Towser The Distillery Cat

Mice love to feast on barley and can quickly overrun a distillery where the grain is plentiful unless steps are taken to control them.  From 1963 til 1987 a longhaired tortoiseshell cat named Towser was charged with keeping the rodent population in check at the Glenturret Distillery in Crieff, Scotland where Famous Grouse whiskey is made. Towser had a natural talent for her work and caught an estimated 28,899 mice during her tenure at the distillery. That’s an average of three mice a day! She has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s best mouser and once upon a time her pawprints appeared on the label of Fairlie’s Light Highland Liqueur.  Today a statue stands in her honor at the distillery site with an inscription that reads:

Towser
21 April 1963-30 March 1987
Towser, the famous cat who lived in the still house,
Glenturret Distillery, for almost 24 years.
She caught 28,899 mice in her lifetime.
World mousing champion, Guinness Book of Records.

Her successor, Amber, did not match Towser’s skill and in fact was never known to catch a single mouse during her tenure as distillery mouser.

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