Mouser or bird murderer

[blackcats73]

My lovely one year old female seal point Siamese is having a wonderful time murdering the local bird population. She even brings in newly hatched chicks. No rodents as yet.

I know that's what cats do but my last cat ( a rescue moggie) didn't bother/ couldn't catch birds but enjoyed bringing in mice (to release in the house and loose!!!!).

Do cats tend to prefer one species to butcher or do some kill both? Is she likely to bring rodents in as present soon too???

(I still love her to an unhealthy degree though)

Mine does both quite successfully. He is not fussy

My bundle of loveliness is trying to wipe out the local rodent population. Victims include mice, voles, moles, rats, shrews, rabbits,a weasel and the occasional bird. He often lets his victims go in the house! I am an expert at catching mice in a pint glass and liberating them. One of dd's first sentences was,"Catch mouse in glass!"

Mine used to go for birds over mice or rabbits but will kill a rat if he can.

He hasn't bought me anything for nearly a year so I don't think he loves us anymore.

One of ours brings in birds - anything from sparrows to pigeons & young magpies. But manages to bring them in alive & relatively unscathed. Cat just pops them behind one of the chairs then wanders out again. Doesn't maul or bother with them again.

I think mice are easier to catch...

all of mine have caught both, but Reuben stupidest cat in the world tends to major in rodents, which makes me think they may be the simpler option.

Cats can see mouse urine glow in sunlight (like birds of prey can) so it's not hard for them.

It's like a breadcrumb trail.

The Lodger used to major in small mammals - but we had the garden set up so that it was more difficult to get birds (eg no shrubbery in lurking distance of the birds' hangouts) and we also had a very very assiduous 'watch blackbird' who would announce his presence as soon as he appeared.

We also didn't let him outside between dusk and dawn so his chances were a little lessened by that.

Mine catches mice, shrews and rabbits. Only ever 1 bird (that we know of).
Which is good because DH would be distraught.

Oh biting, I am sorry to say that I dearly wish our cat would get the damn mole wrecking our lawn, all humane attempts to herd it off the lawn are failing dismally.

Mine has had a few stoats or weasels (they look so similar)in his time too. DH even found a live mouse in his coat pocket one day, whilst out and about. One day DH woke up to a live partridge running about in his bedroom. He actually just turned over and went back to sleep, hoping it would find its' own way out! Eventually he realised he couldn't sleep through it and got out of bed to chase the poor creature outside.

He seems to have grown out of it, thank god, we were forever finding mice in our shoes...

Ha! RubbishMantra, your cat sounds hilarious.

Our tabby brings us a weekly starling (always dead except for one occasion, where it flapped around the kitchen while DH tried to catch it) and has brought many mice & shrews, usually alive. Dead or alive, there's never a mark on any of his victims.

It's a unique reek isn't it ? Something like bad sardines but with an overtone of gas. (I had to clear a belated gift from The Lodger a while back.)

Our older cat specialises in mice and shrews. He always looks mightily pleased with himself when he catches one, brings it onto the decking outside the house for inspection by his humans, and then eats every bit of them except the guts. Arthritis had curtailed his hunting activities, but since he's been on medication he's started hunting again. He came trotting across the decking the other day with a large mouse in his jaws, dropped it in front of me & demanded praise very loudly before demolishing it. He caught a rat once & I swear he had a big grin on his face.

The younger cat goes for birds and mice. He brings them into the house, usually still alive, and we have to deal with them. I'm not too bothered about the rodents, but I hate him catching birds. I found a dead robin on the doormat once

When I was a child we lived next door to a farm. Our tiny female cat was an amazing hunter - mice, birds, rabbits, bats, anything. I remember once seeing her chasing a weasel, which turned round & bit her on the nose before disappearing into a hole in a wall

I suspect that small mammals are more 'fun' for the hunter cats. Birds usually just freeze or die (and then give a mouthful of nasty feathers) whereas mice, voles etc can be biffed, get up again and run, pinned and biffed again, get up again and run ....... and so on. It's quite depressing watching a hunting cat playing with its prey when they're not in the least hungry.

Huntercat brings me everything. I've seen him crunching down small birds whole, tearing up pigeons, mice, shrews, rabbits, frogs. I'm waiting for the day he drags a pheasant or muntjac deer through the cat flap with his Caught Something noises at 3am.

Thanks for all of your stories. My cat has been trashing my new blinds at the moment chasing a fly. She's licking her lips now, yuk .

Wait till she goes for Daddy Long Legs. They don't usually manage to swallow the lot because of their shape and I've often seen a cat wandering around with a leg or two hanging down from their mouth like perverted whiskers.

Bleurgh !!!!!!!

Yes - sorry for the TMI.

my first cat used to eat daddylonglegs, it was his MOST favourite thing!!

Faerie likes flies....it's like something she is ashamed of, she only eats them if she thinks no one is looking. But she obviously relishes the crunch and squish. If someone is properly watching she will not eat them, she might trap them under her paw but she holds back on the eating and just watches them.
...she is idiotcat's sister.

We're not in the UK and ours is partial to lizards, snakes and locusts but goes through phases where she's not bothered at all. When she's littered carcasses around and sees us making sure we dispose of them I wonder if she knows her gifts are unappreciated!

We've had mice and birds too. Decapitated birds in the bath and mice in my shoes!

Mostly small furries here, only about half a dozen birds between them in 5 years.

Mice, voles, shrews, pygmy shrews & moles. Occasionally they flip frogs out of the pond but don't bite them One baby rabbit so far & no rats at all yet.

One eats everything from the tail up leaving lust the face - neatly sheared off like a mask

The other eats everything from the head down & leaves the tail

just the face not lust the face