The Moonshiner's Leghorn Thread Peanut Gallery

[The Moonshiner]

Guess my outside cat is stupid. She kills rats.
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Cockerel

 

[Painted Calls]

Cockerel

Clearly

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

Cockerel

Nasty disease ridden cockerel!

 

[Amer]

They're so pretty!!

FYI, cats can't handle rats. Mice, yes, and the occasional young, inexperienced rat. But rats are big and fighty, and it takes a dog to take care of them. Our ancestors did not breed 40 kinds of terrier because they're cute. The GSD pictured above guarding her lamb is our main rat killer (coyote guardian, people greeter and even killed a large weasel that got right in the barn) and the Border Collie is learning to kill rats. The cats, sensible creatures, know better than to try.

Oh, my cats certainly do kill rats. They just aren’t gonna go down after them. I would get a dog but… lots of work. And dangerous to the chickens too. If there was someone with dogs and ferrets I could hire that would be nice.

You should have seen my geese though. There was a poison-weakened rat in the coop and they were destroying its tail. Blood everywhere. Fortunately I threw away the rat before they injested it. (Though they probably did drink some blood.)
Vegetarians my foot. But those geese just chase an opportunity. I don’t think they’d ever chase a rat.

 

[RiverOtter]

Oh, my cats certainly do kill rats. They just aren’t gonna go down after them. I would get a dog but… lots of work. And dangerous to the chickens too. If there was someone with dogs and ferrets I could hire that would be nice.

You should have seen my geese though. There was a poison-weakened rat in the coop and they were destroying its tail. Blood everywhere. Fortunately I threw away the rat before they injested it. (Though they probably did drink some blood.)
Vegetarians my foot. But those geese just chase an opportunity. I don’t think they’d ever chase a rat.

If you ask around, there are people with dogs who'll come out. Finding them can be tricky, but I've run into them anywhere I've lived. Some places have terrier trials, find a trial and you'll definitely find someone who'll come out.

Yeah as I said, cats will catch the occasional rat. But they can't eliminate the problem, and they may well get hurt. More than once I've had to take a cat to the vet for a rat bite - they always get infected. One cat hid for 2 days and the abscess was the size of a tennis ball, ate into some muscle and Karma limped for the rest of his life (he did make it to 13 though!) In the last couple of years I lost two old toms, Hobbes and Kirk, both of whom had some run ins with rats and both of whom taught the younger cats caution. In a few years more, some ambitious young cat who never benefitted from their wisdom will go after rats and get a few before it tackles one too big and strong and gets hurt (hopefully not irreparably) and hopefully will then pass on it's hard-earned wisdom.

 

[JadeFarms]

Guess my outside cat is stupid. She kills rats.
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I guess your cat is a dog.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I remember not realizing how dangerous rats were until they were a big danger in the Warrior cat series. Same with badgers and beavers.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Adobrz.

Guess my outside cat is stupid. She kills rats.
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Why in the world are we holding it? And why does it look so cute and surprised?

Also, I thought this was chicken poop until I realized it was gold palm trees...

Nasty disease ridden cockerel!

It's kinda cute though. Even if it is a boy.

 

[Painted Calls]

Adobrz.

Why in the world are we holding it? And why does it look so cute and surprised?

Also, I thought this was chicken poop until I realized it was gold palm trees...
View attachment 3208865

It's kinda cute though. Even if it is a boy.

Iz was proud of her porch kitty's kill.

Lol I have no idea why but it died with a very cute face.

 

[Painted Calls]

I guess your cat is a dog.

She does fetch!