cathyxyz wrote:
> Peter Aitken wrote:
> >
> >
> > Something else must have been involved - any pressure build up would have
> > pushed the cork out long before the bottle burst. Perhaps the bottle was
> > defective. Do your kids have a BB gun <g>?
> >
>
> Just re-read her post.... and Jill said: "I had an empty bottle of
> merlot from last week, sitting, corked, waiting to be taken out to the
> trash"... she didn't say *where* it was sitting exactly... and then I
> remembered - Jill has them cute, furry creatures aka cats... maybe she
> should ask them a few questions?? I know our cats have been known to
> cause mayhem and destruction in the past....

Very true... I have six cats and have learned long ago never to leave
anything breakable anywhere where it could be caused to fall from any
height to a hard surface... two of my cats especially derive great
pleasure in hunting out things they can whack to the floor, the higher
the item and louder the crash the more gleeful their orgasms. If that
bottle was left on a kitchen counter you can be absolutely cerain
Jill's cat whacked it to the floor... there is no such thing as a cat
that will never leap up on a countertop... it's just that you may never
catch them, a cat's hearing is about a hundred times more acute than
human hearing, there is no way you can sneak up on a cat before it can
hear you approaching and [soundlessly] leap back to the floor. Believe
it or not cats primarilly hunt mice by sound (not sight), they can hear
mouse foot falls and high pitched squeaks as easily as you can hear
amplified rock music at a concert. The cork would have been popped
from that bottle long before any built up pressure exploded the
glass... Persia did it, no doubt in my mind,
mystery solved. And cats don't just whack stuff off countertops
indiscriminently, I've got a cat that takes particular joy in whacking
really good stuff from bathroom vanities and desk tops into
wastebaskets... ironically wireless mice are particularly suseptible...
first time it happend I got lucky and noticed it in my wastebasket,
wastebasket is now on the other side of the room... I just know I lost
my favorite stapler that way. Anyone who has cats it behooves them to
check wastebaskets carefully before puting the contents out for pickup.

Sheldon