I have two cats.
If he fetches something in that is still alive it is not a present for me. He will attack anyone who goes near his prey/food. And that includes the live budgie he once brought in. And it's not a present, he eats the lot - often by my feet whilst I am in bed.
She once caught a bird that flew into the lounge window and was laid out cold on the floor. That was a present for me and is about the only time I can remember her catching anything.
No, that was the British.
Of course you are correct - well, almost correct. H*mo sapiens was the biggest threat, starting with the Maori who eliminated the big flightless birds and destroyed vast tracts of forest by fire. The British destroyed most of the remaining forest and introduced many pests.
As I said later in the thread, it is usually females who present prey. Obviously, if they don't usually catch any, that does limit their opportunities to do so.
Colin Bignell
Yes, mine would bring his rabbit in to be told he was a very clever boy, but he wasn't sharing it.
That is, um, thoughtful of him.
Owain
Just so I'm not being rude, what is the appropriate response when she kindly presents the dead creature? If she's trying to teach me, what am I meant to do next? Catch my own one and lay it next to the first?
Alex
On 07/03/2013 23:48, Alexander Lamaison wrote: ...
I suspect you are expected to play with the one she has brought in, before eating it. THEN you go out and catch your own :-)
Colin Bignell
Ah, an instance of the past future tense! Not to be confused with the future past. It sounds very Zaphod Beeblebrox-like.
IIRC the cats were introduced to kill the rats introduced by the first human settlers.
Deer and possums are also major pests with no natural predators, as are wild boar.
Wild dogs don't help, either.
I think cats do far less ecological damage than possums.
Possibly NZ needs a bigger cat?
As soon as humans colonise an island (however big) that has been cut off from the rest of the world, the local wild life has more or less had it.
Cheers
Dave R
At this point can I recommend the humble Wellington boot?
Placed smartly open end down over a mouse then leant on its side, the mouse runs for safety towards the toe.
Then pick the boot up, and take it outside to a suitable release point, up end it and shake it.
Make sure the cat isn't following you or you may be heading for a Groundhog Day experience.
Cheers
Dave R
No, I just corner it, pick it up by the tail, take it upstairs and bung it out of the window over the hedge into the adjoining field.
Simples.
ideally embalmed and secured in pyramidal boxes....
feckin orrible bastard things
;>))
Jim K
That's dogs you're thinking of.
In message , Stephen H writes
Mine has become useless at anything
I found it stretched out stiff on the living room floor tuesday before last
gone off his food big time
I suppose you don't have lilies in the house?
(Lily pollen is a fatal poison for cats - not too good for dogs either.)
More a case of tired and shagged out after a long squark it was 20
it waited for the weekend that both kids came home and died the day after they went back
Draught excluder.
Wasn't there a book published some years back?
Ah yes.
Wish I could train our dog to do that
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