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Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?



 
 
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  #11  
Old February 16th 12, 01:48 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
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Posts: 1,065
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

Brian Link wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:04:52 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

dgk wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:10:25 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

For the first time in the 12+ years we've lived here, we've got
mice coming indoors. We've got a 16 year-old moggie adopted from a
farm cat litter, and a 9 year-old F7 Bengal, both males.

They've slain two mice so far (we found the carcasses on the
kitchen floor), but we've seen a few more and witnessed the cats
hunting them. The Bengal is the most energetic and enthusiastic,
but the most clumsy. The moggie is patient, precise and determined.

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that
only when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that
male cats will hunt mice for food when feral.

They both seem pretty interested in the mice we've seen, but don't
deliver killing blows, thus allowing the mice to escape.

So, any hope that our two cats will figure out how to cleanly
dispatch a mouse? I suspect that the corpses we found were probably
scared to death, or inadvertantly killed by play. My guess is that
the Bengal is thrilled that we somehow bought him the BEST CAT TOY
EVER!!

Thanks for any ideas.

BLink

I've only had a mouse three times in 16 years but my cats seem
hardwired to do them in. I did manage to rescue two of them before
they were killed and sent them on their way (outside).

My one girl does seem to be the best at tackling them but I did pick
her up off the street so she might have learned out there.


My, "B-K" brought a chipmonk in last year, and he lived under our
stove for the whole Winter. All the cats tried to get him but easily
the fastest thing on four feet is a chipmonk.... they didn't have a
chance. We fed and watered him all Winter, and when the weather
warmed up, I left the sliding glass door open a crack at night and
after a few days, he "escaped"., by then, the cats had accepted him
as another pet, and were unconcerned.....


I know. We've always said Tiger is our cat, and Louis is Tiger's cat.
Now Louis has a pet/pets too. He just has to learn how not to break
them.

BLink


We used to have one that ate ants.... She was a real winner! She would lap
them up right back to whatever hole/crack in the wall they were coming from.
She kept the ants out of our kitchen for many years until her death about 8
years ago.

  #12  
Old February 16th 12, 07:36 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:07:57 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:37:48 -0500, dgk wrote:

....

Still, I go through 40 lbs of seed a week and change the water in the
bath every third day so the birds still come out way ahead.


Thanks for this - I remember that I was involved with birder groups
when I was last active on Usenet. The birders would holler about cats
eating songbirds, and the cat folks would holler "THAT'S WHAT CATS DO!
GET OVER IT!".

Still, I'm not a fan of letting cats outside. Tiger prolly couldn't
have made it to a ripe old age if he'd been an outside cat. Saw the
neighbor's cat get plowed down in the street a couple years ago.
Nobody should ever have to see that, cat-lover or not. He was just out
for his evening constitutional, and a car came roaring through. How
many tears have been shed for a cat eaten by dogs, or run over by some
dude driving too fast?

BLink


Ah, I tend to agree, which is why the backyard is fenced in. The cats
probably could get out if they really tried but it's designed not to
let them do that. The fencing curves in at the top so they really
can't climb over. The only way out would be to climb one of the trees
and jump over but they don't, or at least haven't done that. And I
have little tracking devices on their collars (loc8tor) so I can find
them if they do get out. Useful for finding them inside the house as
well.

Scooter actually does have out privileges since I took him off the
street about 18 months ago. The few times he asks to go out the front
and visit his old friends generally ends about five minutes later as
he comes racing back. He knows where the soft life is.
  #13  
Old February 16th 12, 07:39 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
dgk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,268
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:04:52 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

dgk wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:10:25 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

For the first time in the 12+ years we've lived here, we've got mice
coming indoors. We've got a 16 year-old moggie adopted from a farm
cat litter, and a 9 year-old F7 Bengal, both males.

They've slain two mice so far (we found the carcasses on the kitchen
floor), but we've seen a few more and witnessed the cats hunting
them. The Bengal is the most energetic and enthusiastic, but the most
clumsy. The moggie is patient, precise and determined.

