Man Builds Feline Feeding Machine, Cat Hunts For the Key to His Dinner


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Self described “aspiring geek” Ben Millam got impressively creative when it came to feeding his cat. He built this clever cat feeder that releases food upon recognition of RFID-tagged plastic balls. Millam places the balls all over the house, giving his cat Monkey a bit of a game with his noms. Monkey finds the hidden balls, drops them into a bowl fitted on top and bam, kitty chow!

Cat lover Millam says he built the device in order to give Monkey extra excitement and fun in his daily life. 

"This all started after I read an explanation of why cats go about repeatedly exploring the same areas: it’s partly to establish and survey their territory, but they’re also practicing ‘mobile’ hunting: moving about, being curious, and poking their noses around in the hopes of upsetting potential prey and finding a meal. So what if my cat, while out on patrol, actually found its prey? Surely this would bring him one step closer towards a more fulfilled and self-actualized indoor kitty existence."

Bravo Ben!

Via Laughing Squid


Comments (1)

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It's amazing what the Vogel's were able to do with a complete devotion to collecting art. They bought it from artists who were not yet famous so they were able to get many of them for under 50 dollars. They have no fancy cars, penthouse apt. or yachts which they could easily have had if they had sold their monumental collection to the highest bidder. Instead they give it away to the National Gallery because they like the idea that the gallery will not ever sell one of them and that they public will have access to it.

The whole point of their life is shared passion and selflessness in the devotion to a cause; in this case art that they felt had value. They were proven right a thousand times over.

Many people seem to think if they don't like something, it should have no value to anyone else. I would like to go through some people's record collections and point out the "bad taste" of some of their recordings. I would be wrong and the person who loves the music would be right. It has value inasmuch as it speaks to the individual's asthetic sense. One of the artists said that Herbie Vogel's sense was one in which there was no buffer between his eyes and his soul. Most people walk through life blind to anything but the easily understood. Others find value and beauty in the challenging. I hope to always be in the latter group.
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I watched the documentary - it's on Netflix. It's nicely done. The most interesting thing to me is that these people, as far as I can tell, actually fit the definition of hoarders. It's just that instead of hoarding pizza boxes and empty tin cans or cats, they happened to be obsessed with something that others find valuable.
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I saw a documentary about them. Nice that they loved art, but they collected some real crap at times.

One wonders what amazing salaries mail sorters and librarians live on.
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A great documentary about them, 'Herb and Dorothy,' has been available on Netflix (US) instant queue for a while now. They are a really cute couple and I enjoyed it, even though I'm not a particular fan of minimalist art.
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