Got Rodents? Warehouse or shop cats need a job (Seattle region)

[ErikJ]

An ad on Craigslist today. Seems like a great idea.



Warehouse or shop cats are a natural, organic rodent control method that will spare you the need to use poisons for your mouse or rat problem. Do you have a need and a space for a mouser or ratter? It could be a barn, shed, shop, garage, warehouse, or any space where you need to discourage rodents.

These cats are have been deemed not adoptable as house pets, because they are feral or semi-feral, or just need to live outdoors. They are being given a second chance as working cats. These cats are typically shy and seldom seen, but some of them may be more tame than others, or may become more tame and interactive with you as time goes on--if you wish to work with them. In any case, you will be saving their lives by providing them a home.

There is no fee for this service, and the cats will be delivered to you, although you are very welcome to contribute toward gas money and other expenses, if you wish, or make a donation to Alley Cat Project, who spays & neuters and rescues feral cats. The cats brought to you will have been spayed & neutered, vaccinated, and healthy before they are brought to you.

You will be asked to commit to provide the following:

1. Daily cat food and fresh water (eating rodents must not be considered their primary source of nutrition.)

2. A safe, warm shelter

3. Long-term vet care, as needed

4. Registration of their microchips

5. Humane treatment

After a short period of confinement within your barn, warehouse, garage, shop, etc., the cats will be released, with the likely expectation that they will realize where their regular meals are coming from and stick around.

The number of cats delivered to you can be negotiated. We have singles, as well as bonded pairs or groups who have lived together in a colony.

www.alleycatproject.org.

[PeaceNikki]

1. Hmm. Mixed feelings on this. They can wreak havoc on local bird populations.

I get the benefit... really really get it. But cats kill for fun, not food.

[ErikJ]

3. That was my worry too.

I think they should just give them away for indoor warehouse or barn use only.

[tech3149]

5. Seriously, from a long time cat person

The birds are not in danger. I've had cats for better than 40 years and they were almost all outdoor cats. Even those that I would have preferred to be indoor only could not be constrained once they experienced the joy of being outdoors.
In all those years with all those cats, the best any of them could do was a few birds a year. That doesn't compare to the dozens of mice,moles, and rabbits that they could catch in a month.

The only reason they had a chance at the birds was the bird feeder drew hundreds at a time so it was like fish in a barrel.

[wildeyed]

8. Not been my experience.

My neighbor has one, outdoor cat but not feral, and she is a bird killing machine. I just found yet another splat of red cardinal feather in my driveway

[Aerows]

20. Mine wears a bell for that reason

It doesn't seem to interrupt her rodent killing abilities, but it has cut down on the dead birds. Dead lizards have continued apace, and probably even more sharply increased. I won't discuss snakes.

[rhett o rick]

7. Shame on you. Cats kill because it's their instinct not for fun.

I have two cats. The older one doesnt kill any birds, the younger kills maybe two or three a year. And most likely they are the weaker of the species. I put out bird seed and figure I help many birds survive the winter that would otherwise die.

Cars and windows kill birds but I bet you wouldnt think of trying to eliminate cars or windows.

[PeaceNikki]

25. I don't recall stating that I wanted to eliminate cats.

Oh, right, because I didn't.

Shame on me for what exactly? Being conflicted? Having mixed feelings about disrupting an ecosystem?

What is your issue?

[rhett o rick]

26. I am sick of people persecuting cats. You said, "cats kill for fun," and that's misleading.

They naturally kill. If they are being fed well their instinct is still to kill.

I apologize for coming off so strong. But it's a sore spot with me. I love animals. I love my cats and I love birds.

[PeaceNikki]

27. Holy shit, get a grip. I am not a cat persecutor. I adore cats. Have one in my lap right now.

Cats kill for sport... out of instinct. That's why this program works.

[indie9197]

33. I had a cat named Taz (short for that animal downunder)

that used to frequently bring wounded birds inside through the doggie door so she could repeatedly catch them as they flew around the house. You dont think she was having fun?

[Vincardog]

2. K&R for the good work. I you need a few more cats I have too many farm cats in IA

[TlalocW]

4. I grew up on the side of my small town

Past my backyard was nothing but wheat fields. We had a barn plus a weird lean-to shed connected to it that we threw bags of pop and beer cans into for later recycling (we would go years before we'd take them to be recycled). The town eventually had us tear it down because they thought it was an attractant for mice, but in my years, I never saw one mouse anywhere on our property because we had barn cats. Even tamed a few as pets.