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that only
when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that male
cats will hunt mice for food when feral.

They both seem pretty interested in the mice we've seen, but don't
deliver killing blows, thus allowing the mice to escape.

So, any hope that our two cats will figure out how to cleanly
dispatch a mouse? I suspect that the corpses we found were probably
scared to death, or inadvertantly killed by play. My guess is that
the Bengal is thrilled that we somehow bought him the BEST CAT TOY
EVER!!

Thanks for any ideas.

BLink


I've only had a mouse three times in 16 years but my cats seem
hardwired to do them in. I did manage to rescue two of them before
they were killed and sent them on their way (outside).

My one girl does seem to be the best at tackling them but I did pick
her up off the street so she might have learned out there.


My, "B-K" brought a chipmonk in last year, and he lived under our stove for
the whole Winter. All the cats tried to get him but easily the fastest thing
on four feet is a chipmonk.... they didn't have a chance. We fed and watered
him all Winter, and when the weather warmed up, I left the sliding glass
door open a crack at night and after a few days, he "escaped"., by then, the
cats had accepted him as another pet, and were unconcerned.....


That's hysterical. One summer I found a dead squirrel in the basement.
Blood on his chest and smack in the middle of the floor. One of the
cats must have done him in and left him there. In the summer the back
door is open and they can come and go as they please so I have no idea
who did the deed.
  #14  
Old February 17th 12, 04:11 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

dgk wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:07:57 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:37:48 -0500, dgk wrote:
...

Still, I go through 40 lbs of seed a week and change the water in
the bath every third day so the birds still come out way ahead.


Thanks for this - I remember that I was involved with birder groups
when I was last active on Usenet. The birders would holler about cats
eating songbirds, and the cat folks would holler "THAT'S WHAT CATS
DO! GET OVER IT!".

Still, I'm not a fan of letting cats outside. Tiger prolly couldn't
have made it to a ripe old age if he'd been an outside cat. Saw the
neighbor's cat get plowed down in the street a couple years ago.
Nobody should ever have to see that, cat-lover or not. He was just
out for his evening constitutional, and a car came roaring through.
How many tears have been shed for a cat eaten by dogs, or run over
by some dude driving too fast?

BLink


Ah, I tend to agree, which is why the backyard is fenced in. The cats
probably could get out if they really tried but it's designed not to
let them do that. The fencing curves in at the top so they really
can't climb over. The only way out would be to climb one of the trees
and jump over but they don't, or at least haven't done that. And I
have little tracking devices on their collars (loc8tor) so I can find
them if they do get out. Useful for finding them inside the house as
well.

Scooter actually does have out privileges since I took him off the
street about 18 months ago. The few times he asks to go out the front
and visit his old friends generally ends about five minutes later as
he comes racing back. He knows where the soft life is.


Yes. My five outside cats seldom leave the property. One came from across
the street, and she sometimes goes back there to visit. I lost one from a
neighbors weed killer last Summer, but in the past 15 years, he's the only
one harmed in any way from being allowed to roam the neighborhood. Once cats
know they can go wherever they want, they are usually content to stay at
home.

  #15  
Old February 17th 12, 04:20 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Bill Graham
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,065
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

dgk wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:04:52 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

dgk wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:10:25 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

For the first time in the 12+ years we've lived here, we've got
mice coming indoors. We've got a 16 year-old moggie adopted from a
farm cat litter, and a 9 year-old F7 Bengal, both males.

They've slain two mice so far (we found the carcasses on the
kitchen floor), but we've seen a few more and witnessed the cats
hunting them. The Bengal is the most energetic and enthusiastic,
but the most clumsy. The moggie is patient, precise and determined.

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that
only when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that
male cats will hunt mice for food when feral.

They both seem pretty interested in the mice we've seen, but don't
deliver killing blows, thus allowing the mice to escape.

