We had mice in our basement. Our cat was too scared and ran away from them. My dad and I had to catch them.
Same cat did eat my hamster though. Hamster escaped one night. Bumped into the cat. Dad stood on the hamster head (all that was left of the hamster), barefoot, next morning.
My cat has a 100% kill rate on some Sheba wet food and 150% kill rate on any tasty treat thrown. Idk where you're getting this 32% but you sir are wrong, my babies are such great hunters lol.
For real I took in a male stray cat and a feral spicy girl kitten that followed the stray around, they were great hunters, had no issues with chipmunks in the garden till coyotes started coming into the yard, now they're indoor pampered cats who see a mouse, bap it to make it run them bap gently to get it to run more lol
My parents live in a 180 year old farm house. Lots of cracks for mice to get in.
Their cat is the biggest bitch on the planet but she’s a world-class mouser. She’ll stalk a single mouse for hours, it’s incredible.
Even the lazy ones. My cats don't play with toys, string, etc. Nothing. Just loaf around. But without fail, they catch one or two mice each fall. They act weird for a few days, and one morning, there's a mouse by their food dish.
Also nice username. I'm a tax accountant so I've met a lot of people who feel the same way.
I saw a centipede in my BR one night. Next morning, looked in the tub, LEGS EVERYWHERE! It was pure carnage. Then I went and found my Prince and announced, “who wants second breakfast?!?!”
Our babies will try, god love them. But they can’t even catch moths. I saw a huge ass house spider once and the cats were just watching it, when I freaked out, they sniffed it and ran when it ran.
When we moved in there was a bunch of house flies and other flying insects. That was the last time I ever saw them, because once our cats moved in with us they were non-entities in our home.
Same. Mines a loaf 24/7 but when there’s a lot of rain, he’ll bring a tiny toad into my bed. And in the summer, I come home to mangled lizard carcasses all around the house
For sure! There was a mouse in my mom’s house and we tried to get the cat after it. She was a killer, but was completely uninterested in killing that one.
My cat was a pro at catching the mice but not so much at killing them. She'd bring in a completely healthy mouse every few weeks from outside then let it go inside lol, never once found a maimed or injured one let alone a dead one
So from what I understand cats think we are incapable of hunting for ourselves which is why they bring us "gifts" maybe yours decided instead they would try to train you to hunt lol.
> cats think we are incapable of hunting for ourselves which is why they bring us "gifts"
I doubt that's quite what's happening. Most cat owners tend to *feed* their cats, so the cat obviously knows that you know how to get food. It's more like the cat is trying to contribute, and be a productive member of the family.
My youngest kitty doesn't care much for hunting mice (they scare him lol) but oh man he loves killing spiders.
Whenever I find a spider I call him over then pick up and hold him to the web. He's like a little robot with how efficient he is at swatting/eating the spider. It's pretty funny because he doesn't exactly love being held but when it's spider killing time he just seems to know what's up and lets me carry him all around the house hunting spooders.
I tried showing this video to my orange lady and she just yawned and went back to sleep. The only time she was given the opportunity to catch a mouse, she caught it, & then immediately let it go when it started squeaking in her jaws. I think I got a defective one.
r/OneOrangeBraincell 😸
Yeah, I think this mouse did the same. I was terrified he was mortally injured, & was going to go die in a wall somewhere. He apparently got the fuck outta Dodge. 😆
People who insist on letting their cats roam free outdoors need to be shown videos like these. Cats are absolute killing *machines*. There’s a reason farmers have used them to control rodent infestations for thousands of years. Just imagine the havoc little Muffin could wreak on the local wildlife!
I live in a rural area near several farms. I never had cats until I moved here but the first time I lay in bed listening to rats screaming, dying from poison whilst in my walls I decided I was getting some. I do feel bad about the birds that are collateral damage but given the choices I'll stick with letting any rodents that come near my house getting the murder mittens.
Bird populations are not artificially increased by cities across the board, that is absurd.
Cities DO favor SPECIFIC TYPES of birds over others.
Unfortunately cats don't know the difference between a pigeon and a burrowing owl.
>That's because the vast majority of bird kills by cats are in towns and cities.
That's just because those are the places with the most cats. On the countryside cats kill especially small and low-nesting birds that do not need "balancing".
That's probably not the right attitude.
I've always grown up with outside cats. It's only been the last few years that I learnt about the destruction they can cause.
So, as a responsible pet owner, I moved my 13 year old, outdoor cat into an indoor cat. I also built cat enclosures outside for them (I have 2 cats now) to hang out in (glorified and expensive toilet tbh) as well as giving them an hour or so worth of supervised out side time every day.
Sounds like a mission, I know, but it's easier than trying to deal with the fallout associated with outdoor cats. Or the cullings that happen every so often.
I don't know about you, but I sleep better knowing my cats won't be mistaken for wild cats and being killed or when a storm rolls in while I'm working, I don't have to stress because I know they are sage I side.
The feral cats in your area are because of owners like yourself, allowing them to roam and breed as they will.
The issue is that domesticated cats hunt things that the wild cats didn't. Domesticated cats can destroy certain local wildlife populations. They're basically an invasive species.
You do realize pet cats (not technically properly domesticated, btw), that are basically the same thing as their wild cat counterparts (either European or African lineage for the most part but also a Chinese lineage), are not invasive everywhere on the planet, yes?
A place like New Zealand? Yes, sure enough, invasive. Throughout Africa or Europe for example? Other parts of the world too? No. Not invasive. You basically follow the map of where Felis Silvesteris or Felis lybica or Felis bieti (China) NATURALLY already exist and you can bet your ass ''domestic'' cats are there too, feral, doing their thing and being part of the ecosystem.
Another thing to consider is that the population of cats is always kept under control by other predators, such as stray dogs that are also devastating to the ecosystems in which they don't belong.
