Topic: Murderesses - and butter wouldn't melt!!!!!!!

[purple sprouting]

I do understand that 'queens' are the huntresses within the pride, and that they like to contribute to the 'larder'.

Our family were so lucky to get two female  kittens last year, and they have been (and still are) wonderful...........they were born on 20 July 2006 and speyed in January.  This weekend they have been on a single minded killing spree - five birds, frogs, ........(and some poor sad unidentifiable mutilated corpse).

Does anyone have any experience of this and/or advice?????

Regards

Ann
       

[Marymary]

When my cats were younger & catching lots of poor little birds & frogs I bought them collars with bells on which seemed to do the trick.  Now we've only got the one & he's getting on a bit & he just catches the odd mouse which I really don't mind - just wish he wouldn't present me with them.

[purple sprouting]

Mary,

Thanks for the reply - the cats do have a small bell on their collars - but to get a larger one or perhaps a multiple arrangement is a really good suggestion.

Regards

Ann

[Trixiebelle]

Mine are the same PS  ::) Every morning I get to up to find a shredded pigeon or a mangled mouse on the kitchen floor  ::)

Cats are wierd things aren't they? Dogs show you affection by wagging their tails, licking you and being loyal etc.

Cats just say "Hey. Thanks for living in my house and opening the tins of food. Here ... have a corpse on me"

[DadnDom]

I had a squirrel and an owl last year brought back for my inspection :(
"Whitey" passed away a few weeks back, I am sure the local wildlife don't miss him.
We never found a way of stopping him, we used to get about 4 or 5 kills a day, mainly bank voles and small mice that used to fight back, fierce little blighter's they were.

[Jeannine]

I wish mine would chase the ruddy birds sometimes,I have one that has a fettish for seed packets, if I leave my seeds out she rips open a packet then goes for another one. She like a cat on catnip with a packet of bean seeds!!!XX Jeannine

[Marymary]

Bet there is lots of opportunity for seed bag ripping chez Jeannine & Johnny.  :)

[Hex]

I have a similar problem since we moved. Really sad about the thrush that they got the other week, less so about the mole.  Plenty of mice, always left outside the back door on the metal grill.  Terry Pratchett claims that this is an advanced form of food preparation.

Desmond Morris in his catwatching book says that they do it to be nice to you, you are abviously too stupid to catch things for yourself so they bring you presents,  they can't understand the negative response.

Advice is to feed the birds as much as possible, more birds, safety in numbers.  Hasn't worked for us, we have dry stone walls and lots of shrubs, as far as I can tell the birds sit on the walls and are sitting targets for my boys who creep along the tops.

Thinking about the bell on collar option now, but it always strikes me as the equiv of giving throiem tinnitus.  Would you want a bell jingling every time you moved.  I will also never forget the site of one of Mrs. Palustris cats hanging by its collar from a tree with his front paw and head stuck through the collar.  He wasn't the brightest of sparks mind you, he used to clap his paws and miss......

[Palustris]

and that was one of those elasticated flea collar things too, if I remember correctly.
Present incumbents know that birds are off the menu, they slink away when they have a bird. Mice, rats, leverets, voles, moles, rabbit babies are left prominently displayed until they feel the need to eat them.
My main complaint is why they have to re-gurgitate the intestines on the kitchen floor;.

[Deb P]

I also worry about the collar issue, even with the so called 'safety' catches. One of my toms got caught by his collar jumping down from our loft ladder, it gave way but not before ripping out a huge chunk of his neck fur! He was shaken but not deterred of course, he now has nice ginger stripey skin where the hair is growing back!

Our lane has become incresingly busy in the last few years, so I put relective collars on my boys to give them a better chance of being seen at night. Don't like doing it though. My three seem too lazy to try and catch many birds, mice yes, and discarded kebabs.... ;D

[lorna]

And please if anyone still uses those choke chains on their dog Never leave it on when not needed. A friend had one of our GS pups, left the chain on, the dog was in the garden and apparently jumped up to a fence, the pup was choked to death when the chain caught on one of the fence supports.
Lorna.

[Jeannine]

....and I thought my cat was dumb..

it plays in water,

rips open seed packets,

eats liquorice

favourite food is cucumber

sleeps in a boot( well almost in now)

and this week it has found it's way over our back six foot fence, it's only taken it 18 months to learn how, shame it doesn't know how to get back though ,it cries at the gate  two minutes later which is kept padlocked so John has to move 3 fruit trees and 8 blueberry bushes to get at the padlock so he can let it in. It's done it 4 times tonight.

I wonder if he will ever catch a bird or mouse???

XX Jeannine

[janet h 1948]

Our cat is no angel when it comes to our feathered friends. I can sometimes rescue them. I tell her she's a good girl & show mummy what she's got. She drops it. I grab her & off it goes. Last year she was dive bombed by a blackbird. It took her days to venture in the back garden again & low & behold the same thing happened again. She's a bit cautious ATM.

[asbean]

One of our cats likes water - so he goes fishing in next door's pond.  They have huge carp, he sits and waits, then grabs one, brings it home and eats it in the front hall.  The scales are a devil to get off a wood-block floor.

When he put on weight a few years ago he went swimming in the vet's hydrotherapy pool.  Did 40 lengths of the pool every week till he had lost 1.5 kilos.  The part he liked best was the shower afterwards. 

At this time of the year there is so much to catch, the worst thing we've had this week was diced regurgitated slowworm.

[asbean]

This is a link to the swimming cat:

http://www.atfw01.dsl.pipex.com/Pushkin.html

[Deb P]

Fab picture!
I do like ginger cats.... ;D