So, any hope that our two cats will figure out how to cleanly
dispatch a mouse? I suspect that the corpses we found were probably
scared to death, or inadvertantly killed by play. My guess is that
the Bengal is thrilled that we somehow bought him the BEST CAT TOY
EVER!!

Thanks for any ideas.

BLink

I've only had a mouse three times in 16 years but my cats seem
hardwired to do them in. I did manage to rescue two of them before
they were killed and sent them on their way (outside).

My one girl does seem to be the best at tackling them but I did pick
her up off the street so she might have learned out there.


My, "B-K" brought a chipmonk in last year, and he lived under our
stove for the whole Winter. All the cats tried to get him but easily
the fastest thing on four feet is a chipmonk.... they didn't have a
chance. We fed and watered him all Winter, and when the weather
warmed up, I left the sliding glass door open a crack at night and
after a few days, he "escaped"., by then, the cats had accepted him
as another pet, and were unconcerned.....


That's hysterical. One summer I found a dead squirrel in the basement.
Blood on his chest and smack in the middle of the floor. One of the
cats must have done him in and left him there. In the summer the back
door is open and they can come and go as they please so I have no idea
who did the deed.


The guys that used to live across the street from me had a cat that would
kill birds, eat them, and then leave their feet on her owners pillow. He
didn't know whether she thought the feet were the best part, or was just
proud of her accomplishment. My, "B-K" would bring mice, voles, and snakes
into the house just to play with them, but didn't eat them. After a while,
they would usually escape back outside. We have one cat that won't hurt
anything. I saw a baby squirril walk over her while she was sleeping on the
rear deck about three years ago. She paid no attention to it at all.

  #16  
Old February 18th 12, 12:05 PM
mickrio mickrio is offline
Junior Member
 
First recorded activity by CatBanter: Feb 2012
Posts: 10
Default

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that only
when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that male
cats will hunt mice for food when feral.
_______
Pua | pick up artist | Dating Coach

Last edited by mickrio : March 12th 12 at 09:08 AM.
  #17  
Old February 25th 12, 05:33 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
T[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 37
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?

In article , weg9
@comcast.net says...

dgk wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:04:52 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

dgk wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:10:25 -0600, Brian Link .
wrote:

For the first time in the 12+ years we've lived here, we've got
mice coming indoors. We've got a 16 year-old moggie adopted from a
farm cat litter, and a 9 year-old F7 Bengal, both males.

They've slain two mice so far (we found the carcasses on the
kitchen floor), but we've seen a few more and witnessed the cats
hunting them. The Bengal is the most energetic and enthusiastic,
but the most clumsy. The moggie is patient, precise and determined.

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that
only when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that
male cats will hunt mice for food when feral.

They both seem pretty interested in the mice we've seen, but don't
deliver killing blows, thus allowing the mice to escape.

So, any hope that our two cats will figure out how to cleanly
dispatch a mouse? I suspect that the corpses we found were probably
scared to death, or inadvertantly killed by play. My guess is that
the Bengal is thrilled that we somehow bought him the BEST CAT TOY
EVER!!

Thanks for any ideas.

BLink

I've only had a mouse three times in 16 years but my cats seem
hardwired to do them in. I did manage to rescue two of them before
they were killed and sent them on their way (outside).

My one girl does seem to be the best at tackling them but I did pick
her up off the street so she might have learned out there.

My, "B-K" brought a chipmonk in last year, and he lived under our
stove for the whole Winter. All the cats tried to get him but easily
the fastest thing on four feet is a chipmonk.... they didn't have a
chance. We fed and watered him all Winter, and when the weather
warmed up, I left the sliding glass door open a crack at night and
after a few days, he "escaped"., by then, the cats had accepted him
as another pet, and were unconcerned.....


That's hysterical. One summer I found a dead squirrel in the basement.
Blood on his chest and smack in the middle of the floor. One of the
cats must have done him in and left him there. In the summer the back
door is open and they can come and go as they please so I have no idea
who did the deed.