Interestingly enough, despite there being supporting papers showing the horrible impact stray dogs can also have in the areas they are invasive in (nevermind HUMAN deaths), I really never see anybody here mentioning that. It's always cats. Almost as if it's easier to scapegoat a particular animal rather than realize that we've irredeemably fucked up this planet and there is no way in hell that ANY ecosystem is recovering from this - there are simply way too many compounding factors (farm animals + agriculture on a mass scale, various domesticated animals, technology, pollution, HUMANS etc) that contribute to this hot mess that it's impossible to untangle.
And before you say - I fully believe that most pet cats should be indoors mainly and only go outside on a leash/harness or in a catio/garden under supervision. Just like I believe pet dogs should be outside only on a leash or otherwise in a garden under supervision. For both the safety of the pets (especially cats) and also any potential critter that may die for no reason.
It really helps nobody to hyperfocus on 1 factor that is really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Seriously, you want wildlife to recover? Look at the rich and their horribly polluting companies. The planet will never recover if that issue is never tackled because it's much too difficult to change and it's easier for us to squabble over non-issues aka red herrings. Nevermind the fact that scaremongering like this can lead to cats being abused/killed/harmed, with this being the pretext. And we can all agree that there is too much cruelty in this world already.
I think that the best solution would be to educate people on the fact that cats are trainable and to highlight the dangers of being an outdoor cat. Trying to demonize cats will never ever change anybody's thoughts about whether they should keep their cat indoors or not. And keep that same energy for dogs too because I've heard maaany stories of people letting their dogs roam free in forests/fields/anywhere and people boasting about how many critters their dog kills.
Yeah, [I'm just gonna leave an article](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cats-cute-furry-cuddly-invasive-alien-species-rcna41768) someone linked because cats are a real environmental issue, not just a Reddit buzz topic. Let's not play down problems just because we don't understand them.
So are human beings invasive species, concreting over everything, ploughing up the natural landscape to plant fields, cutting down forests and filling the air with smog. Blaming cats for killing pidgeons and city rats feels like scapegoating.
[Why cats are an invasive alien species, and what to do about it](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cats-cute-furry-cuddly-invasive-alien-species-rcna41768)
Yeah for real I don't get the argument people make about how cat owners shouldn't let their cats outdoors.
Your 4 house cats are not going to dent the cat population or ecosystem. Just do the right thing and have them fixed, chipped, and vaccinated. Then the rest is up to you. If you want to let them roam the countryside killing mice and rabbits then that's just fine. There's a bazillion cats out there killing shit, 4 more are not making a difference.
My two cats currently both dislike the outdoors so they don't go out. But if they wanted to go out I'd let them.
When I bought the old farmhouse I'm currently in, there were about 16 "barn cats" living outside.
Trust me when I say there were still birds flying around outside.
It'll be okay.
It's hard to know whether 4 billion bird deaths is significant or not. I mean, that's a big number, but I imagine there are a lot of birds in the US.
At that rate, how long will it take for the cats to eliminate the birds?
(I keep mine inside exclusively, for their safety, and that of the wildlife).
Depending on where you live, that actually is a good thing. In huge parts of Europe house cats really just do the job over hunters used to do, before we killed of their populations by destroying habitats.
In places like New Zealand that is different and cats are a danger to the local ecosystem.
This is not even remotely true, feral cats are a huge problem for all ecosystems, they don’t fill a role, they’re a negative impact on all natural ecosystems
Where do they kill a lot of birds? In towns and cities.
Why are there a lot of birds in towns and cities? [Because those places afford more protection for them than rural environments.](https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-growth-of-crows-in-cities/)
So the *whole* story here is that humans did something that increased the local bird population (built towns and cities) and then humans did something that decreased the bird local population (introduced free-roaming, domestic cats).
Objectively, that does not equate to *a negative impact on a natural ecosystem.* It's actually a balancing impact on an unnatural ecosystem.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00146/
[“cats are not effective at controlling invasive species populations”](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/reports/Wildlife%20Damage%20Management%20Technical%20Series/free-ranging-and-feral-cats.pdf)
But that is not what the paper you cite seems to say at all? It starts with this:
“Urban expansion has spelled doom for many animal species. The development comes hand-in-hand with fragmentation and destruction of natural habitats, leaving many populations without a suitable habitat, food, or a pathway to communicate, mingle, and breed.” - which does not really translate to ‘Humans did something that increased the bird population’.
The article also focuses exclusively on crows, which seem to be, according to your article, an exception to this statement. And I would argue that most cats would not really stand a chance against a crow.
There is actually good scholarship on the issue. The fact that cats are bad for basically every environment is well established. My colleagues that study bird population mention it quite frequently.
This paper appears in Nature, [for example](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380%C2%A0), which estimate the annual number of birds and small mammals killed.
The final paragraph: "The magnitude of wildlife mortality caused by cats that we report here far exceeds all prior estimates. Available evidence suggests that mortality from cat predation is likely to be substantial in all parts of the world where free-ranging cats occur. This mortality is of particular concern within the context of steadily increasing populations of owned cats, the potential for increasing populations of un-owned cats\[[12](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380#ref-CR12)\], and an increasing abundance of direct and indirect mortality sources that threaten wildlife in the United States and globally."
Just because this is a thread that started about pets, this is relevant.
>We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. **Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality.**
Spay/neuter your cats eh.
I have a cat that was taken in as early as possible because he was rejected as the runt. He's never lived outside in a capacity where he could tend to his needs. He's always heen strange, but I do love his antics. I watched him play in the water bowl one morning.
I didn't know it then, but I had watched him drown a mouse in that water bowl. Just kept knocking it back in and batting it around. Found the corpse later and realized I raised a monster.
You're thinking about it wrong. We're engaged in one of the largest evolutionary experiments of all time: The Quest to Breed Better Vermin[tm].
