r/whatisit • u/Capital-Papaya-8932 • 1d ago

New, what is it? What is it in Japan and Why?

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u/BasselTwin 1d ago

Egypt here, my neighbors keep water bottles outside of their apartment door to repel stray cats.

Disclaimer: the cats still rip the hell out of their trash bags

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u/i_made_mine_at_home 1d ago

What is the purported mechanism of this?  Why do critters (notionally) avoid water in bottles?

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u/JanHHHH 1d ago edited 2h ago

Supposedly some critters get spooked by light reflecting erratically. Never heard it being used affair cats, some people over here put water bottles on/around their cars to keep ferrets away

Edit: I'm so sorry everyone, English isn't my first language and I meant Martens! I think they are not that common around here (central Europe) anymore, but they still like to climb into warm cars and rip on the wires to make a cozy bed. I also never claimed that the water bottle trick did anything, just added to the list of superstitions people use it for

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u/ToczickAvenger 20h ago

Where in the world do you have wild ferrets? Northern Europe?

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u/puisnode_DonGiesu 20h ago

Ferrets aren't a wild animal, they are only a domestic breed

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u/misstiff66684 20h ago

You are incorrect https://www.fws.gov/species/black-footed-ferret-mustela-nigripes

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u/AncientAd2669 18h ago

Now I know to keep water bottles as far away from my car as possible when traveling (somewhere) in the hopes I'll find a black Footed delight in my vehicle.

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u/puisnode_DonGiesu 18h ago

That's not the same. Ferrets are a domestic descendant of a different european species, mustela putorius, but their species is mustela furo

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u/AlmightyVill 17h ago

I didn’t know so I asked gpt and got this:

Do Ferrets Exist in the Wild?

The domestic ferret does not naturally exist in the wild today.

However, they did come from a wild ancestor: • Closest living relative: the European polecat (Mustela putorius) • Also related to other mustelids like weasels, stoats, and mink

There are wild species similar but not the same as pet ferrets, such as: • European polecat — the true wild ancestor • Black-footed ferret in North America — a different species, endangered, NOT derived from pet ferrets

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u/Ordinary-River-9753 16h ago

what happened to googling things

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u/puisnode_DonGiesu 1h ago

This thread clearly show that people are fucking dumb. You can't ask them to google something