TlalocW

[steve2470]

6. Larry, Chief Mouser to the (UK) Cabinet Office

Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office



https://www.gov.uk/government/history/10-downing-street#larry-chief-mouser

Hey, he might need a job one day !

[shenmue]

11. One of the best public servants you'll ever meet

Probably smarter than half of Parliament.

[steve2470]

12. the Tory half

I'm sure our lovely Brit friends would agree.

[rhett o rick]

9. As you know some of the rats in Seattle are huge.

My cats will kill baby or adolescent rats but not take on a full size wharf rat.

[Aerows]

14. Mine will

I heard her meow one night and bent down to pet her, even though the meow was muffled. She had a freaking NUTRIA in her mouth, and they are humongous. She fears absolutely nothing, and drags them home, much to my disgust, so I can see how excellent of a hunter she is. I have no idea how she got hold of the thing and managed to not only kill it, but bring it home.

She's not huge, but she's not small, either.

[MillennialDem]

19. BS. Cats can kill stuff larger than themselves - but will probably only take a risk on

larger prey if they are very hungry.

[meti57b]

29. Hmmm ... note to self: be sure to feed the cats before letting them sleep on the bed.

[shenmue]

10. Well, nature is nature

That's what would happen in the wild. Still, I would probably just adopt the cats and use humane traps to remove the rodents. Drop the rodents off in the woods, keep the cats at home and scratch their tummies a lot while we watch movies and share popcorn.

Everybody wins!

[Aerows]

13. Cat's are fantastic pest control.

My cat was starving to death, skinny and losing patches of her hair, and I started feeding her. In exchange, she killed the mice and pests around the house. Five years later, she's a fat lazy house cat - that still won't hesitate to end the life of a rodent.

[sakabatou]

15. My cat's a lazy ass

There was a mouse in our house once. We took our cat to it and... out cat looked at us and walked out.

[Aerows]

18. If their mom's don't teach them how to kill

they don't really know how to do it. Males tend to be more lazy. Female cats, however, will kill anything given the chance and being taught how to kill by their mother. And I do mean ANYTHING.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you didn't want me to bring this big snake home to you? Well how about a rat, a nutria or a squirrel, would you like one of those?"

[sakabatou]

24. Well, she will kill stuff, like mice

But not when we're around.

[uppityperson]

28. Nothing like finding a chipmunk that has spent the night in your bathrobe pocket after the cat let

it loose in the bedroom.

[Aerows]

31. Or a snake being plopped down in the middle of the living room floor.

Look what I caught! *plop* ball of snake starts slithering toward the tv.

[RebelOne]

16. I could have used the services of one of those cats

a couple of years ago. I had an infestation of rats because a field was being cleared in back of my house for construction of an apartment complex. I had to hire a pest control guy who killed off all the rats. It would have been cheaper to hire a cat. I now have a couple of feral cats that roam my yard.

Where were those cats when I needed them? They would have had plenty to eat as the exterminator killed 19 rats.

[Blue_In_AK]

17. We could use one of those for sure.

The mice come in here during the winter. We've caught several in our live trap and we were just letting them go outside, but they were coming right back in, so lately they've been going in the garbage can where they can take their (not too good) chances at survival. My last cat died in October and we hadn't planned on getting another one, but I'm really not too happy with these rodents, even though they're little and kind of cute.

[Aerows]

21. A good mouser

can decimate a mouse population in a handful of days. I found the bodies of 8 voles piled up by the cat's bed in one day. Mind you, my kitty is pretty OCD about everything (including cleanliness, she has never had a flea to my knowledge and she goes outside) but that was pretty unreal.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Yeah, these are little,

about the same size as voles, but they have longer tails, so I think they're field mice. When we go out to Nome next month for the Iditarod, my daughter is going to bring one of her cats over here to hang out for a while. Maybe just the cat smell will be enough to encourage these guys to stay outside.

[Aerows]

23. A decent hunter or huntress

will end the lot of them in a couple of days LOL!

[Loudly]

30. Wonder why a litter box wasn't mentioned? n/t

[Aerows]

32. Mine uses one

And she stays inside at night. I don't love her any less because she occasionally eats foul things. Really disgusting things. And brings their remains home disgusting things. Things that have been dragged through the dirt, and look like Satan himself vomitted them up sorts of things.

Yes, she does. But she is litterbox trained.

[Niceguy1]

34. that is a really

I hope people take advantage of this innovative program.