Impossible Cat

[vyger]

When my outside cats are full they don't hunt as seriously as they do if they are hungry. The chasing is more for sport and practice. Save the tasty critter for when you are hungry. So she may not have been going after it full throttle. When my guys are hungry they barely even play with their catch. Its just dead and eat and done.

Maybe she is thinking that you are scaring her prey off OR she might feel that your competing with her for prey.

 

[orange&white]

Drifter is acting like a normal cat, feral or domestic. Walking or running away from you when they don't want to be touched is just part of being a cat. I can only pet Misfit for a very short time before she walks away or swats at me. I am training her to sit in my lap by holding her before-bed meal and sitting in a folding chair. Sit jumps on my lap to eat it. She gets down immediately after her plate is empty.

Misfit is also not a great huntress from what I observe. She has to chase four crickets before she catches one. That's burning a lot of calories just to get a tiny snack. She's never had to rely on hunting for survival though. With hundreds of people living in the apartments and condos behind my fence, there's plenty of kibble left out on patios (I assume). The feral cat colony around here appears to be well fed. Misfit eats 50 calories per day more than my indoor feral who is about the same age. I'm replacing the cricket-chasing calories she burns off.

 

[susieqz]

the last time this happened, it was a ground squirrel. they are so
cute i was thinking of trapping one for a pet.
then i read up about them. they are horrible orchard pests, because
they eat the fruit before it's ripe enow for you.
worse, they carry all sorts of diseases that a person can catch.
so, instead of making it a pet, i shot it.
i never use those pellets, because, birds start dieing.
i do use JUST ONE BITE, which is a big bar.
but i won't use that now.
once the pest eats enow to die, it still lives a couple days, getting slow n stupid.
a cat might eat it then, getting a dose of the poison.
so, no poison. drifter will just have to get her act together.

so, vy, what you are telling me is that i'm feeding her too much?
i was afraid of that.
orange, it's normal for your cats never to let you approach them?
i used to be able to walk up to ,n pick up, barn cats.
i could understand a cat not wanting to be bothered occasionally,
but not every time.

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats have caught squirrels and killed them. But they can't catch chipmunks so far, they are too quick.

 

[orange&white]

Squirrels are rodents with cute fluffy tails. They've eaten through the siding on my chimney before to nest and store pecans. They are "cute" and I won't kill one myself, but if Misfit catches one, I'll tell her "Good Girl!"

 

[susieqz]

well, if these things are too quick for drifter, i'll have to depend on myself.
ground squirrels are smaller than squirrels, more chipmunk size.
they are even cuter.
that will not save their lives.
vermin are vermin.
not only orchard damage, but possible damage to structures.
it's them or me.

 

[orange&white]

My little Cairn Terrier who passed last January was a terrific squirrel hunter. I miss her so much. Even she only managed to catch 2-3 squirrels a year. She stalked them just like a cat, then she was quick as lightning on the attack. Those days she caught her own dinner and I congratulated her. She would eat the squirrel except the tail, but carry the tail around the yard proudly for a few days before it disappeared.

You could trap the squirrel for Drifter instead of shooting it. I would humanely kill it before giving it to her. Maybe she would develop a taste for squirrel and be a little quicker about catching them for herself.

 

[susieqz]

orange, i'd trap the squirrel, but the only way i know how to do that is by using a snap trap baited
with peanut butter.
since you posted that site showing that cats might like peanut butter, i'm loath to do that.
.
i'd shoot that thing but the garden is overgrown this year.
it would be hard to see it well enow to get a clear shot, but i'll try.
thing is, i'll be disappointed if drifter doesn't take care of this problem.
that's her job.

 

[orange&white]

Yeah, I wouldn't use any snap traps that Drifter can access, regardless of bait. Cats are so curious that they go up and touch/sniff/bat things just to see if they move.

You could put one in a nook or cranny too small for Drifter. Maybe a stack of bricks with tiny openings. I've seen PVC traps that lean against a tree, but most of us don't have "extra PVC" lying around.

I think Drifter believes it is her job to love you and keep you company.

