Like everyone else I bought "Da Bird" and of course the kitties loved it. Trouble was, it was a bit tame, not to mention not all that durable. The rod splits half way down so that's an obvious weak point, and the string rips for fun, especially when playing tug of war with those two. So you end up with a much shorter string than you began with with lots of little knots in, which all tear again. So you have to buy a new one again at £8 or so or think of an alternative.
So, I thought, seeing as though "Da Bird" is sort of loosely based on a rod and line kind of affair, I thought "Why not buy a fishing rod and use that?" So I did. For £7.29 I bought this beginners fishing set from Argos:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... NG+ROD.htm
It comes with rod, reel, line, little clips just like what "Da Bird" feathers attach too. Ideal I thought. For the price, even cheaper than a "Da Bird" toy. Apart from one small problem. Fishing line is a bit dangerous. You can't really see it and if they get tangled up in it, the consequences are too horrible to think about. But here's where it gets interesting. I took the fishing line off and took it off the reel and replaced it with the same kind of string as used on "Da Bird", which I got from a craft shop. As can be seen by the photo:
The string's a lot thicker than fishing line, easier to see, and not dangerous. It cost me a couple of quid for 10 meters of the stuff. So I've wound that round the reel and now, I can "cast" the feathers (or any other toy really) right across the room and "Reel em in". It gives the feathers a better more natural flight movement and our two are going mad over it. With this rod too, you can limit how many parts extend out. I just use two, but that's enough. If anyone does fish here, they'll realise that it's not "Casting" as such, as, I think (I'm not a fisherman) when you cast for real, the line extends as you do, owing to the weight pulling the line. This "Casting" is merely making the feathers fly across the room, using a flick of the wrist. But you can still reel it in. There's a handy little switch on the reel which stops it getting longer so when it's at the desired length, be it long or short, flick the switch and no more will come out. And of course, if it breaks, just pull more out...
So cheap, durable, great fun, and the kitties love it. Victor has literally been doing 360 degree somersaults with it. I'll take a movie of it if I can and post it to youtube and post the link.
UPDATE: Here's the video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z7m2EvgtXzY_________________
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