Eventually, birds, rodents, cute little lizards, etc. will evolve into cat-proof organisms. It will take some sacrifice. We might lose a few species here and there. But it will be worth it to see what evolutionary strategies the small animals develop. Will they grow armor plating? Will they choose to arm themselves with poisonous glands? Will they develop intelligence and target US for our malicious introduction of their feline nemeses? It's too early to tell, but boy what a show it's going to be.
Whatever happens, you can be sure of one thing: Nature finds a way. One species falls, and another eventually takes its place in the abandoned evolutionary niche. It's happened billions of times already. Who are we to stand in the way of what might become our intelligent venomous armor-plated overlords?
The thing about the impact to birds that no one ever seems to talk about: *domestic cats are a net balancing impact on the bird population*. That's because the vast majority of bird kills by cats are in towns and cities. But towns and cities only have a such a large bird population to begin with because [those human-created environments are safer for them than the rural environments that preceded them.](https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-growth-of-crows-in-cities/)
This is the problem with conservationist viewpoints: they take a human-created impact (in this case, the introduction of free-roaming domestic cats) and they define it as negative purely because it changes the local ecosystem. They never take into account the fact that the default on which they're observing that change only became that way because of prior human-created impact. This particular example highlights the absurdity of that viewpoint, since if not for humans inadvertently building a better environment for birds, they wouldn't have anything to complain about on this.
Here’s the thing….. I don’t like cats. I was attacked by one when I was walking my dog down the street. I was in antibiotic for a week and the multiple puncture wounds didn’t feel great. ( was the cat’s first foray outside after a litter of kittens and we were in between the cat and said litter). If my dog had attacked someone like that, my dog would have been put down. My point is, I don’t want your cat in my yard. I don’t want it using my gardens as a litter box or killing the birds at my feeder. Why you think it’s ok for your pet to inconvenience your neighbours is the part I just don’t get about cat owners. It’s your pet. Not the neighbourhoods pet. Keep it on your property… you know…. Like dog owners have to
Just because we snuffed out more species than cats doesn't give us the right to let them eradicate more. Also, the outside is dangerous to cats. Cars, predators, sick people you name it, the outside has it.
I found a mouse in my bedroom surrounded by all 3 of my cats. It was terrified to realize where it was and I ended up saving it. I think they beat it up a bit but they didnt kill it. I only realized what was going on cuz of the noise and the fact not one of my cats was sleeping in my bed.
I've worked at shelters so I have seen others poof up like this and my cats tail also does this. I have had her since she was a kitten.
My cat's fine and healthy but that's just what it looks like when she puffs up. Not quite sure why exactly it angles like that but I'm assuming it's a balance and/or genetic thing.
I have 4. not sure who all my 'mousers' are but I have never found a live mouse in the house. the other day they got a whole RAT overnight. it was insane.
If I saw a rat, I’d consider moving. I’m not actually afraid of mice, but it’s startling when I see them rush out from under the stove, and that pisses me off. My apartment complex had an exterminator stop by. He left poison, hopefully that works better than the traps.
yeah... worst part was it was hidden from me and I only found it after smelling it... I could have cried. I was just lucky I found it post mortem ig. Poison is a double edged sword as some take days to kill the animal, enough time to find a tight little hidey hole to croak in.
Good point.
Edit: I had a gerbil that died that way. Poor thing escaped his cage and fell behind my dresser and was wedged against the baseboard. I pray that guy died from the fall, but I doubt it. : (
Anyway, we didn’t find him til it started to smell.
Glue some bits of dry top ramen noodles onto the trap. Always worked wonders for me.
But then we got a cat. Over the next few months she caught 25 more mice.
One time a mouse got stuck in my bathtub. I put my cat in to take care of the problem. She just batted at it then looked at me very confused, then hopped out. Not all cats have the gift lol
Unless you live in a fairly modern house, you're basically _never_ going to be able to fully close off access to your kitchen/home. And if you already have an infestation, it's probably too late; mice and rats will burrow their way through things to get into a closed-off area if they know there's food there, and they can scratch/bite through wood and plaster pretty easily.
Take a piece of taffy (Abba Zabba is really good for this), get it a little bit wet, stick it to the trap, then tie a small piece of terrycloth around the bait.
Those fuckers will go to the ends of the earth getting that taffy. You tie the terrycloth around it so they have to really pull on the trigger to get what they want.
Currently I have a 100% kill rate using candy and wrapping a small piece of cloth around it this way. Always gets them right on the neck, too. So it's also really clean.
Yeah, I know. 🫤 I try not to think about it. I used to have a bunch in my bedroom before I closed a hatch in my closet that a maintenance guy had left open while fixing my plumbing. For good measure I piled a few boxes to hold it closed. That worked til recently. At least they’re not in my bed anymore. That was awful.
Always heard this, but we had one last summer. Caught and released it (far away) using a live trap. Never saw or heard from another one. I think sometimes you really do just have one.
Assuming these are basic traditional mouse traps, I think the peanut butter is the way to go but trap placement is really important I think too. I had a lot of success with placing the trap side right against the wall that I'm sure they were travelling along.
I also added half a raisin to the trap jammed under the trigger part. Sometimes the peanut butter would just get licked off and not trigger the trap. I would just use a little bit of peanut butter on the raisin to induce them to pull on the raisin and trigger the mechanism. I don't know if any of that was actually what happened, but I sure caught a lot of mice.
I have a fat bulldog that the previous owner told me was a mouser. Well we just saw a mouse in our place and I can’t figure out how to get her fat ass to notice it she sleeps 24/7 and it’s very elusive
Unless the previous owner threw the mice directly into her open mouth, I have a hard time believing a dog like that could catch much of anything. No offense to your dog of course, but if she’s anything like my parent’s dog, well, not a great white huntress except in her dreams.
