How about a fake mouse cannon. I must have fifty fake mice strewn about the house for my panthers. While easy to toss around, I'm not always home. Make the unit small enough to attache to the ceiling fan! Just think, cut the fan on and have the mice shoot out at the blades. The random flight of the mouse will keep the fur monsters charging around and provide an air of randomness to the whole game. Not to mention the potential to keep my friends from falling asleep in my laziboy. Ha ha! Sleep in my living room at your own risk! This could be huge. I already see a new drinking game from this form of Russian Roulette.-- easilyodd, Jan 07 2002 Tennis Ball Machine http://tennis101.com/lobster401.htmlThe Lob-ster 401 tennis ball machine has a unique patented oscillation that allows it to vary not only the direction of the ball but also the depth of the shot. This is the only machine under $3000 that can do this. [thumbwax, Jan 07 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Fake death-ray http://www.halfbake...ea/fake_20death-rayI really hoped there would be a connection with this. [pottedstu, Jan 07 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Real mouse cannon http://www.clownfrown.com/af15.htmlI know, I know, you've seen it before [notripe, Jan 09 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Not exactly a cannon, but... http://www.thecatsi.../shop/delidome.htmlthis has to be one of the most half baked real products I've come across in a while. Fires out balls filled with cat food, for your cat to hunt down and break open. [DrCurry, Sep 03 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] SPCSA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Stuffed Animals) might be upset too. How about a Tennis Ball Machine? Find out how to make one - as they are actually quite expensive - Lo and Behold - Mouse Launcher.-- thumbwax, Jan 07 2002 This could perhaps be adapted to make a humane mousetrap. By placing bait in the magazine of the cannon & employing an automatic firing device you could simply point it at your open window.-- stupop, Jan 07 2002 UB, I don't think easilyodd envisions shooting *at* the mice. When he says "randomly shoot," I think he means "randomly launch from a device like a small scale human cannonball launcher." The entertainment comes from the cats chasing the mice, not from watching them get shot like skeets.-- beauxeault, Jan 07 2002 they'd need to be on a length of string so that they could be pulled back into the launcher and tidied up afterwards unless you have an endless supply of these things.-- po, Jan 07 2002 how do you train a stuffed owl to fly let alone swoop and catch etc. bliss, dream on croissant for the idea.-- po, Jan 07 2002 if you say so, bliss thats good enough for me. won't they eat the mice tho?-- po, Jan 07 2002 An alternative that's available today is to use Q-tips (or equivalent) and soda straws. They're cheap, and my kitty enjoys chasing them. If you want to really flummox the cat, you can load lots of Q-tips in straws and then shoot all around the cat. If you were mean, you could launch them all at the cat machine-gun style (it's possible to put forth a pretty impressive barage) but that's not very nice...-- supercat, Jan 08 2002 Two (or more) young cats plus a laser pointer can produce endless head-on collisions for your viewing pleasure.
Actually, that reminds me of a lecture given by a popular science guru, where a baby in the front row started chasing the dot from his laser pointer all over the floor. Even more fun than the cats!-- madradish, Jan 09 2002 I am reminded of the Outpost.com hamster cannon.-- waugsqueke, Jan 09 2002 I have a cat that digs the Q-tips out of the wastebasket and another cat steals the straws out of our drinks. Yes they need a diversion from stealing out stuff.-- bluerowan, Jan 10 2002 random, halfbakery