# Cat 2 Gopher 0 *(warning: will see pic of losing team)*



## ascott (May 2, 2012)

Well, I know this will not cause all of the gopher problems to disappear over night...however, the neighbor brought a few cats to their house awhile back..and cut em loose....well, I noticed they were not feeding them very often (I mean like once a week, maybe)...so I did the cardinal sin and put some food out for one that was young and prego when it was still cold out...well, she along with another female have decided they like to chill around our house.....

So, speed forward several months to Monday....I am sitting on the porch watching the old man muck around....and notice the second female cat staring into the black medic plant...it wiggles...she crouches...it wiggles and pow......a little scuffle and she is the winner...off she goes to eat the opponent .....today I am moving the old mans pen over to a fresh area and notice same cat at same spot same crouching tiger pose...wiggle of the plant...pow!!! Cat struts off to eat her prize...

So...cat 2, gopher zip.....good kitty....


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## N2TORTS (May 2, 2012)

Dat's one "screwed" gopher ..... ( hence the phillips!)


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## Laura (May 2, 2012)

my dog ate one he caught last night! EWWWWWW hate the sound.. makes me gag.. but he is a good little hunter...


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## dmarcus (May 2, 2012)

So did the cat use the screw driver to ambush the gopher?


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## ascott (May 2, 2012)

Lol....I don't know what happen...maybe after she grabbed him she beat him down with the screwdriver....and it is a gross sound, she ate every last bit....


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## ascott (May 19, 2012)

Well.....cat 3 and gopher 0 and now squirrel 0....she is one superb hunter....but this time she left me half the eaten head, tail and dash of guts right next to where I bring the bigger RFs out to play outside...I am going to have to go pick up the remains....I think the smell is driving Goliath crazy.....lol....


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## dmmj (May 19, 2012)

I was thinking the same thing, did the cat use the screw driver to finish the job?


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## bigred (May 19, 2012)

You all beat me to it, did the cat shank the gopher. You got rid of gophers and gained cats


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## ascott (May 19, 2012)

You guys are silly.... and I believe she is not only shanking the gophers and squirrels....but I think I watched her threatening the neighbors dog....the shine from the shank caught my attention.....lol.....


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## rockyMTNtortoise (May 19, 2012)

I would keep that cat coming around.


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## bigred (May 19, 2012)

ascott said:


> You guys are silly.... and I believe she is not only shanking the gophers and squirrels....but I think I watched her threatening the neighbors dog....the shine from the shank caught my attention.....lol.....



Does the cat really catch squirrels. My 2 cat are always chasing squirrels but never catch them. They catch birds and crunch on them and eat them.


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## KimandKarasi (May 19, 2012)

haha, it's like the game CLUE; It was the cat, in the back yard, WITH A SCREW DRIVER!! lol! 



bigred said:


> Does the cat really catch squirrels. My 2 cat are always chasing squirrels but never catch them. They catch birds and crunch on them and eat them.



My cat is a cheater.. She sits in my fern bush right behind the bird bath and pounces on the unsuspecting prey! lol! There's never a time my garage isn't full of feathers..


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## Tom (May 19, 2012)

I LOVE those kind of cats! I've had a couple like that. They don't mess with my wild birds or lizards, but they are hell on the rabbits, ground squirrels and gophers. How do they know which ones to mess with and which ones I want them to leave alone? My one kitty was a maine coon mix and he'd leave me either a squirrel tail or a cotton tail and a stomach nearly every morning. He would eat the stomach of everything else, just not the rabbits. One time he left me a very large rattlesnake head. Only the head. That cat was bad a$$, I tell you. All that while evading coyotes and other predators.


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## EricIvins (May 19, 2012)

So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?


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## KimandKarasi (May 19, 2012)

EricIvins said:


> So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?



XD XD XD


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## bigred (May 19, 2012)

EricIvins said:


> So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?



I think so, Cats are going to do what comes natural to them. I think its worse to keep a cat inside and not allow them to be cats. My cats sleep on the roof of my house to avoid predators. I pulled up in my driveway the other day my cat greets me like he does everyday when I get home from work. He has a bird in his mouth and he eats it. Thats just what they do. They help manage the mice and rats.


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## EricIvins (May 20, 2012)

bigred said:


> EricIvins said:
> 
> 
> > So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?
> ...



I can't help to shake my head at this logic.......They help manage Mice and Rats huh? Seems to me, that's the last thing they do.......

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/ec1781/build/ec1781.pdf
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/feral-cat-US.html#cr
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/materials/predation.pdf

And in the UK........

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-19353/Cats-kill-275-million-animals-year.html


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## Tom (May 20, 2012)

EricIvins said:


> So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?



Absolutely it is! First of all, the cottontails here are not native, they are introduced. Secondly, my cats are performing the same role that the natural predators would be performing if all the human activity had not driven them away and kept them at bay. My cats are helping to balance an un-natural situation that we have created by moving our homes into natural areas. With out the normal predators to control the numbers of these animals they reproduce to levels that the environment cannot sustain and then they have huge disease epidemics or massive die offs due to starvation every year around this time when the winter vegetation dries up and food becomes scarce. Around here we have way too many of these pest species (rabbits, gophers and ground squirrels) and controlling/reducing their numbers is a full time job. Every one that my cat gets, is one less that I have to get. I legally trap and or kill dozens of these pests every year under CA depredation laws and a good cat is a useful tool for me in my constant battle against these over abundant pests with no more natural controls.

I don't drive my cat out to the middle of the national Forrest and turn him loose to wreak havoc on a natural situation. He performs his useful tasks on my property and that of my neighbors who share the same problems and also appreciate his efforts.

