Handy hints

Good Lord, Bruce - those bring back memories! Peanut butter is even more tempting than chocolate for mousebait, by the way!

Pat

We found that a cat was the best deterrent. Since the arrival of Surrey we have neither seen or heard any signs of mice

Not so in our house.

Or these 'Merikan mice are bordering on retarded...

We have *12* cats and we *still* get mice! Occasionally I will find one (or a part of one - ick) in the middle of the living room floor. One had been seriously licked by the dog (and was getting the stare-of-death from 7 cats), but still alive. That one (drenched in doggie-drool) was taken outside, and apparently recovered! I kept my eye on it for a while, and after about an hour, it came out of it's drool-induced "coma" and toddled off. It was summer, so the drool dried fairly quickly!

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:57:07 -0400, "Magic Mood Jeep" wrote: X-No-Archive Yes

I heard the results of a study that showed that not all cats are mousers. Mousers have a genetic marker that makes them as they are. My old cat was a terriffic mouser and he ate well, so even making the cat hungry will not make it hunt mice unless it has the marker. The study showed some cats would starve while mice ran around them.

I don't know whether Surrey is any good at actually catching mice as we've not seen her in mouse-catching action. However, if any stray beetle, spider or other creepy-crawlie is foolish enough to wander into the house and make any slight movement whilst in Surrey's field of vision then Surrey leaps into action. She chases and corners the poor creature before playing with it for ages, often allowing it to escape across the floor before casually strolling over and recapturing it, until we cannot watch any more and have to put the creature out of its misery. Surrey is also extremely fast on her feet as we've noticed when she plays with one of the table tennis balls that someone bought her for Christmas - yes, Surrey is a very, very pampered pet!

We have at least a dozen outdoor cats, mostly calico - they just appeared on the porch one day 3 years ago so we've taken to feeding them. Our poor little indoor kitty is beside herself as she runs from window to window watching them.

Anyway, we used to have a dreadful vole problem. The yard was littered with mounds of earth and it was dangerous to go skipping out in the lawn at night. Leg breakers, those holes were. Then one day the cat army showed up.

Well, on to my point now. I read that a well fed cat is a better mouser than a hungry one because the hungry one will only hunt till it is full, whereas the well fed cat will hunt for fun, so there is no limit to their conquests. So, we figure a big bag of catfood monthly is a fair price for the mousing and vole removal service they perform. Also, no squirrels. They even eat a fair share of grasshoppers!

Deb :)

The same goes for dogs. My friend's dog, part Bichon and part Terrier, is constantly bringing her gifts of dead lizards and flying after squirrels and other critters. My Puff, a Maltese, has had lizards walk across his feet and he just backs up as if to say, what??? As to squirrels and mice, he just looks at them with disdain and/or ignores them completely.

And some cats (she says, glaring at one of them) are very good mouse-catchers, who will then let the mouse go so they can have the fun of catching it again and again.

And when GrandMeow and GrandPurr bought said cat a furry mousie toy for Christmas, she carried it around like a baby. I even found it tucked into my bed so it wouldn't get cold. Oh, yeah, just where I want to find the next invader.

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how mice and rats become "paralyzed" in the presence of a cat. It's a brilliant story of symbiosis in nature:

We know people like that! LOL!

Pat

My sister's cat, the late great Mork, brought in a live snake for our Mom one day. Mom is afraid of snakes. And other time, he brought in a live blue jay and deposited at the feet of a former BF of mine. And we swore that cat brought the live mice/voles/moles just for the pleasure of hunting in the warm house.... C

And people use the phrase "dumb animals" !

Well, they -are-! After all, they can't speak. :)

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net WIP: Oriental Butterfly, Floral Sampler, Carousel (TW) Most recently Finished: Insect Sampler, TicTacToe Sampler

They don't have to speak. My dog can get nearly anything he wants by just looking at me beseechingly and pointing in the right direction. Or, if it's important enough and I'm ignoring the look, a little lick on the cheek and I'm toast.

Lucille

Dear Aunt Jenn,

You haven't been around me, have you? I speak quite well and constantly. I love to talk on the phone. And if people don't understand, I have other ways of getting my point across ... I hung up on Uncle Brian three times the other day because he went to Fisherman's Wharf and didn't bring me any fish. That'll teach him!

Love, Miss Kitty Queen of all she surveys

Ours definitely has language skills - he may get a bit confused when we send him for a specifically named object, and bring something similar - but if we repeat it - he'll find the write thing. And he whines really, really well. Plus, he actually gives "huggies" - stands up on his hind legs and puts his front legs on the shoulders, leans in, and whuffles. Every so often when we've left him alone all day, and come home, he'll be mooning around, and come up, smiling, then stand up and put the paws on you - if you ask "want a hug?" or "huggies" he goes for it. Then he's happy.

It's the ear snuffling to check scent that has us a bit intriqued.

ellice

Puff give hugs too. Of course, being about 10" at the shoulder, he can't possibly reach shoulders if a person is standing, but he climbs up on a lap and then does the hugs and kisses bit.

I've even seen him move his mouth as if he wants to say a word, especially when he's really anxious to make me go somewhere or do something. I really believe that if they had the right kind of vocal cords animals would definitely be able to speak. I read somewhere that most adult dogs have the vocabulary of a three year old.

Too cute. I totally agree with you. Puckster definitely makes some noises that are not "dog" typical language - more guttural. You can seem him working on this, and making these non-bark,non-whine or whimper noises with some variation - and looking at us "Don't you understand?" . No doubt all the different doggie sounds have meanings - certainly we can tell the "let me out" from "want to play" from "who's there" and "YIPPEE - you're home" sounds. Puckster seems to have a better vocab than some of my other dogs - it's at least close to 200 words and gestures. 3 year old is likely about right. Who knows.

I think we as a whole often underestimate animals - or non-lovers of animals can often tend to discount their communication & emotional capacity. I know that the horses in the stable certainly communicated with each other, and had different sounds and gestures for their people. Watching the dogs and horses "talking" - that was interesting.

Ellice