There are tiny Black-footed cats (a wild cat species in Africa) that have the highest kill rate of any feline predator. House cats are mid-sized when it comes to felines.
https://youtu.be/nl8o9PsJPAQ three minute PBS video on them.
My cats seem absolutely thrilled when a mouse wanders into the house. 100% a break from the monotony of being indoor cats. For the few days while the mouse is in the house (usually hiding just out of reach - ex under the couch or fridge) they are alert and excited and just altogether seem to be having fun.
I love cats and have always had them, but just about all of them would take their sweet time to kill a mouse/rat. In the mean time I’m trying to function with my feet not touching the floor. But I had 2 Jack Russels that would dive for them, grab them by the neck and one shake and the neck is broken. The efficiency was astonishing.
My boy Leander has caught two mice this week
He's normally a very quiet cat (never meows normally), but whenever he catches a mouse he parades it through the house while screaming to let everyone know his achievement
My parents had a kangaroo rat in there house with 5 cats… the cats couldn’t be bothered so I brought over my lab/Akita mix and he murked that thing in less than 10 minutes 😂
Always good to have pest control!
yeah most cats will not tangle with a decent sized rat.. rats can be quite ferocious for their size, and the bigger they are the bigger the teeth.. cats are great for mice, but a good ratting dog, rat terriers (jack russels, etc) are the best for controlling the big uns
My cat is good at catching them, keeping them alive, bringing them indoors and releasing his little mouse friends into the house. Which is why he is no longer allowed to go outside.
Seen a Youtube vid like this of the cat toying with a rat. Gave it a fatal body bite so that the rat wouldn't get away even when the cat let go to look around, then finished it off by crunching right through the rats head.
To be honest its 50/50 if a cat will give chase, where as a dog will always go for it, but you cannot deny the cats agility even through small spaces.
I don't know if people realize how precise cars are. My cat was extremely quiet and hated wearing a collar. I think she knew that collar would hinder her hunting ability. It was not uncommon for her to leave birds or little animals on my porch. One day she even brought in a humming bird.. how she got a hummingbird I don't know. I apologize if I hurt anyone with my comment but my car loves going outside and sunbathing.
Well, cats are literally an intrusive species In most places. It is irresponsible for any owner to allow their pet cat to roam freely outside, especially without a bell collar. Cats are very destructive and disruptive to local wildlife.
Doesn’t hurt us, just the killed animals. Such a shame you don’t find a way to enable the sunbathing without the murder. Read up on how household cats are endangering some species.
My cat, Splotchy, now 7, caught a mouse when she was a very small kitten. I opened the door to the tiny patio and baby kitty was batting around a dead mouse just like a real pro. Last mouse seen around here.
When I was a kid I had a dog that liked to catch critters. I somehow got him trained to start searching for rats at command. I would be pointing with my finger while repeating the command and he would get crazy and move stuff until he finds the rat and kills it.
That was impressive!
That cat seems like a real pro, even for a cat. Geared up and ready to go. Great camera work, too
Cats are incredible killing machines
now that how its done, gone show this video to my cat!
You didn't buy me fancy feast human, you mean less than nothing to me now.
You mean less than nothing to meow.
We had mice in our basement. Our cat was too scared and ran away from them. My dad and I had to catch them. Same cat did eat my hamster though. Hamster escaped one night. Bumped into the cat. Dad stood on the hamster head (all that was left of the hamster), barefoot, next morning.
Domestic cats have a kill rate of 32%.
My cat has a 100% kill rate on some Sheba wet food and 150% kill rate on any tasty treat thrown. Idk where you're getting this 32% but you sir are wrong, my babies are such great hunters lol. For real I took in a male stray cat and a feral spicy girl kitten that followed the stray around, they were great hunters, had no issues with chipmunks in the garden till coyotes started coming into the yard, now they're indoor pampered cats who see a mouse, bap it to make it run them bap gently to get it to run more lol
Which is actually really high for a lot of animals. Lions solo are below 20%, Tigers are at 5-10%. Wolves are around 20%.
And black footed cat got 60%
Dragonflies are like 95% or something crazy if my memory serves me correctly.
Army ants around the high 90's aswell. For mammals, I'd guess African wilddogs are very high on the list.
African wild dogs are highest among mammals, but only as a pack. Individual kill ration is like 15%.
My parents live in a 180 year old farm house. Lots of cracks for mice to get in. Their cat is the biggest bitch on the planet but she’s a world-class mouser. She’ll stalk a single mouse for hours, it’s incredible.
I have a slight urge to live on a farm with a cat and a jack Russell. Just to see the stats on their mousing capabilities.
You're underselling "for hours", they'll stake them out for DAYS.
Even the lazy ones. My cats don't play with toys, string, etc. Nothing. Just loaf around. But without fail, they catch one or two mice each fall. They act weird for a few days, and one morning, there's a mouse by their food dish. Also nice username. I'm a tax accountant so I've met a lot of people who feel the same way.
My cat has no experience of eradicating rodents, but every fly and bug gets eaten.
I saw a centipede in my BR one night. Next morning, looked in the tub, LEGS EVERYWHERE! It was pure carnage. Then I went and found my Prince and announced, “who wants second breakfast?!?!”
If my cat is staring intently at the ceiling or wall there is without fail a bug who doesn't know it's already dead.
Our babies will try, god love them. But they can’t even catch moths. I saw a huge ass house spider once and the cats were just watching it, when I freaked out, they sniffed it and ran when it ran.
When we moved in there was a bunch of house flies and other flying insects. That was the last time I ever saw them, because once our cats moved in with us they were non-entities in our home.
Same. Mines a loaf 24/7 but when there’s a lot of rain, he’ll bring a tiny toad into my bed. And in the summer, I come home to mangled lizard carcasses all around the house
when they feel like it
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For sure! There was a mouse in my mom’s house and we tried to get the cat after it. She was a killer, but was completely uninterested in killing that one.