Btw, I suspect the rattlesnake was a road kill, but do not honestly know.


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## Katherine (May 20, 2012)

Have to side with Eric on this one. I can not own a cat because they are always staring out the window looking trapped and unhappy, and I can not let them out knowing they will kill baby birds, lizards, and other wildlife not naturally subject to predation by domestic animals. I understand where Tom is coming from (I think) but I do not think domestic cats actually posses the discretion to determine which wildlife is nonnative and pesky and then exclusively target it, in my experience they are indiscriminate hunters and they themselves are nonnative. Lots of people have and will continue to have outdoor cats, but I find it unfortunate and not for me. To be fair, you warned us in the heading of this post, I should have listened to your solid 'heads up,' sorry


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## Tom (May 20, 2012)

I would not let a cat out, or continue to leave one out, that killed indiscriminately. That's what is so cool about a certain few trained cats that I've had. They DO discriminate and they don't bother the native birds or lizards.

What difference does it make if an intruding ground squirrel is killed by my trap, my bullet, my dog, or my cat? Their numbers are out of control. The natural order of things is disturbed by my presence, and the presence of my other animals, including my tortoises, so measures must be taken to control the numbers of destructive pests. If my cat was running around killing everything, I could see your point, but he's not for whatever reason.


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## Laurie (May 20, 2012)

I personally do not feel there is anything wrong with cats hunting. They are doing what comes naturally. I do not think they hunt only specific prey. If it moves, they will most likely kill it. I myself have four cats. When we first bought our house, my cats had free roam of the yard. I was constantly picking up dead animals. Rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and birds, they were everywhere. Now, my cats are indoor cats, not due to hunting, but because they were getting hurt. George, my biggest cat, was hit by a car and had to have dental surgery to remove his fang and two other teeth that we're broken. Sometimes I feel bad that I am not letting them outside. Two of them don't seem to mind at all. The other two however, clearly want out. I leash trained them (go ahead and laugh, everyone else does  ). Now, I take George on "walks" outside. 

If some of my cats had not been injured, I wouldn't have a problem with them being outside hunting. I do think it's beneficial for controlling rodent populations. Whenever we get a little field mouse that comes into our garage/basement, I always think, "boy did you pick the wrong house". My cats usually kill it before I can finish the thought!


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## ascott (May 20, 2012)

Wow...apologies here, did not intend for the thread to go in this direction. I live here in the high desert in California. I put food out for the birds (of which are non natives--house sparrows (Passer domesticus) are a very invasive non native species.....one that carry disease that can transfer from bird to human....they are native to Europe, Mediterranean Region and much of Asia...they were introduced into North America and other places...interestingly the area that they have the highest large number of sudden and widespread death rates are in the areas they were introduced into to...now I could go in and on about how unleaded fuel is a large killer of this bird as well as many others..so when someone makes comment about how cats are displacing native wildlife I would say to them...well then sell your car and buy a bike and a book on your area native species..find a tree (before those too are all gone) and educate yourself before you start tossing out media style false statements.

The squirrel killed and consumed was not our protected Mohave Squirrel ....so I am alright with nature taking its course (bias huh). 

This awesome skilled cat has to be appreciated for her predatory retained skills...she is not a killer....she is a predator, big difference. She stalked...ambushed...killed...and consumed....she did not kill and run. 

This human is grateful for her doing what she does. She does not sit and stalk the birds at the feeders and they share the ground water dish I set out....along with the peacock and guinea hens that have decided they like our property...we have hawks, falcons that of course do what they do to continue their life cycle....I do have to say 
that it is absolutely normal for my heart to be sad and shed a tear if I happen to see
the moment she catches her prey....but that is my hang up as we humans are also designed that way...but then I remember that they have to survive as well and to get over myself....

Again...I apologize for this thread turning into this versus what I intended it to be.


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## Zamric (May 20, 2012)

My cat only hunts my yard (WalkingRocks Domain!) now but only after a BAD run in with a neibors dog! and she will only actively hunt those on the ground, even if she spends time on the roof. Her problem is, she doent like them to get away once she has them, so she brings them inside to play with then eventually leave dead in the dinning room... we find the occational squirral, bird, LOTS of lizards (mostly gecko) just laying at the base of the dinner table... we always find feathers all over the house before we find the birds... we find most of those alive.... with her in "Hunt" Mode!


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## bigred (May 20, 2012)

Best cat in the world, Doing what comes natural to her. What she is doing is no different than a Hawk or Owl swooping down and killing and EATING mice ia a field. Tom this is one of those cats you were talking about. Also this is the same cat that has been sleeping with my torts for years.


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## dmmj (May 20, 2012)

OK this is not a debate thread, please move it to the debate section, thanks.

This is how topics go OT.


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## Kerryann (May 21, 2012)

What's funny is that I am the crazy animal loving vegetarian but I grew up out in the country with barn cats. The barn cats were well kept and they kept the varmits under control. I actually don't see an issue with well cared for outdoor cats when you are out in the country. 
I do however have an issue with people who live in a subdivision like mine that let their cats roam outdoors. I too frequently see squished kitties in the road around my area. We live in an area where there isn't a ton of wild roaming areas, but there are lots of streets and driveways. 
There is a neighbor down the road that has their cat on an electric fence  and I thought they were slightly insane, but the cat stays in the yard.


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## Terry Allan Hall (May 23, 2012)

EricIvins said:


> So cats being outside, killing native wildlife is a good thing?



Depends on what they're killing...

songbirds? Bad 

rodents? Good

Of our 4 cats, only one is a "hunter", the other 3 won't go outside under ANY circumstances, and, in fact, cry if made to do so.







Sourpuss' natural habitat​


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