The guys that used to live across the street from me had a cat that would
kill birds, eat them, and then leave their feet on her owners pillow. He
didn't know whether she thought the feet were the best part, or was just
proud of her accomplishment. My, "B-K" would bring mice, voles, and snakes
into the house just to play with them, but didn't eat them. After a while,
they would usually escape back outside. We have one cat that won't hurt
anything. I saw a baby squirril walk over her while she was sleeping on the
rear deck about three years ago. She paid no attention to it at all.


One of the cats to grace us with her presence was a 6.5lb black tabby
named Emily. She came to us as a six week old kitten and the Keyron was
dubbed as the cat person for Emily.

That little cat was the absolute BEST mouser we've ever had. But there
was one habit that puzzled us. She'd capture a mouse, gut it, and stash
it in the house. We'd smell something but could never find the source.

Then the 'gift' phase started. Keyron would go to put on a shoe and find
a dead, desicated mouse in the shoe! We'd find them layid on the couch,
any place Keyron frequented.

We realized that when Emily was a kitten we'd get her those toy catnip
stuffed mice. And she'd dig the catnip out when playing with the stuffed
toy.

  #18  
Old February 25th 12, 09:06 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
MaryL[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,184
Default Cats as mousers: nature or nurture?



"chaniarts" wrote in message ...

On 2/8/2012 9:10 PM, Brian Link wrote:
For the first time in the 12+ years we've lived here, we've got mice
coming indoors. We've got a 16 year-old moggie adopted from a farm cat
litter, and a 9 year-old F7 Bengal, both males.

They've slain two mice so far (we found the carcasses on the kitchen
floor), but we've seen a few more and witnessed the cats hunting them.
The Bengal is the most energetic and enthusiastic, but the most
clumsy. The moggie is patient, precise and determined.

I read somewhere that female cats are the main hunters, and that only
when they've been properly taught by their mothers. Also that male
cats will hunt mice for food when feral.

They both seem pretty interested in the mice we've seen, but don't
deliver killing blows, thus allowing the mice to escape.

So, any hope that our two cats will figure out how to cleanly dispatch
a mouse? I suspect that the corpses we found were probably scared to
death, or inadvertantly killed by play. My guess is that the Bengal is
thrilled that we somehow bought him the BEST CAT TOY EVER!!

Thanks for any ideas.

BLink


probably because they're toying with it rather than dispatching them.

perhaps if they were hungrier? a friend that has an outdoor cat near the
desert commented that during the winter, the cat lays around and eats
inside food, but during the summer when there's more plentiful outdoor
prey, he eats almost no indoor food but concentrates on pack rats and
desert rabbits.



Some cats are good mousers, some only play with them, and some cats do not
pay any attention. It does not seem to have anything to do with hunger. My
grandfather was a farmer and had lots of barn/farm cats. They were well-fed
and got lots of attention. He always said that cats should be well treated
and that it was "ingrained" in many of them to hunt mice. He even thought
that healthy, well-fed cats were more likely to catch mice than "hungry"
cats. It certainly worked well for him. When I was visiting my parents
years ago with one of my cats (Amber - RB), I saw her literally throwing a
mouse across the room, then chase after it and throw it the other direction.
It was a game for her, and the poor little mouse was terrified. I was
trying to think how to intervene and get the mouse outside when Amber
suddenly flipped the mouse up in the air--and it landed in a wastebasket!!
That gave me the opportunity to grab the wastebasket and release the mouse
outdoors. My parents lived in a frame house (well over 100 years old at
that time), and I worked on making it as "mouse proof" as possible. Over a
period of time, I went through the entire house, from basement to second
floor, and pushed steel wool into every crack and crevice I could find and
especially around water pipes. That also seemed to work because mice
stopped getting into the house. I had read somewhere that steel wool is one
of the few things that rodents cannot chew through.

MaryL



 




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