I agree that it really depends on the nature of your site.  I love cats,
like majorly love cats, but they can be very destructive and they can be a
serious allergy threat for some people, so the comments along those lines
are spot on.  That said, in a more outdoor site they can be really fun,
too.  I did my internship at Wagner Farm, a living history farm site in the
north suburbs of Chicago, and while I was there a local ferral cat had a
baby in the Farm's barn.  Since the kitten was born there, she became
unafraid of people and was really loved by many of the site's more regular
visitor's.  She remained an outdoor cat living on the farm the whole time I
was an intern there and was hugely popular with many of the children.
Because she was handled by visitors, the Director did pay to have her
vaccinated.  As for effectively keeping down the pest population, I honestly
can't say how effective she was since we also fed her plenty of cat food
every day.  Anyways, I really do think it depends on the site, who your
visitor base is, and what your main objectives are in having a cat at the
museum.  In the case of Wagner Farm, a barn cat wasn't exactly a stretch of
interpretation for a 1920's farmstead.  My two cents.

On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 1:04 PM, David Harvey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Nancy,
>
> I think that cats may be Ok if a historic site has a barn or other fairly
> open work structure - I would not recommend one for a historic house or
> contemporary museum.
>
> In addition to cats tearing up textiles and clawing furnitiure I would also
> add in two issues - outdoor cats often catch and kill small birds, mice,
> rats. So you have to be prepared for the public to not comment favorably on
> encountering that on your sites. The second issue is the liability issue if
> a person gets bitten or scratched by a cat. Even if the person was taunting
> the cat or grabbing it, you still have the very real issue of someone who
> gets hurt on your site by an animal that you feed and keep there. And cat
> scratch fever is very real as are rabies and other health issues that can be
> conveyed by an outdoor cat.
>
> I was at Historic Ft. Ross, a CA State Park in Sonoma County,  some years
> ago and I remember seeing a cat on-site that lived under one of the
> buildings. Yes, the cat may have kept the field mice down but it did
> absolutely nothing about the biggest threat to the only remaining historic
> building, the Rotchev House, that was being devoured by termites.
>
> So I think you need to assess each site from a risk management viewpoint
> and prioritize by the greatest threats to the buildings and collections. If
> the museum is on a flood plain near a river, then obviously floods may be
> your biggest concern. If the historic building is on ground-laid sills and
> there is a history of termites, well then that is more important that mice.
> A contemporary museum that has metal and stone sculptures is far less of a
> concern to pests than a museum full of Native American artifacts that have
> wood, bone, feathers, etc.
>
> Cheers!
> Dave
>
> David Harvey
> Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant
> Los Angeles, CA
> MindingTheMuseum.com
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 11:55 AM, Jenner, Nancy <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>>  I am doing some integrated pest management planning, and would like to
>> consider the pros and cons of “recruiting” a museum cat.  I can’t seem to
>> find much in traditional sources, and I wonder if this is because museum
>> cats are frequently unofficial/unacknowledged/unauthorized.
>>
>>
>>
>> If anyone can refer me to articles or other sources that discuss “museum
>> cats” I would appreciate them.  Also, if you have your own stories,
>> opinions, or caveats, I’d appreciate those as well (on or off list).
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Nancy Jenner, Curator I
>>
>>
>>
>> California State Parks
>>
>> Capital District, Sacramento History and Railroad Sector
>>
>> Sutter’s Fort and Old Sacramento State Historic Parks
>>
>>
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
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