Popular Post rodheadlee Posted July 7, 2016 Popular Post Posted July 7, 2016 I expect the mouse, the bird etc but Leia drags home earthworms and today she brought a garter snake home. I captured him and put him up in the gardens here. The mice they bring home are most often alive and we wind up in a big chase in the boat to see who can catch him first. They are fat slow mice because I can catch them with no problem and I'm a crippled 62 year old.. I take them up to a special spot and release them. Well one morning a mouse jumped out of Bennie's mouth and into the river, so I'm out there in my PJs with a large cup trying to rescue a drowning mouse. I caught him and put him ashore. Leia is serious about her pray and growls, Bennie just wants to chase them around. He lets them go so he can catch them again. 7
Jeanne Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 You're a good man. To save a drowning mouse..while the cat is upset a little..well heck....you are good man!! 1
bluebell Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 You sound like my kind of guy rod. I love it when men go out of their way to be kind to animals. I love it when women do it too of course but it seems more commonplace with women than with men. 2
Calm Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 I am afraid I got ruthless with mice the year the hantavirus (fatal and spread by contact not only with the rodents but their urine and droppings) showed up where we lived and 9 more mice showed up after I let the first one go in the field next to our house where it probably came from in the first place. I figure boxing them up and driving and then walking it far enough up into the hills so I know it won't get into anyone else's home or yard would traumatize it enough that it may be more merciful to kill them, but maybe I am giving it more intelligence then they actually have...read too much literature about training mice and lab rats in university, though I only actually trained chicks myself.
bluebell Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 I kill mice if they come into my home because setting them free to come back isn't a very healthy option. I hate doing it though. ☹️
rodheadlee Posted July 7, 2016 Author Posted July 7, 2016 I'll tell you one thing though, they stay away from the mother mallards and their babies. I guess it's out of respect and wonder for children. The Canada Geese scare them though. Once a fledgling was walking the docks with no parent in sight, Bennie would not walk near it. We had to pick him up and carry him around the goose. Leia though kept walking right up to it and smelling it. We had to grab her and tell her no. I suspect Bennie had a run in with an adult.
rodheadlee Posted July 7, 2016 Author Posted July 7, 2016 18 minutes ago, Calm said: I am afraid I got ruthless with mice the year the hantavirus (fatal and spread by contact not only with the rodents but their urine and droppings) showed up where we lived and 9 more mice showed up after I let the first one go in the field next to our house where it probably came from in the first place. I figure boxing them up and driving and then walking it far enough up into the hills so I know it won't get into anyone else's home or yard would traumatize it enough that it may be more merciful to kill them, but maybe I am giving it more intelligence then they actually have...read too much literature about training mice and lab rats in university, though I only actually trained chicks myself. Well, we think Patti got ringworm from some Idaho mice, Is that possible?
Garden Girl Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 Hello Rod... I love your cat stories... I now have an indoor only cat, Bob, so no longer have the surprises... but my previous cat that I had for 10 years, Charlie, was indoor/outdoor so I can appreciate what you go through... I think I told this story before... but... Charlie was quite a hunter, born to a feral mother who apparently died and Charlie was tamed as a kitty by some friends. They couldn't keep him so I took him and was blessed to have had the years with him. Anyway, I went through the chasing the mice he would bring in, etc. I decided to get him a toy mouse to play with in the house... but he wasn't impressed, and that mouse just laid on the living room floor. One day I went shopping and when I came home there on the floor was the toy mouse... and lying right beside it was a real mouse that Charlie had killed and brought in as if to say... humph... Now this is a mouse!! While there have been many times I've been thankful that Bob is safely indoors (when I see notices on the Post Off bulletin board for lost cats, knowing the critters we have that prey on them) I still can't help but feel that Bob is missing out on a wonderful part of who he is... GG 1
rodheadlee Posted July 7, 2016 Author Posted July 7, 2016 58 minutes ago, Garden Girl said: Hello Rod... I love your cat stories... I now have an indoor only cat, Bob, so no longer have the surprises... but my previous cat that I had for 10 years, Charlie, was indoor/outdoor so I can appreciate what you go through... I think I told this story before... but... Charlie was quite a hunter, born to a feral mother who apparently died and Charlie was tamed as a kitty by some friends. They couldn't keep him so I took him and was blessed to have had the years with him. Anyway, I went through the chasing the mice he would bring in, etc. I decided to get him a toy mouse to play with in the house... but he wasn't impressed, and that mouse just laid on the living room floor. One day I went shopping and when I came home there on the floor was the toy mouse... and lying right beside it was a real mouse that Charlie had killed and brought in as if to say... humph... Now this is a mouse!! While there have been many times I've been thankful that Bob is safely indoors (when I see notices on the Post Off bulletin board for lost cats, knowing the critters we have that prey on them) I still can't help but feel that Bob is missing out on a wonderful part of who he is... GG Cats are really smart.
Calm Posted July 8, 2016 Posted July 8, 2016 2 hours ago, rodheadlee said: I'll tell you one thing though, they stay away from the mother mallards and their babies. I guess it's out of respect and wonder for children. The Canada Geese scare them though. Once a fledgling was walking the docks with no parent in sight, Bennie would not walk near it. We had to pick him up and carry him around the goose. Leia though kept walking right up to it and smelling it. We had to grab her and tell her no. I suspect Bennie had a run in with an adult. That is good to hear. We had a problem with cats and ducklings in Canada, they were safe on their island in the duck pond across the street, but if any one wandered to our backyard to nest, the neighbour's cat didn't hold back. Made me mad, but didn't feel it was appropriate to call the cops on her (cats were not supposed to roam free) seeing as she was a senior on her own save for the cat. And the cat was just being a cat. The geese never came down to ground to visit, but we could hear their honking flybys all the time..except for winter of course.
Calm Posted July 8, 2016 Posted July 8, 2016 2 hours ago, rodheadlee said: Well, we think Patti got ringworm from some Idaho mice, Is that possible? Mice get ringworm and apparently it can be spread by touching clothing of an infected person or sharing a towel, so perhaps if the mice got into clothing drawers before she noticed?
3DOP Posted July 11, 2016 Posted July 11, 2016 Our little cat Max is not hungry. We give him better food than he can get chewing through fur and feathers. But nature will not be denied. Inevitably he comes home with some tortured creature, smaller than him, that arouses the sympathy of the hardest of hearts.
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