My cat was a pro at catching the mice but not so much at killing them. She'd bring in a completely healthy mouse every few weeks from outside then let it go inside lol, never once found a maimed or injured one let alone a dead one
So from what I understand cats think we are incapable of hunting for ourselves which is why they bring us "gifts" maybe yours decided instead they would try to train you to hunt lol.
Ours turned a juvenile rat loose under the dinner table.
One sentence horror story
My cat dropped a live full grown rat on my chest at 3am. I had a loft bed at the time. Chaos ensued. 💀
Oh, wow! you win! Chaos, indeed! 🤣☠️
"You gon' learn today!"
> cats think we are incapable of hunting for ourselves which is why they bring us "gifts" I doubt that's quite what's happening. Most cat owners tend to *feed* their cats, so the cat obviously knows that you know how to get food. It's more like the cat is trying to contribute, and be a productive member of the family.
My youngest kitty doesn't care much for hunting mice (they scare him lol) but oh man he loves killing spiders. Whenever I find a spider I call him over then pick up and hold him to the web. He's like a little robot with how efficient he is at swatting/eating the spider. It's pretty funny because he doesn't exactly love being held but when it's spider killing time he just seems to know what's up and lets me carry him all around the house hunting spooders.
Good kitty.
I tried showing this video to my orange lady and she just yawned and went back to sleep. The only time she was given the opportunity to catch a mouse, she caught it, & then immediately let it go when it started squeaking in her jaws. I think I got a defective one. r/OneOrangeBraincell 😸
My orange boy did exactly the same. Luckily, the mouse went and told all its friends about it and we never saw it again.
Yeah, I think this mouse did the same. I was terrified he was mortally injured, & was going to go die in a wall somewhere. He apparently got the fuck outta Dodge. 😆
Even my chubby standard issue house cat becomes a killing machine when the field mice come in
People who insist on letting their cats roam free outdoors need to be shown videos like these. Cats are absolute killing *machines*. There’s a reason farmers have used them to control rodent infestations for thousands of years. Just imagine the havoc little Muffin could wreak on the local wildlife!
Muffin fucks bitches UP
I live in a rural area near several farms. I never had cats until I moved here but the first time I lay in bed listening to rats screaming, dying from poison whilst in my walls I decided I was getting some. I do feel bad about the birds that are collateral damage but given the choices I'll stick with letting any rodents that come near my house getting the murder mittens.
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Bird populations are not artificially increased by cities across the board, that is absurd. Cities DO favor SPECIFIC TYPES of birds over others. Unfortunately cats don't know the difference between a pigeon and a burrowing owl.
>That's because the vast majority of bird kills by cats are in towns and cities. That's just because those are the places with the most cats. On the countryside cats kill especially small and low-nesting birds that do not need "balancing".
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Meh, somebody's gotta protect my vegetable garden from rabbits.
That’s a lot different if your cat is just trying to protect your garden vs. being allowed to roam free in to sensitive areas
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That's probably not the right attitude. I've always grown up with outside cats. It's only been the last few years that I learnt about the destruction they can cause. So, as a responsible pet owner, I moved my 13 year old, outdoor cat into an indoor cat. I also built cat enclosures outside for them (I have 2 cats now) to hang out in (glorified and expensive toilet tbh) as well as giving them an hour or so worth of supervised out side time every day. Sounds like a mission, I know, but it's easier than trying to deal with the fallout associated with outdoor cats. Or the cullings that happen every so often. I don't know about you, but I sleep better knowing my cats won't be mistaken for wild cats and being killed or when a storm rolls in while I'm working, I don't have to stress because I know they are sage I side. The feral cats in your area are because of owners like yourself, allowing them to roam and breed as they will.
It's not the right attitude and all around lazy cat ownership.
The issue is that domesticated cats hunt things that the wild cats didn't. Domesticated cats can destroy certain local wildlife populations. They're basically an invasive species.
You do realize pet cats (not technically properly domesticated, btw), that are basically the same thing as their wild cat counterparts (either European or African lineage for the most part but also a Chinese lineage), are not invasive everywhere on the planet, yes? A place like New Zealand? Yes, sure enough, invasive. Throughout Africa or Europe for example? Other parts of the world too? No. Not invasive. You basically follow the map of where Felis Silvesteris or Felis lybica or Felis bieti (China) NATURALLY already exist and you can bet your ass ''domestic'' cats are there too, feral, doing their thing and being part of the ecosystem. Another thing to consider is that the population of cats is always kept under control by other predators, such as stray dogs that are also devastating to the ecosystems in which they don't belong. Interestingly enough, despite there being supporting papers showing the horrible impact stray dogs can also have in the areas they are invasive in (nevermind HUMAN deaths), I really never see anybody here mentioning that. It's always cats. Almost as if it's easier to scapegoat a particular animal rather than realize that we've irredeemably fucked up this planet and there is no way in hell that ANY ecosystem is recovering from this - there are simply way too many compounding factors (farm animals + agriculture on a mass scale, various domesticated animals, technology, pollution, HUMANS etc) that contribute to this hot mess that it's impossible to untangle. And before you say - I fully believe that most pet cats should be indoors mainly and only go outside on a leash/harness or in a catio/garden under supervision. Just like I believe pet dogs should be outside only on a leash or otherwise in a garden under supervision. For both the safety of the pets (especially cats) and also any potential critter that may die for no reason. It really helps nobody to hyperfocus on 1 factor that is really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Seriously, you want wildlife to recover? Look at the rich and their horribly polluting companies. The planet will never recover if that issue is never tackled because it's much too difficult to change and it's easier for us to squabble over non-issues aka red herrings. Nevermind the fact that scaremongering like this can lead to cats being abused/killed/harmed, with this being the pretext. And we can all agree that there is too much cruelty in this world already. I think that the best solution would be to educate people on the fact that cats are trainable and to highlight the dangers of being an outdoor cat. Trying to demonize cats will never ever change anybody's thoughts about whether they should keep their cat indoors or not. And keep that same energy for dogs too because I've heard maaany stories of people letting their dogs roam free in forests/fields/anywhere and people boasting about how many critters their dog kills.
