On 4/25/2009 5:09 PM, SteveB wrote:
"John McGaw" wrote in message
.. .
SteveB wrote:
"John McGaw" wrote in message
.. .
SteveB wrote:
I have made mouse traps out of five gallon buckets, and a tin can on a
wire stretched over the open end. Wipe peanut butter on the can, and
when the mouse steps out on it, it spins and dumps the mouse in the
water.
I have been fighting squirrels all spring. Tomorrow a king size
version goes up, and we'll see how the squirrels do. Going to get two
more for other positions on my property.
Will keep you posted.
Steve
Simple cheap solution: procure one barn cat.
Have one, but it is an inside cat. She loves to bring them in alive and
play with them, sometimes allowing them to escape and go live under the
fridge until I catch them.
An "inside cat" is not what you want for this job. That's why I specified
a "barn cat". The typical cat which hangs around the barn on a working
farm can be a pretty fearsome animal and is more wild than domesticated.
Not the sort which will come when you call "kitty, kitty" unless you or
something you are holding seems edible.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com
When I was a kid, we used to go visit our uncle in northern Idaho. They had
a farming operation, and a couple of dairy cows along with that. After
being familiar with "city" cats, meeting a "barn" cat was scary. They
hissed and spit, and didn't want to have anything to do with you. My uncle
cautioned not to try to pick one up. Well, this little city kid figgered a
cat was a cat. I never got close enough to pick one up, and shortly saw
that picking up one would be akin to picking up a full throttle chain saw.
I have seen feral cats that are meaner than the dickens, and tapes of animal
control officers getting hold of them. Or vice versa.
I live in an AG1 zone, on a ranch, and a perfect place for a "barn cat."
Yet, I guess I'm too citified not to want to let it in when it's blowing a
gale and zero outside, thus training it to meow at the door whenever it
wants to come in and lay by the fire or cozy up on the bed. Maybe in the
future, but right now, my own version of "mousers" is working great.
Steve
Where I live, a coyote is more likely to catch a cat (even a feral cat)
than either of them is likely to catch a squirrel.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary