No Farewell for Hemingway's Cats

The bell no longer tolls for the six-toed cats of a certain writer’s home. The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum has struck a deal with the federal government that will see the 50-odd descendants of the author’s unusual pet continue to roam the Florida Keys property, the AP reports. Hemingway, known for his spare prose, might have appreciated the simplicity of the solution: a fence.

The dispute arose five years ago when the US Department of Agriculture threatened to fine the museum, arguing it didn’t have an animal exhibition license. Last year, the parties brought in an animal behaviorist, who suggested the fence. "The cats have been living on the grounds for years," says the museum’s president.
(More Ernest Hemingway stories.)