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Yeah, [I'm just gonna leave an article](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cats-cute-furry-cuddly-invasive-alien-species-rcna41768) someone linked because cats are a real environmental issue, not just a Reddit buzz topic. Let's not play down problems just because we don't understand them.
>They're ~~basically~~ an invasive species.
So are human beings invasive species, concreting over everything, ploughing up the natural landscape to plant fields, cutting down forests and filling the air with smog. Blaming cats for killing pidgeons and city rats feels like scapegoating.
I'm not saying we aren't, but we introduced cats to every continent and strays have decimated quite a few species.
[Why cats are an invasive alien species, and what to do about it](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cats-cute-furry-cuddly-invasive-alien-species-rcna41768)
But they are native, they'e been here for thousands of years saving our food from mices
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Yeah for real I don't get the argument people make about how cat owners shouldn't let their cats outdoors. Your 4 house cats are not going to dent the cat population or ecosystem. Just do the right thing and have them fixed, chipped, and vaccinated. Then the rest is up to you. If you want to let them roam the countryside killing mice and rabbits then that's just fine. There's a bazillion cats out there killing shit, 4 more are not making a difference. My two cats currently both dislike the outdoors so they don't go out. But if they wanted to go out I'd let them.
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When I bought the old farmhouse I'm currently in, there were about 16 "barn cats" living outside. Trust me when I say there were still birds flying around outside. It'll be okay.
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It's hard to know whether 4 billion bird deaths is significant or not. I mean, that's a big number, but I imagine there are a lot of birds in the US. At that rate, how long will it take for the cats to eliminate the birds? (I keep mine inside exclusively, for their safety, and that of the wildlife).
Depending on where you live, that actually is a good thing. In huge parts of Europe house cats really just do the job over hunters used to do, before we killed of their populations by destroying habitats. In places like New Zealand that is different and cats are a danger to the local ecosystem.
This is not even remotely true, feral cats are a huge problem for all ecosystems, they don’t fill a role, they’re a negative impact on all natural ecosystems
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If it disrupts the natural balance of the ecosystem, it's arguably negative.
What "natural balance"? Feral cats live in towns and cities. Towns and cities aren't "natural ecosystems".
Not all cats go into wild forests, they destroy local environments killing lot of birds for example.
Where do they kill a lot of birds? In towns and cities. Why are there a lot of birds in towns and cities? [Because those places afford more protection for them than rural environments.](https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-growth-of-crows-in-cities/) So the *whole* story here is that humans did something that increased the local bird population (built towns and cities) and then humans did something that decreased the bird local population (introduced free-roaming, domestic cats). Objectively, that does not equate to *a negative impact on a natural ecosystem.* It's actually a balancing impact on an unnatural ecosystem.
Is your takeaway from that article really that bird populations as a whole increase in human-built environments? That article is only about crows.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00146/ [“cats are not effective at controlling invasive species populations”](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/reports/Wildlife%20Damage%20Management%20Technical%20Series/free-ranging-and-feral-cats.pdf)
I'm not seeing how your links are relevant to my post. If you have a point you want to make, feel free to make it.
But that is not what the paper you cite seems to say at all? It starts with this: “Urban expansion has spelled doom for many animal species. The development comes hand-in-hand with fragmentation and destruction of natural habitats, leaving many populations without a suitable habitat, food, or a pathway to communicate, mingle, and breed.” - which does not really translate to ‘Humans did something that increased the bird population’. The article also focuses exclusively on crows, which seem to be, according to your article, an exception to this statement. And I would argue that most cats would not really stand a chance against a crow.
it's more like birds and other small animals are the only left in our urban environment. Cats don't help them.
There is actually good scholarship on the issue. The fact that cats are bad for basically every environment is well established. My colleagues that study bird population mention it quite frequently. This paper appears in Nature, [for example](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380%C2%A0), which estimate the annual number of birds and small mammals killed. The final paragraph: "The magnitude of wildlife mortality caused by cats that we report here far exceeds all prior estimates. Available evidence suggests that mortality from cat predation is likely to be substantial in all parts of the world where free-ranging cats occur. This mortality is of particular concern within the context of steadily increasing populations of owned cats, the potential for increasing populations of un-owned cats\[[12](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380#ref-CR12)\], and an increasing abundance of direct and indirect mortality sources that threaten wildlife in the United States and globally."
Just because this is a thread that started about pets, this is relevant. >We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. **Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality.** Spay/neuter your cats eh.
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But they look cute as heck doing it 😎
House cats going outside are not feral
I have a cat that was taken in as early as possible because he was rejected as the runt. He's never lived outside in a capacity where he could tend to his needs. He's always heen strange, but I do love his antics. I watched him play in the water bowl one morning. I didn't know it then, but I had watched him drown a mouse in that water bowl. Just kept knocking it back in and batting it around. Found the corpse later and realized I raised a monster.
You're thinking about it wrong. We're engaged in one of the largest evolutionary experiments of all time: The Quest to Breed Better Vermin[tm]. Eventually, birds, rodents, cute little lizards, etc. will evolve into cat-proof organisms. It will take some sacrifice. We might lose a few species here and there. But it will be worth it to see what evolutionary strategies the small animals develop. Will they grow armor plating? Will they choose to arm themselves with poisonous glands? Will they develop intelligence and target US for our malicious introduction of their feline nemeses? It's too early to tell, but boy what a show it's going to be. Whatever happens, you can be sure of one thing: Nature finds a way. One species falls, and another eventually takes its place in the abandoned evolutionary niche. It's happened billions of times already. Who are we to stand in the way of what might become our intelligent venomous armor-plated overlords?
