T is for…

Happy Monday, everybody!!! Today is “T” Day!!! Today I have for you a horse and 3 cats!!!! – Trigger, Tiddles, Towser, and Trim! It’s a long post Today, so grab your cup of Tea, siT down and enjoy!

Okay, for those of you humans who are really old (like my mom) may remember Trigger, a golden palomino, the most famous house of his day. Originally named Golden Cloud, his first role in the movies was in the film, The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn (an ancient movie actor) in 1938. Later that year he was a part of a group of horses auditioning for Roy Rogers, TV’s greatest cowboy. From the moment Rogers climbed onto the palomino’s back he fell in love. After their 3rd film together, Rogers bought the now renamed Trigger for $2500; from then on they were inseparable. Trigger starred in 87 films and 101 TV shows, knew over 60 tricks and could walk 150 steps on his hind legs. He made personal appearances and always traveled in style – he even had his own passport for overseas travel! Trigger retired in 1957 and died in 1965 at the remarkably old age of 33. Roy Rogers was heartbroken. He said he had lost the “the greatest horse who ever came along.” And then he did the strange thing that some humans do, had him stuffed and mounted. The taxidermy remains of Trigger and Roy Roger’s German Shepherd, Bullet, now reside in Omaha, Nebraska having been purchased in 2010 by RFD-TV in anticipation of a museum focusing on the Old West.

 

Tiddles was a ladies’ room cat at Paddington Station, London, weighed 32 pounds (some sources say 25 pounds) and had his own refrigerator. He was so popular with travelers he received fan mail from all over the world and enjoyed a diet consisting of steak, lamb and cod. One of his favorite things to do was to visit occupants of the stalls throughout the day.

9th September 1978: Tiddles, the famous fat cat which lived in the public lavatories at Paddington Station, London. (Photo by Chris Moorhouse/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

 

 

Towser was a champion ratter who reportedly killed 28,899 rats over 24 years while she was ‘employed’ by the Glenturret distillery in Tayside, Scotland (which number didn’t include any she ate!). She reigned as the Queen of Ratters from April 1963 to March 1987. She had a number of replacements and the last one I could find was a kitten named Peat who died in 2014 at the age of 6 months after an unfortunate accident. Oh, and by the way, Towser was a long-haired tortieshell – how’s that for tortitude!!!

      

    Monument for Towser outside the distillery

 

 

In 1791 a tuxedo cat named Trim was born on the HMS Reliance on its way to Australia. The ship’s captain, Matthew Flinders, saw the kitten fall overboard, swim back to the ship and climb aboard on a rope. Trim soon became a favorite of Captain Flinders and the crew. He sailed with them on the HMS Investigator on its circumnavigation of Australia and even survived the shipwreck of the HMS Porpoise in 1803. On his voyage back to England, Flinders was accused of spying by the French and imprisoned on the island of Mauritius. Trim shared his captivity until he disappeared one day. Flinders figured Trim ran afoul of starving slaves who caught and ate him. Poor Trim!

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That’s all I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed it and your tea (or coffee)! Have a Terrific “T”-day and I’ll be back Tomorrow with the letter “U”!!