WTH is this cat doing with these rats?

[Are_grits_groceries]

@Historical_Pics

I have no other info. Just the pic.

[hlthe2b]

1. Food storage?

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Lol! nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Drying them, of course.

Cats don't like to eat wet rats.

[Hoyt]

4. That photo cracks me up. Would love to know the story.

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. Me and thee. nt

[Luminous Animal]

6. Cats were once rats caretakers when the world was in black and white.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

7. santa claws

[petronius]

8. I'm guessing that cat is named Shelob

It would be interesting to know how long it took between the invention of the camera, and the snapping of the first LOLcat image...

[Voice for Peace]

15. the original lolcat from 1900

Many great pics at this site: http://io9.com/vintage-photos-reveal-century-long-obession-with-dressi-1468852263



From 1914:




1927, there was Pete:

[petronius]

19. Absolutely fantastic! Thank you for the link...

[TexasTowelie]

26. Even before 1900 according to this photo.

[Voice for Peace]

28. :)

?6

[Liberal Veteran]

9. Historically, cats that were good hunters sold their catch to other cats...

...so bad hunters could bring them home and pass them off as their own catch.

[Voice for Peace]

10. found it on this page, though it provides no explanation. The site is full of vintage pet photos!

http://io9.com/vintage-photos-reveal-century-long-obession-with-dressi-1468852263



including this pup, who was sentenced to life
in prison for murdering a cat:

[Hoyt]

17. That's some funny stuff. Thanks.

[Warpy]

11. Being posed

Novelty photographs like this were very big in the late Victorian era through the 1920s.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. LOLcats are nothing new...

[Logical]

12. Wow, why all the cat posts on GD? n-t

[Are_grits_groceries]

16. Why not? It can be grim here. nt

[840high]

31. It makes us happy.

[mucifer]

13. Looks like the boxing cats Thomas Edison set up a hundred years ago

on the first kitty youtube type film:

As a nation we haven't changed much.

[NCarolinawoman]

29. Ugh!

All I know is that Thomas Edison had a history of being rather cruel to animals.

[Spider Jerusalem]

30. Like "here, marvel at electricity while I electrocute an elephant"

[NCarolinawoman]

33. Yep.

..and who knows what else.

[mstinamotorcity2]

14. I wondered why he wanted my Grandaddy's

Smokehouse recipe

[PasadenaTrudy]

18. Hanging them up to dry

That was the explanation on twitter.

[Scootaloo]

20. Inventing the ratapult

[frwrfpos]

21. sack lunch

[rock]

22. I used Search Google for this image

On web page http://io9.com/vintage-photos-reveal-century-long-obession-with-dressi-1468852263

Label: A cat hangs a row of tame rats on the washing line to dry, 1933

I guess the cat just washed them!

[840high]

32. Thank you!

[wandy]

23. Well, noticing the color of all the laundry, I would guess..........

You mean these aren't sheets and pillow cases?

[valerief]

24. They're the cat's sock puppets. nt

[kestrel91316]

27. Sun drying them, obviously.