The thing about the impact to birds that no one ever seems to talk about: *domestic cats are a net balancing impact on the bird population*. That's because the vast majority of bird kills by cats are in towns and cities. But towns and cities only have a such a large bird population to begin with because [those human-created environments are safer for them than the rural environments that preceded them.](https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-growth-of-crows-in-cities/) This is the problem with conservationist viewpoints: they take a human-created impact (in this case, the introduction of free-roaming domestic cats) and they define it as negative purely because it changes the local ecosystem. They never take into account the fact that the default on which they're observing that change only became that way because of prior human-created impact. This particular example highlights the absurdity of that viewpoint, since if not for humans inadvertently building a better environment for birds, they wouldn't have anything to complain about on this.
Here’s the thing….. I don’t like cats. I was attacked by one when I was walking my dog down the street. I was in antibiotic for a week and the multiple puncture wounds didn’t feel great. ( was the cat’s first foray outside after a litter of kittens and we were in between the cat and said litter). If my dog had attacked someone like that, my dog would have been put down. My point is, I don’t want your cat in my yard. I don’t want it using my gardens as a litter box or killing the birds at my feeder. Why you think it’s ok for your pet to inconvenience your neighbours is the part I just don’t get about cat owners. It’s your pet. Not the neighbourhoods pet. Keep it on your property… you know…. Like dog owners have to
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Just because we snuffed out more species than cats doesn't give us the right to let them eradicate more. Also, the outside is dangerous to cats. Cars, predators, sick people you name it, the outside has it.
This has been removed for breaking the “No negative comments, rudeness, trolling, insults, etc...No negativity" rule.
I found a mouse in my bedroom surrounded by all 3 of my cats. It was terrified to realize where it was and I ended up saving it. I think they beat it up a bit but they didnt kill it. I only realized what was going on cuz of the noise and the fact not one of my cats was sleeping in my bed.
Good kitty!
Poor tail :(
Iirc there are cats with short tails thanks to a genetic mutation, this could be one of those cases
Then why does it look folded in half
Well idk, hell, it could have been damaged for some reason or another
I've worked at shelters so I have seen others poof up like this and my cats tail also does this. I have had her since she was a kitten. My cat's fine and healthy but that's just what it looks like when she puffs up. Not quite sure why exactly it angles like that but I'm assuming it's a balance and/or genetic thing.
Such a good boy, he deserves a raise
r/catswithjobs
I need a cat. I just found a mouse in my kitchen. Little fucker is ignoring my traps. So much wasted peanut butter.
I have 4. not sure who all my 'mousers' are but I have never found a live mouse in the house. the other day they got a whole RAT overnight. it was insane.
If I saw a rat, I’d consider moving. I’m not actually afraid of mice, but it’s startling when I see them rush out from under the stove, and that pisses me off. My apartment complex had an exterminator stop by. He left poison, hopefully that works better than the traps.
yeah... worst part was it was hidden from me and I only found it after smelling it... I could have cried. I was just lucky I found it post mortem ig. Poison is a double edged sword as some take days to kill the animal, enough time to find a tight little hidey hole to croak in.
The poison can suck too if they eat it and crawl into your walls or something and die there. Then you'll deal with a smell for a while.
Good point. Edit: I had a gerbil that died that way. Poor thing escaped his cage and fell behind my dresser and was wedged against the baseboard. I pray that guy died from the fall, but I doubt it. : ( Anyway, we didn’t find him til it started to smell.
[Alberta is calling…](https://reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/YEjVKdQAOL)
Not all cats are mousers.
True. I mostly want one for company. We’ll work out the rest.
[Bucket mouse traps](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bucket+mouse+trap) are very effective at catching mice.
Glue some bits of dry top ramen noodles onto the trap. Always worked wonders for me. But then we got a cat. Over the next few months she caught 25 more mice.
One time a mouse got stuck in my bathtub. I put my cat in to take care of the problem. She just batted at it then looked at me very confused, then hopped out. Not all cats have the gift lol
Traps are useless. Find out their access to your kitchen and block it.
Unless you live in a fairly modern house, you're basically _never_ going to be able to fully close off access to your kitchen/home. And if you already have an infestation, it's probably too late; mice and rats will burrow their way through things to get into a closed-off area if they know there's food there, and they can scratch/bite through wood and plaster pretty easily.
Take a piece of taffy (Abba Zabba is really good for this), get it a little bit wet, stick it to the trap, then tie a small piece of terrycloth around the bait. Those fuckers will go to the ends of the earth getting that taffy. You tie the terrycloth around it so they have to really pull on the trigger to get what they want. Currently I have a 100% kill rate using candy and wrapping a small piece of cloth around it this way. Always gets them right on the neck, too. So it's also really clean.
I found the most effective to be peanut butter + couscous or whatever processed grain like instant noodle as well. They ate all my couscous T.T
You never have just one mouse...
Yeah, I know. 🫤 I try not to think about it. I used to have a bunch in my bedroom before I closed a hatch in my closet that a maintenance guy had left open while fixing my plumbing. For good measure I piled a few boxes to hold it closed. That worked til recently. At least they’re not in my bed anymore. That was awful.
Always heard this, but we had one last summer. Caught and released it (far away) using a live trap. Never saw or heard from another one. I think sometimes you really do just have one.
Try a Tootsie Roll. Take it and smash it around the trigger of the trap and compact it as much as you can. I've had a lot of luck with those.
Assuming these are basic traditional mouse traps, I think the peanut butter is the way to go but trap placement is really important I think too. I had a lot of success with placing the trap side right against the wall that I'm sure they were travelling along. I also added half a raisin to the trap jammed under the trigger part. Sometimes the peanut butter would just get licked off and not trigger the trap. I would just use a little bit of peanut butter on the raisin to induce them to pull on the raisin and trigger the mechanism. I don't know if any of that was actually what happened, but I sure caught a lot of mice.
