school. Tho I did go to a frat party at Hopkins. It was awful! However, I did navigate portions of East Baltimore at all hours - my grandparents lived in Canton/Fells Point area. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/45 "2019-11-24T22:50:12Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > No, I went to Goucher - back when it was still a woman’s school. Tho I did go to a frat party at Hopkins. It was awful! When were you at Goucher? We might have dated! Not that it led to anything if we did . . . Yeah, Hopkins parties were awful. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/46 "2019-11-24T22:54:15Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Got a cite for the changing of recommended human therapy due to possible bat rabies exposure due to the known presence of bat herpes, though? **flatlined** , I hope that didn’t come off as snarky, I didn’t mean it to be. I am curious about reading more about bats not having as high an incidence of rabies than previously reported. So I would enjoy it if you could point me to info about this phenomenon; I did some googling and didn’t find much that seemed relevant, beyond the statements that bats had a lot of herpes too. And I truly did look to see if the Mrs. truly needed the vaccine, and expert medical opinion comes down heavily on the side of doing so these days. Thanks for your contribution. Now my mind keeps pondering what the degree of public health threat by bats truly is. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/47 "2019-11-24T23:00:01Z")
Given how common bats are I suspect the public health threat is not very great… the problem is, the few times it IS a real problem the risks are so very high. Somewhere on the SDMB archives is the tale of when a bat got loose in my home. It’s been a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/48 "2019-11-24T23:11:07Z")
We have many bats here in South Arkansas. I see them flitting about our security lights catching flying insects attracted to the light. I’ve never had one in the house but I have seen dead ones on the ground. I bury them as I don’t want the barn cat to eat them. We’ve only had her/him caged long enough to get rabies vaccine in her twice in the 7-8 years she’s been here. The word around here is rabies are carried by many small mammals (skunks, fox, raccoons) Not to mention the large population of feral hogs. ETA - bat transmitted herpes sounds truly scary. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/49 "2019-11-24T23:41:35Z")
My bathroom is down the hall and around a corner from my living room. Once I heard the cat romping around in the bathroom, then heard a squeaking. Said squeaking came down the hall, and I thought “Oh no, the cat is bringing me a mouse.” He turned the corner, and the mouse, clutched in cat’s mouth, _ **was flapping it’s wings!** _ So I made him drop it and it proceeded to get up and fly around the living room. I swatted it out of the air with a pillow and it fell down stunned. I grabbed it with an oven mitt, and it came back to active, struggling life. I tossed it outside and it flew off. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/50 "2019-11-25T03:47:13Z")
The poor bat ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/51 "2019-11-25T13:24:04Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > When were you at Goucher? We might have dated! Not that it led to anything if we did . . . > > Yeah, Hopkins parties were awful. I was just there for the '72-'73 school year and I know we never dated because I never dated - not by my choice, but by the choice of the various ignorant guys out there. 😛 I even went to one of those cattle-call dances at the Naval Academy, bussed in no less, and not a single Middie even talked to me! Guess I was just a late bloomer. Just another bit of trivia, the first dentist I had when we moved here also went to Goucher - that’s when I found out it had gone coed. He’s not a very good dentist, but I don’t know if that’s Goucher’s fault. 😃 And Hopkins-related - my spousal unit’s orthopedic surgeon was my bro’s undergrad roomie, and he taught (teaches?) a class at Hopkins. I know he’s about to retire from his practice, but I don’t know if he’s still teaching. More than you care to know, especially in a bat-related thread… ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/52 "2019-11-26T01:39:57Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It was the 3rd thing I checked, after the Mrs. and the hero cat. Cheeses were all fine, including the 20 year old cheddar, and a very, VERY nice 5 year old Vermont cheddar. The 7 year old gouda (from the Netherlands) was all right too. Sadly, the epoisses du Bourgogne smelled like it had peed itself, and had to be discarded. A shame, but the epoisses are nervous cheeses, at least those imported into the US. So this happens often. Well, it _is_ a French cheese. StG ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/53 "2019-11-26T19:02:08Z")
It’s not surprising that you, cat, woman teamed up to defeat the bat, man. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/54 "2019-11-27T12:08:28Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Tell the human wench Cynthia she has our best wishes during her Time of Trevails, and give Wowbagger high fives from all the feline denizens of Casa Silenus. If Wowbagger is a polydactyl cat, give him high sixes. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/55 "2019-11-27T12:12:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I left out the Master Suite, the West Wing, the Guest Suite, the North Suite, the South Spare room, the Bunkroom, the Bridge, the Vault, the Massage Room, and the Abattoir. Those had been effectively sealed against bat intrusion at the time and hence were not of concern. I also inadvertently omitted the Boiler room, which the bat might have found its way into. Same for the Grand Stairwell. As for the Oubliette, you probably just forgot that one was there. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/56 "2019-11-27T17:20:31Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > As for the Oubliette, you probably just forgot that one was there. We have no classic oubliettes, but we have 5 separate attics. All are sealed well enough against bat encroachment, I believe. One is the traditional trap-door access. The others are behind false walls, or doors at the back of closets. We also have 7 bathrooms. I don’t know why we have 7 bathrooms, it all seemed to make some sort of sense at the time they were built. The original blueprints called for an 8th bathroom, but Pops Mercotan turned it into a bar instead. Oh yeah, the house has two bars in it. And we don’t even drink. Oh, and two secret doors that don’t look like doors, leading to walk in closets. Only two fireplaces though. They share a single chimney, as the living room one is stacked on top of the basement one. And it does have a walk in vault, too. With a safe door salvaged from an old bank. We’re talking a huuge heavy duty safe door. I have a weird house. But it’s comfy. Except when containing bats. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/57 "2019-11-27T18:22:37Z")
It’s always better to be closer to a bathroom than farther. Sort of like when you’re putting in a fence - always put in twice as many gates as you think you’ll need. StG ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/58 "2019-11-27T23:38:57Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > We have no classic oubliettes, but we have 5 separate attics. All are sealed well enough against bat encroachment, I believe. One is the traditional trap-door access. The others are behind false walls, or doors at the back of closets. > > We also have 7 bathrooms. I don’t know why we have 7 bathrooms, it all seemed to make some sort of sense at the time they were built. The original blueprints called for an 8th bathroom, but Pops Mercotan turned it into a bar instead. > > Oh yeah, the house has two bars in it. And we don’t even drink. > > Oh, and two secret doors that don’t look like doors, leading to walk in closets. > > Only two fireplaces though. They share a single chimney, as the living room one is stacked on top of the basement one. > > And it does have a walk in vault, too. With a safe door salvaged from an old bank. We’re talking a huuge heavy duty safe door. > > I have a weird house. But it’s comfy. Except when containing bats. It sounds like a fascinating house. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/59 "2019-11-28T06:05:26Z")
Ahem! You forgot the most important part of all: PICTURES!!! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902/60 "2019-11-28T10:17:08Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > It sounds like a fascinating house. Having seen it in real life… yes, yes it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wowbagger-the-mercotan-hero-cat/843902.md?page=4)