Tulsa's Philbrook Museum Launches New 'Cat Cams'

Rick Wells, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- If you have pets then we know you wonder what they do while you're away. The folks at the Philbrook Museum of Art wondered about their garden cats, so they decided to put cameras on them to find out.

What did they see from day one of Cat Cams?

The Philbrook Museum of Art has two garden cats: Acer, a male, and Perilla, a female. They've got the run of all 23 acres. 

"They are my employees, my feline employees," said Philbrook's Melinda McMillen.

McMillan is the garden manager at Philbrook. She says the cats are her "terminators." They do a good job and have become very popular on the museum's web site and Facebook page.

"Anytime we post something about the cats, it gets the biggest response, the biggest blowups, the biggest comments," she said.

Wonder what the cats do all day? Maybe some cat cameras can help us find out.

"It was just an idea we came up with," McMillan said.

They ordered the cameras from Germany.

"It took us a few months to get them here," she said.

A little gizmo about the size of a match box records four hours of video and sound. Museum staff found harnesses that would hang them just right

There's one right under Peril's vet tag. Oh, I don't think she likes it much, but folks love the cats.

The cameras give us a way to see what they do.

Where do they walk; where do they roam; what interests them," said Melinda McMillen, Philbrook garden manager.

Not much is learned from the first of the video from the new cameras. The cat does lots of stalking new shady spots to lie down in.

The possibilities are very interesting, but the cats seem to think it's time for us to go.

Philbrook will put some of that Cat-cam video on their Facebook page every few days so friends and fans can follow along.

See The Philbrook's Facebook Page.