 

[maggiedemi]

If my cats were allowed outside in the great outdoors, they might be able to eventually catch the chipmunk. But they have to stay in the garage and the chipmunks can escape back out. Maybe Drifter will surprise you and get the job done.

 

[EggSandwich]

I'm pretty sure squirrels like just regular peanuts and sunflower seeds, as well. You don't need to take them out of the shells or anything. Google says they should be unsalted.
I've found some videos of traps you could make at home, that don't kill the animals in the event that Drifter wants to give it a go.

Spoiler: Trap Videos

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So, this one is a teeter-totter type trap made out of wood.
Click me to go to YouTube to watch this video instead.
-
Here is the same one made from PVC pipes instead of wood.
The guy made 2 videos: the 1st one being the original thing and the 2nd one being where he revised it.
Click me to go to YouTube to watch this video instead.
-
Revision Video
Click me to go to YouTube to watch this video instead.
-
EDIT: // Here is a link from Amazon for the magnets. If you don't want these just look up "neodymium magnets" on Amazon or something.

Well, I hope I helped ya.. Youtube is the best place for learning how to trap things online, in my opinion.
This is my first post on this thread, but I've been following it for a while. I think you're doing great, and I'm curious to see Drifter myself as well.

 

[Willowy]

I'm not sure if cats can kill an adult tree squirrel. Cats don't shake their prey like terriers do, and squirrels' necks may be too thick for a kill bite. Plus squirrels are mean and bite hard and scratch hard.

We had a cat who was a mighty hunter, and I don't think he ever killed an adult tree squirrel or an adult rabbit (he definitely ate a ton of baby rabbits, though, because after he died the rabbit population in our neighborhood shot right up). And he was the toughest cat ever. If he couldn't take them I'm not sure any cat could. His favorite prey was the ground squirrels, so he must have managed to catch them somehow. But hey, even human hunters don't get their prey every time .

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats have killed gray squirrels. I don't know what kind they are, but they are pretty big.

 

[LeiLana80]

Just this last week my in-laws cat brought them a grey squirrel and laid it on their doorstep. She is one of the best hunters I have seen, though. Brings fish, birds, snakes, frogs, rabbits, etc.

 

[susieqz]

well, i'm poor at this.

 

[susieqz]

i couldn't make the camera work in the sun. i had to take the pic in the dark, because i can only take a pic facing one way.

i could get a good pic if i could face west, but she won't let me.

 

[maggiedemi]

She's so pretty and healthy looking. You should have seen Maggie when she first showed up, she was so scraggly looking and had so much fur because it was winter.

 

[orange&white]

Drifter is a beautiful cat! I've been quite enamored with tuxedo cats lately (since Misfit is also a Tuxie).

 

[vyger]

Mine have taken down squirrels, I have found the leftovers. And with all the trees I have and living close to the river which is covered in trees, for there to be no squirrels here means they are keeping them from moving in.
I had the funniest thing happen yesterday. The little gray elderly cat that used to be my daughters (she is around 18 and I would be surprised if she even weighs 6 pounds) that is now part of my crowd wanted out. She stays in the house mostly but sometimes likes to go out and run around, so I let her out. About an hour later she was at the door wanting back in and she had managed to nab a big 13 line ground squirrel that she was dragging with her. It was more than half her size and of course was still alive, but stunned. Somehow all 5 of the outside cats had missed this one and she was bringing it in so she could keep it for herself. Sadly for her there was no way I was gonna let her in with it. She put it down and ran in the door without it so I picked it up and took it to the guys that missed it. Well, that started a dispute which ended up with Homer sitting on it. Apparently he was still full from his breakfast so he killed it and sat on it for several hours until he could finally manage to snack on it. Even then he couldn't finish it so he left half for the others who had been watching just in case it got away. Anyway, I still can't believe it was little Dora that nailed it to start with.
All of mine eat the common ground squirrels and the technique they use to catch them is to sit and wait downwind of their holes. They pop up to sniff the air and get nailed from behind. It is amazing how efficiently the cats have gotten about catching these things. No real chase, just wait and they eventually pop up out of the ground.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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susieqz - Sue, she's absolutely beautiful!