Day 57: Penguin Polka Party

When you're feeling down, try calling the Polka Penguin. He doesn't talk much, but he sure can play the accordion. He is one of the original cast members from Disney's Mary Poppins (1964). He had a hard time finding full-time work as an actor after that film, so he started a band, which he has been enjoying ever since. You can see his grandson in several recent films including Happy Feet (2006) and Madagascar 3 (2012).

Speaking of Disney, as recommended I picked up some cat food for the raccoon trap seeing as the anchovies were not a hit and I'm out of sardines. Within two hours, I caught a sweet little calico cat. Hhhhmmmm....

At the store I chose one of the cheapest, but also one of the most alluring brands of canned cat food. I picked up four cans of Aristocats, which came in two different fancy fish flavors. To the manufacturer's credit, trout is high on the ingredient list in the Flaked Trout Dinner (though I'd bet good money it's fish heads and left-over parts), and the Cod, Sole & Shrimp Dinner includes those named ingredients as well. Yet Disney is willing to put its name on a product that includes "animal digest."

I did a little research to find out what that is. It's a sort of pink slime extraordinaire. A broth of enzymes breaks down (digests) left-over parts of slaughtered animals including their undigested stomach contents, skin, and connective tissue. It often includes horses, roadkill, livestock that have died and are unfit for slaughter, pests like rats, and euthanized animals from shelters (which, keep in mind, includes cats). It's a cheap way for manufacturers to boost the protein level of the food (even though it may not be protein that can be metabolized by the cat). If I don't catch the raccoon in the next few days with this unnatural stuff, I'm going back to sardines and honeycomb. I'm not entirely happy feeding raccoon to the raccoon and cat to the cat. Soylent Green is people! People!

Length of feather: 2"