When Backing Out, Watch for Scratching Posts and Litter Boxes

It was noted here that a Mission Viejo real estate agent, struggling to peddle a property that had been on the market for months, was offering to throw in a new truck or car with the purchase.

The agent said he’d heard of other agents including such items as plasma TVs as inducements.

Well, in his neighborhood, Jim Forrest of Hacienda Heights found a seller offering an extra that cat-haters would not appreciate (see accompanying).

Speaking of cat opponents: A colleague angry that local felines use her lawn as a bathroom was referred to a website (www.predatorpee.com) that sells predator urine to discourage such behavior.

The site offers a sampler of five 1.25-ounce bottles (one each of coyote, fox, wolf, bobcat and mountain lion pee) for $12.99. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!

Forget about the employees ... : Mark McClain of Glendora noticed a business that celebrates the work of the boss (see photo).

“Duh!” winner: Scott Boyd of Glendale spotted a liquor store owner in Sunland who doesn’t want people partying in his parking lot -- and seems annoyed that he even has to mention it (see photo).

Food for thought: Some Ballpark Franks that date from the early 1900s caught the eye of Dave De Vorre of Simi Valley (see photo). The Dodgers must have brought them out here from Brooklyn.

Bruisers vs. Boozers: A debate that has been searing the pages of USC’s Daily Trojan concerns the philosophical question: Do college women prefer fraternity men or athletes?

Swimmer Carlo Romero said in a poll he took that nine out of 10 women chose the jocks, saying, among other things, that athletes have better bodies and more “endurance.” Frat man Brian Carberry disputed this notion, pointing out that “carrying a full keg from the alley up to my fraternity’s barroom requires more cardiovascular prowess than one might think.”

You think you can escape football this time of year? The other day the Red Robin restaurant in Cypress was showing the game on a television in the restroom -- the women’s restroom.

miscelLAny: For your list of flowery job titles, Forest Lawn calls its funeral planners Certified Celebrants. (I’m holding off my own celebration as long as possible.)

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.