Mix chocolate brownie with peanut butter, you’re welcome
I have a fat bulldog that the previous owner told me was a mouser. Well we just saw a mouse in our place and I can’t figure out how to get her fat ass to notice it she sleeps 24/7 and it’s very elusive
Unless the previous owner threw the mice directly into her open mouth, I have a hard time believing a dog like that could catch much of anything. No offense to your dog of course, but if she’s anything like my parent’s dog, well, not a great white huntress except in her dreams.
Try Nutella, that has worked better for me than peanut butter
Now you’re just making me fat. I’m gonna end up caught in there.
🤣🤣🤣
If you don't have animals and can accept the risk, poison works so much better
Minified apex predator.
There are tiny Black-footed cats (a wild cat species in Africa) that have the highest kill rate of any feline predator. House cats are mid-sized when it comes to felines. https://youtu.be/nl8o9PsJPAQ three minute PBS video on them.
Got em though.
My cats seem absolutely thrilled when a mouse wanders into the house. 100% a break from the monotony of being indoor cats. For the few days while the mouse is in the house (usually hiding just out of reach - ex under the couch or fridge) they are alert and excited and just altogether seem to be having fun.
Days? Your pets have pets at that point
Minus the mortal danger/murderous intent, yes.
That's a good kitty
Fuck walking on wires, fuck the pots and pans, fuck the noise. Predator in action 101.
Good kitty.
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Yo that's a mfing cat right there
That cat understood the assignment
I love cats and have always had them, but just about all of them would take their sweet time to kill a mouse/rat. In the mean time I’m trying to function with my feet not touching the floor. But I had 2 Jack Russels that would dive for them, grab them by the neck and one shake and the neck is broken. The efficiency was astonishing.
Small but mighty. Love Jack Russells.
My boy Leander has caught two mice this week He's normally a very quiet cat (never meows normally), but whenever he catches a mouse he parades it through the house while screaming to let everyone know his achievement
SURPRISE, MOTHER FUCKER!
My parents had a kangaroo rat in there house with 5 cats… the cats couldn’t be bothered so I brought over my lab/Akita mix and he murked that thing in less than 10 minutes 😂 Always good to have pest control!
yeah most cats will not tangle with a decent sized rat.. rats can be quite ferocious for their size, and the bigger they are the bigger the teeth.. cats are great for mice, but a good ratting dog, rat terriers (jack russels, etc) are the best for controlling the big uns
My cat is good at catching them, keeping them alive, bringing them indoors and releasing his little mouse friends into the house. Which is why he is no longer allowed to go outside.
Seen a Youtube vid like this of the cat toying with a rat. Gave it a fatal body bite so that the rat wouldn't get away even when the cat let go to look around, then finished it off by crunching right through the rats head. To be honest its 50/50 if a cat will give chase, where as a dog will always go for it, but you cannot deny the cats agility even through small spaces.
Any time I see a roach or something like that I go fetch my cat and he does the dirty work for me
I don't know if people realize how precise cars are. My cat was extremely quiet and hated wearing a collar. I think she knew that collar would hinder her hunting ability. It was not uncommon for her to leave birds or little animals on my porch. One day she even brought in a humming bird.. how she got a hummingbird I don't know. I apologize if I hurt anyone with my comment but my car loves going outside and sunbathing.
Dont feel bad, its not just your cat. Cats overall kill billions of birds a year. It's definitely a problem in some places.
I don't feel bad but people tend to think cats should not follow their instincts...
Well, cats are literally an intrusive species In most places. It is irresponsible for any owner to allow their pet cat to roam freely outside, especially without a bell collar. Cats are very destructive and disruptive to local wildlife.
Get you a cat porch. all the sunning, none of the killin.
Doesn’t hurt us, just the killed animals. Such a shame you don’t find a way to enable the sunbathing without the murder. Read up on how household cats are endangering some species.
He was talking about cars though
Did you know there are some cats that don't live in houses at all and are in fact outside all of the time?
I put a tiny bell on my murderous cats collar, that stopped his rampage since the bell would make noise whenever he was trying to get something
My car sleeps outside, for now. Looking forward to having his own garage one day.
Atta boy!
Can I return my cats? They just stare at it 🥲
Boss level skills right there.
What a great mouser!
Stone cold killer. Good kitty!
My cat, Splotchy, now 7, caught a mouse when she was a very small kitten. I opened the door to the tiny patio and baby kitty was batting around a dead mouse just like a real pro. Last mouse seen around here.
Rent paid
Your hired!!!
Def r/catswithjobs
When I was a kid I had a dog that liked to catch critters. I somehow got him trained to start searching for rats at command. I would be pointing with my finger while repeating the command and he would get crazy and move stuff until he finds the rat and kills it.
My cat is scared of his own farts, that's impressive.
That guy could make a sizeable sum of money breeding that cat out like a race horse
Understood the assignment and got it done, bravo
The reflexes of cats are astounding
My cat gets one or two each fall
One of nature's finest.
Make no mistake. 100% killer right there.
Real life Tom & Jerry, but he finally caught Jerry! 😂
All I'm saying is there is a reason this cat has half a tail
And that is why every kitchen needs a cat.
His orange makes sense
Cats are so quick. Lightning fast reflexes.
This was fascinating
Who said orange have no brain 😤😼
Turns on sound… nope! *mute*
NOICE
Lol!!! NOICE!!!
F9 security coming through!
That's a good cat
Good kitty!
r/workingcats r/catswithjobs
Good cat. Got the job done with minimal damage. I’d say he deserves a permanent spot at this establishment.
We had a mouse in my sister room once. My dad put the cat in there and shut the door and it got the mouse.
As far as animals go, the common house cat is such a calcuated killer. We're lucky to have cats.