in article , Steve Touchstone at
wrote on 9/27/04 9:54 PM:

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 15:12:24 +1200, Bev wrote:

I had my computer into the computer shop to fix my printer and when I
got it home the mouse wouldn't work. I tried everything,
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Took the computer and mouse back to the computer
shop and the youthful guru picked the problem in a flash. "Look," he
said giggling, "something has been gnawing at your mouse cord.
SOMETHING!!!!! I looked closely at the cord. "See," said the guru,
"look at the teethmarks. You don't have rats, do you? Rats often get
into peoples' computers." "No," I said grimly, "but we do have
Burmese cats!!!"

Later I went up to the Computer shop to buy a new $40 mouse. Guess who
I met there, Lois, the indirect cause of all my problems. I showed
her the teethmarks on the mouse cord. The wires were all frayed and
some bitten through. "This is all your fault," I said accusingly.
Lois looked thoughtful,
"I wonder what the cords are like behind my computer," she said.

I never had that problem, though before Sammy's sibleys left for their
forever homes they discovered the power strip. They didn't chew on any
cords, but did turn the computer on in the middle of the night, or off
at the most inopportune times. For a while I had carboard covers over
the buttons, but they lost interest pretty quickly.

That's not to say that I never had any critters chew up cords. Before
the cats my cockatiels used to be out of their cage whenever I was
home. Sunny was pretty much a permanent fixture on my shoulder, so she
never bothered the cords. But Tiger was never comfortable on my
shoulder, and used to roam around the desk when I was using the
computer. I didn't realize he was chewing on the cords until the
speakers quit. When I checked I found the speaker wires very well
chewed, as well as beak marks on the zip drive cord.

you had a cockatiel named Tiger? You were definitely spoiling to be a Paw
Paw