Spend any amount of time in Japan, especially outside the larger city centers, you are likely to notice rows of random plastic bottles filled with water positioned on the sidewalk - flush to the wall in front of homes. I noticed this peculiarity on my first trip to Japan and 12 years later I am still without a clear consensus on exactly what purpose they serve. Apparently they discourage wayward cats and dogs from peeing on the spot. However, that is not the only answer I have collected, some Japanese alternatively believe they will scare stray cats away from the house. Japanese TV even presented a news article on it years ago, reporting that people put out those bottles because cats don’t like the reflections in the bottles. There was a flurry of reporting on the bottle phenomenon as several fires were reportedly caused by the bottles that focused the suns rays much like a magnifying glass and ignited dry grasses and such. Some volunteered that the water was to wash away animal pee and many folks have no idea what-so-ever . . . I have read that this phenomenon is not limited to Japan so I am wondering if anyone has any other theories to add to this list?
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We have them here and there around our property in Hawaii, it supposedly makes cats think there is another animal there with a reflection of the water from the bottle (like the eyes of an animal).
ReplyDeleteWow I never noticed them in Hawaii! That makes sense but I wonder if they really work?
ReplyDeleteI think they may, when my parents took them away, the cats returned to poop :)
ReplyDeleteMy mom does this in the backyard (but with milk jugs filled with water). We had a problem with neighborhood cats using our backyard as the community litter box. A friend of hers recommended placing the jugs of water in random spots in the yard. Oddly enough it worked, although we're not sure why.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to find out that this bottle trick actually works! Perhaps it is better with cats then with dogs, because yesterday I saw a small dog use one of the bottles on a corner as a spot to relieve himself - which seemed to me an irresponsible act on the part of the man walking him.
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