Mice

[Tom M King]

Peter, I take it you don't have a barn? We will always have barn cats, and always feed the birds. It's rare that the birds feed the cats, as much as the cats try.

edited to add: Our barn cats have always just showed up. They were not a result of our own irresponsibility because we always have them spayed, or neutered. I do agree that feral cats are a problem, but we don't contribute to that.

[Ron Citerone]

Thanks for the help. I live 45 minutes from there so anything that requires cats or constant disposal is not an option. I only get there every second week or two. I guess I will buy a bunch of traps and see what happens.

Thanks all!
Ron

[John K Jordan]

I do agree that feral cats are a problem, but we don't contribute to that.

Maybe they do this everywhere: there are organizations here that catch feral cats, or accept feral cats anyone catches, and spay and neuter then release them back where found. The idea is to reduce the breeding population.

Some years ago I caught a big, mean feral cat that was terrorizing my cats and tried to eat the live trap for lunch and my hand as an appetizer. I had him modified and paid for a checkup and all his shots. (The vet clips the tip of the ear to mark a feral cat in case it is caught and brought in again.) When I got home instead of releasing it I decided to domesticate it as an experiment. I kept it for four months in the shop, first in a cage, then shut up in my welding room, then gave it free range in the shop, all with lots of attention. Today it is a big fat happy friendly barn cat who dreams of being a lap cat. With the clipped ear I named him Vincent.

As for the bird deaths, from the Nature article abstract: " Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality." I suspect the feral cats have to kill if they want to eat so the survivors are good at catching birds. I've watched one of my cats stalking birds but the birds are too fast and the cat is too slow. It soon tires of that game and is ready to come inside and put in another shift towards his 16 hour sleep quota.

JKJ

[Tom M King]

They don't do that even close to everywhere. Probably, just in, or close to big cities. There's not enough tax base to cover such things here, out in the country.

[Peter Kelly]

Peter, I take it you don't have a barn? We will always have barn cats, and always feed the birds. It's rare that the birds feed the cats, as much as the cats try.

My shop located at my parent's property in Chester County PA is in the lower level of a 1700's bank barn. I'm vigilant about keeping it clean.

No cats, very few mice.

[Jim Becker]

My shop located at my parent's property in Chester County PA is in the lower level of a 1700's bank barn. I'm vigilant about keeping it clean.

No cats, very few mice.

I bet that's a very kewel building, Peter!

[Alan Rutherford]

...As for the bird deaths, from the Nature article abstract: " Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality." ...

Same publication a few months later: "Free-ranging domestic cats in the United States kill many more birds and mammals than previously thought, making them possibly the top anthropogenic killer of US wildlife." https://www.nature.com/articles/494009a

It's well-established that cats are in effect an invasive species and extremely detrimental to all manner of wildlife. No one thinks that applies to their cat and maybe it doesn't but there's no question about cats in general. Other research shows that on average, cats kill something for every 16 hours they are outdoors. That's whether it's a house cat that's usually indoors or feral. Again, maybe not YOUR cat but we're talking averages. My last cat probably brought the average up and it's not because he wasn't well fed or didn't have a home to come back to.

Spay and neuter programs are an expensive non-solution.

[Tom M King]

I think our cats must do a pretty good job of getting rid of mice in the barn. Sometimes we have to let the chickens in to clean up the grain that the horses drop.

If cats could only catch Ospreys, we'd be better off here. We're about overrun with Ospreys. They've taken every available tree, and have started building nests on peoples' chimneys. Before the power companies put bird deterrents on any power pole crossbar, anywhere close to the water, there was a nest on every pole.

I have no doubt that Sharp-shinned Hawks take more songbirds here, than cats do. They even steal babies out of nests.

[Peter Kelly]

Except that Sharp Shinned hawks aren't a non-native invasive species in North America.

Bigger picture; suburban bird feeders tend to create unnatural concentrations of small birds as they're reliable sources of food. Often where you'll find free-roaming domestic cats, feral cats as well as raptors waiting around for their next meal. Not exactly great for birds.

[Peter Kelly]

I bet that's a very kewel building, Peter!

All timber framed out of American Chestnut too. Shop is where the windows and double doors are.



Not a great photo, I should tidy up inside and do a tour sometime.



The house itself is from mid-1600s, originally a Penn's Grant property.

[Jim Becker]

The house itself is from mid-1600s, originally a Penn's Grant property.

Very nice! The 250 year old portion of our home here in Bucks County was originally part of a very large bit of land that William Penn provided to a family by the name of Paxton...many of the stone structures in this immediate area were part of that and were all apparently built by the same mason. The main property is currently listed for $10 Million about 3 miles as the crow flies from here.

We now return you to your regularly schedule thread on "fun with rodents".

[Mel Fulks]

What a beautiful place ! Calendar material second only to girls !

[Peter Kelly]

The original Penn's Grant owner of our place was a man named Goodwin Walter who signed the deed to the property in Wiltshire England sight unseen. Within three months, he'd sailed to Philadelphia, walked out to where the property is now and somehow found a cave to live in while he built the original bit of the house. It must have been a wild hinterland in those days. One of the Amish guys re-doing the roof pointed out to me that you can just see the top of the Comcast tower now.

[Bill Dufour]

My sister had good luck with the victor electric trap in her shed. They make fancy ones with bluetooth etc that send a text when they go off or the battery is low..
I wonder if spam works well as bait in a wifi trap? maybe they like Phish instead. I wonder if there are experts in debugging mouse traps?
Bil lD.

[Kris Cook]

My wife read about using cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil. I put them in the travel trailer last year when it was stored for the winter. No mice issues. We live in an old house (relatively - 115 yrs ). We have been in the house for a year and used the cotton balls last winter. No mice issues. Might be worth a try.