So, I got myself a “Squirrel Bungee” feeder thing (can be seen here) the thing is awesome. Every morning there are at least six of the guys out there eating and bouncing about. Since the new found food was the staple of the morning varmint crowd we have picked up some new breakfast guests…two fox and a hawk. Well, now in the mornings we often find either fur (from a squirrel) or feathers (from a bird duh) in the yard. The other day I got home just in time to see the hawk fly off with a squirrel.
Well, now I come to find out that the “real” thing the fox are looking for is my rescued, unwanted, vomit producing, hair ball hacking, fur shedding clump leaving, furniture clawing, piss stinking cat.
The cat has all of her (very sharp) claws and all in all really is just a bitchy creature. I saved her from a friends basement a couple years ago and took her in (that was a dumb move). It is not like I am going to rub chicken liver all over the cat to attract the fox…but am I in any way obligated to do anything special to protect her from the fox? If the fox does eat the cat (as it has many other neighborhood cats by all accounts) is that not just the way of things? Should I keep the cat in the house (she wants out - but wont poop or pee outside).
A lot of cats have gone missing in our neighborhood lately. I see signs all the time for missing cats. I thought it was the creepy guy down the street killing them, but maybe it’s a fox. Hmm.
On the way to work a few weeks ago I saw fox running in the ditch along the road with a full grown rabbit in is mouth (this was ~9 miles from my place, so certainly not the possible fox in our area). It was pretty cool.
Yes, a fox can kill a cat. However, studies have shown this to be actually pretty rare. Foxes tend to take smaller and easier prey, and really don’t like things that fight back - which your cat sounds like it is way more inclined to do. Most “fox kills” actually turn out to be foxes scavenging cats that were killed by something else. Of that cats that do get killed by foxes, they tend to either be very young or very old.
but am I in any way obligated to do anything special to protect her from the fox?
Obligated? If you’re askin’ I’m sure some kool-aid stand out there will be happy to tell you which ethical decsions to make.
You could run the fox off, maybe, but the cat might just increase its prowling area to intesect with the fox’s area of exhile. What do you want the final picture to look like? If you want the cat to live, shot the fox, I guess.
I saw a red fox in my back yard the other day. I’ve been poisoning chipmunks, so I guess it, the hawks and crows are just taking out my trash. Wow, I am getting animals to perform “waste removal” instead of the city’s trucks. I am reducing my carbon footprint. I guess I’ll have to create a blog so I can impress everyone with how “green” I am.
but am I in any way obligated to do anything special to protect her from the fox?
Obligated? If you’re askin’ I’m sure some kool-aid stand out there will be happy to tell you which ethical decsions to make.
You could run the fox off, maybe, but the cat might just increase its prowling area to intesect with the fox’s area of exhile. What do you want the final picture to look like? If you want the cat to live, shot the fox, I guess.
I saw a red fox in my back yard the other day. I’ve been poisoning chipmunks, so I guess it, the hawks and crows are just taking out my trash. Wow, I am getting animals to perform “waste removal” instead of the city’s trucks. I am reducing my carbon footprint. I guess I’ll have to create a blog so I can impress everyone with how “green” I am.
If you’re poisoning the chipmunks, you’re poisoning the animals that eat them. Not good!
If you’re poisoning the chipmunks, you’re poisoning the animals that eat them. Not good!
CS
Hey, I didn’t think about that. If the fox and hawk dies, who is gonna carry off my chipmunks? And WHO will carry off the fox and hawk? Maybe Turkey-Lurkey? Or maybe R10C’s fox will come over to my yard and take over. But then his fox will die. Oh lordy, what to do? Maybe it will continue on like this until I die. Then who will carry me away? Maybe the Flat Frog will!
Chipmunks are exceedingly easy to catch live and remove. A small hav-a-heart trap baited with a bit of bread and peanut butter is the best. My record for trapping one is less than 5 mins – that is, I saw one in the yard, baited the trap, set it out, and had the 'munk in less than 5 minutes.
Once you have the chipmunk, there are any number of things you can do with them. You can drown them by placing the trap in a bucket of water, then freeze the chipmunk in your freezer to keep for later. You can also let them go someplace else, of course. Or use them as a weapon and release them secretively in places like the wal-mart pet food aisle.
You would be surprised at some of the places that foxes will call home. I was at a military base in Ft Worth a couple of weeks ago. Very few trees and mostly warehouse type buildings. I look out the window and see a fox sitting on some steps. A little while later a guy points it out again - it is carrying a cub in it’s mouth.
You wouldn’t think there would be an animal larger than a mouse calling that place home, but obviously there was some fox copulation going on.
I ain’t got time for all that nonsense. Although the Walmart aisle could be fun!
My dad had one of those things where you catch the squirrel alive and he would release them at the park. One day he catches a rat. I guess the rat doesn’t deserve to live so he decides to drown it in an old metal trash can. So he fills it up with water but the rat can swim. So he thinks the rat will tire, he’ll come back later when he’s dead. A few hours go by and the rat is still treading water. So my dad pours gasoline on top of the water and lights it on fire! I didn’t see this, but he told me the story. When he’s telling me the story, he goes into great detail about the fire not burning the rat to death, but suffocating it. WTF?
I won’t be doing THAT. I’m much more of a pragmatist. I don’t enjoy the taste of gas on my meat.
My dad used to trap squirrels for removal. He’d paint their tails before releasing them. He had a chart or something and knew just how far he had to take them so they wouldn’t come back, based on that data.
When I was growin’ up, there we’re always these “mean” kid legends. One was about a kid who buried cats with their heads out of the ground and ran them over with a lawn mower. I tried it few times but could never figure out how to keep the cat in the hole while I was filling it back up with dirt!
He said they hated it. I think squirrels use their tails for communicative purposes. Who knows what it means when they shake a blaze orange tail at you? Day-glo pink? Etc.
That is sorta what I was thinking - why let the 16 year old cat just find a corner of the house to die in and rot? I sure as heck wont be there “looking” for the cat when I get home from work. My luck it crawls under a bed and dies in one of the spare rooms. I would figure it would take a pretty good stench or the sudden influx of flies before I went to investigate the rotting feline carcus that would be hidden in what ever corner she was to find.
But, if the fox was to get her - her life would not be lost for nothing. She could live on in sprit in the fox, also now that I see assisting in ridding the neighborhood of other varmints like the chipmunks and squirrels (I do like the squirrels better than the cat - at least they shit outside). Life could continue and I would never again have to wonder if the cat had again puked on my pillow before I lay in bed.
(Nothing hinders a moment of lustful intimacy like laying your head in cold cat vomit that was strategically placed on your pillow by said vengeful cat. )
