Possum in the pumpkin patch

:>:The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to :>:catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough :>:the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the :>:effort. : :> Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess. :> Dan : : Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and :personal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The :cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and :kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she :never harmed a pet rabbit). : After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild :rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that.

Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are easy to find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I suppose a tom cat would be better, because they're bigger.

Dan

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Anonymous
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Dead squirrels might give an idea to a cat. Unfixed male cats are the most butch. The only cat I ever had (I am 65) that killed a rat was an unfixed male. I woke up to find a trophy of half a rat.

Reply to
Bert Byfield

Use a pump up pellet rifle to shoot one in your yard. That way it is warm, and maybe even still wiggling when the cat gets it. Tie a string to it if it is not moving on it's own power.

A moma cat with kittens will tend to be less picky about what it eats, and the kittens will chase anything that moves when they are hungry. A tom cat is going to be bigger, and a good one will hunt the neighborhood dogs as well.

Try going out into the country during kitten season and ask a farmer for a kitten that it up and running on it's own.

BTW Squirrel tastes like chicken if cooked like chicken. ;-)

BTW again If you put small block of wood on the mouse trap so it will not close all the way it will just snap and swat but not get packed off by something to big for it, and a rat trap will take a squirrel. You can tie it to a stake if you want so that nothing can drag it off.

You can also tape a wire or something like that to the swatter of the trap and it will swing around better, making it freak them out more.

Wire cones sounds like a pretty good idea if you are in a town that loves squirrels but hates cats.

What does an electric fence charger cost around there? That would be fun watching a squirrel hit that. ;-)

Reply to
CanopyCo

:>: Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close :>: and :>:personal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. :>:The cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with :>:her and kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up :>:(though she never harmed a pet rabbit). :>:After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild :>:rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after :>:that. : :> Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are :> easy to find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I :> suppose a tom cat would be better, because they're bigger. Dan : :Dead squirrels might give an idea to a cat. Unfixed male cats are the :most butch. The only cat I ever had (I am 65) that killed a rat was an :unfixed male. I woke up to find a trophy of half a rat.

I am also 65! Betcha you're at least a little confused about Medicare. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out all the complexities and still figure I barely have the lay of the land, and I'm probably wrong about a lot of ideas I have about it.

I'm not sure they'll let me have an unfixed male cat in Berkeley, at least one that gets out. Of course, maybe I'll be the only person who knows it's unfixed.

My last girlfriend's male cat used to bring in dead or dieing birds. She was pretty upset when that happened. Mice too, I think. My sister's cat brought in a dead mouse a few days ago and freaked her out at 1:30 AM.

I seem to be on top of the rat problem here. I keep traps in the attic, where I must have caught around 25 of them, but none in the last 2-3 years, I think. I used to hear them scurrying around in the attic, and after I had my roof replaced, I cleaned out the attic good and proper, including every dropping. Since then, a small flood in the attic (broken vent pipe), brought up the urine smell from the wood up there and it's still a problem in hot weather. I'm going to have to do something about that.

Dan

Reply to
Anonymous

:On Oct 22, 11:43 pm, Dan Musicant ( snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net) wrote: :> On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:00 -0500, Bert Byfield :>

:> wrote: :>

:> :>:The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to :> :>:catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough :> :>:the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the :> :>:effort. :> : :> :> Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess. :> :> Dan :> : :> :   Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and :> :personal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The :> :cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and :> :kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she :> :never harmed a pet rabbit). :> :   After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild :> :rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that. :>

:> Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are easy to :> find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I suppose a tom :> cat would be better, because they're bigger. :>

:> Dan : :Use a pump up pellet rifle to shoot one in your yard. :That way it is warm, and maybe even still wiggling when the cat gets :it. :Tie a string to it if it is not moving on it's own power.

Good idea! : :A moma cat with kittens will tend to be less picky about what it eats, :and the kittens will chase anything that moves when they are hungry. :A tom cat is going to be bigger, and a good one will hunt the :neighborhood dogs as well.

Not too many unleashed dogs around here. I think it might be a law. I haven't seen one in a while. : :Try going out into the country during kitten season and ask a farmer :for a kitten that it up and running on it's own.

That may be the only way I can get an unfixed male. If I get it at the local animal shelter, they may insist on fixing it before they give it to me! : :BTW :Squirrel tastes like chicken if cooked like chicken. :;-)

Mmm, squirrel fricasee, sweet & sour squirrel,... yum!! :) : :BTW again :If you put small block of wood on the mouse trap so it will not close :all the way it will just snap and swat but not get packed off by :something to big for it, and a rat trap will take a squirrel.

I have a couple mouse traps, and 6-8 rat traps.

:You can tie it to a stake if you want so that nothing can drag it off.

Great idea! : :You can also tape a wire or something like that to the swatter of the :trap and it will swing around better, making it freak them out more. : :Wire cones sounds like a pretty good idea if you are in a town that :loves squirrels but hates cats.

Cones! Yeah, that's better than cubes, way easier. : :What does an electric fence charger cost around there? :That would be fun watching a squirrel hit that. :;-)

That might be a real good idea. If squirrels get shocked in my yard they might stay out. I could even set up blind shocking fences and move them around until they just stay out. I have no idea where to get one or how much it would cost. I imagine I could maybe make them myself. House current would be too intense, and probably not safe. I guess the idea is a transformer to step down the voltage to shock but not kill or have danger of fire.

Dan

Reply to
Anonymous

Look in the farm stores. Atwoods here has them, but I have no idea if they exist there. You can make them your self, but don't. Way to much legal threat for that. Besides, if you fry them that way, they don't taste as good. ;-)

I see Ace Hardware has some, and I think they are everywhere.

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one for about $30 that is 110 V and aimed at small pests and pets.

Here is a solar one that is a real farm one, but is much more expensive at about $175

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notice that pet stores also show them, but I bet they are more expensive. Here is the search I used.
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Reply to
CanopyCo

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