Feline work

just thought I'd share

Yay! Good kitty!!

Many years ago I had a neighbor who skipped out of a rental, left without paying. The landlord, legally, could not enter it for 30 days. they had left the place full of things like fried chicken and junk food, not wrappers, but half eaten food. By the time the month was up, the whole neighborhood had rats. I had a tom cat, Mac, who was a hunter, he was catching and killing rats, I had traps out and was catching and killing them too. I know he got a LOT more than me. When we had killed 25 rats in the house and not dented it, I gave up and called an exterminator. Mac did his best, he was an excellent hunter. We could have used Mr Spot cat to help us.

Yay good hunting cats!  

Some cats hunt mice, and some do not, but the only breed I found that is really good at it, and consistent through every cat...is the Russian Blue. THEY ARE AGRRESSIVE.

Our cat is still a kitten, and yet at 3 months she had killed four. Now that does not say much for our house I know, but she likes to hunt mice.

there are so many field mice and voles here they provide for a population of redtail hawks, crows and even the occasional eagle.
house cats and barn cats just doing what they naturally do.

We keep getting cats, they keep getting killed, dying or just play in the hay. Horrendous vole problem and cats who just dont care.

Find a mom cat who is a mouser, let her have the kittens till they are around 3 months old (or hunting well on their own) and odds are REALLY high they'll all be mousers too. One of the problems with getting cats is everyone wants cute kittens, and they take them too early for them to have learned from their moms (if the mom knows how.) Instinct is important, but so is training. When people raise kittens they don't always raise them to be hunters, it's different skills than playing with toys, so unless a cat has good instincts, learning from another hunting cat is beneficial. It's also a lot personality, some cats like to hunt, some would rather hang out in the sun. Depends on what they find fun.

Getting philosophical this morning, it's kind of like people who homestead. Some will take to it naturally, some will do really well if taught. Some people will never want to do it, if they have to, it will be kicking and screaming all the way. Cats who hunt either come by it naturally, or are taught. And some will just not do it unless they were starving.

My cat lived in an apartment for his first decade, but loves being a farm cat. He isn't the best ratter, but he sure tries hard, and he does get some.

He brings me the first example of each species in case I would like this type. I bop him on the nose with the critter and chuck it back outside, and he doesn't bring another in until he catches something new.

My cat was a championship hunter. She once took down a rabbit bigger than she was, snapped its neck without breaking the skin, and brought it to me so I could roast it for dinner. Mice and voles never stood a chance with her. We even had to be careful which toys we bought her, because the mouse-shaped ones she would rip apart and eat!

When she passed away, the rodent population skyrocketed.

I miss my kitty :(

We are Walter's humans. He came to us from an abusive household, so he has some quirks. One of them is obesity, so we've been working on slowly reducing his intake. One year later and I swear he's gained weight! He's either a successful squirrel hunter (I have my doubts), or he's got a side hustle with one of the neighbours and their food dish.

I have a colleague whose cat specialised in weasels.  He was half siamese.

> cat... weasels

That is one tough cat. He likely used up his nine pretty fast...

Rufus