A friendly feline has been immortalized with a statue at one of his favourite resting spots on the Halifax waterfront. Erik the Red, known for his time as a “rodent control officer” at the CSS Acadia national historic site, was an orange tabby. “CSS Acadia was launched in 2013. For years on the ship, we had employed a practice of keeping a RCO or roodent control officer as we referred to them – a feline with good hunting skills, essentially. Eric was probably the most rarified sea-cat athlete who could just leap from scantling to fiddley, top to bottom, stem to stern,” recalled Stephen Read, Erik’s owner. “For anyone familiar with the kind of maze-like interiors of an old steel ship, you kind of get the picture of just how proficient he would have to have been at his duties to accomplish that.” Erik spent 16 winters on board the Acadia and was often seen wandering around the shops and restaurants on the waterfront. He died in 2017 after a brief illness when he was around 20 years old. “He took a bit of food in the forenoon, some medication, stretched his arms and his legs out one last time, and took one last yawn and he was gone,” said Read. “His loss was taken with a great deal of sadness and sorrow.” Now, a statue of Erik can be seen sitting on a bench on the Halifax waterfront. “He would kind of assume a position on that bench shortly after we had our morning breakfast,” said Read. “He’d be out there and just basically waiting to observe all the people coming off the ferry. Erik became incredibly popular around the wharfs. Your initial impression would be that he’s friendly. Two or three head scratches in, if you hadn’t given him something to eat. He was off to the next person.” Read says the statue is a fitting tribute to Erik. “So many people have taken to it. The statue itself is conjuring up images from the past, the memories of Erik for others,” he says. “This was his home. There was a legacy that his presence on this waterfront created. People from various parts of the world know who Erik the Red is... I think that legacy is well filled with the statue here.” With files from The Canadian Press For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
