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Author Topic: Newly arrived ferals  (Read 5232 times)

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Newly arrived ferals
« on: February 25, 2015, 05:18:47 pm »
Its something of a sad story.
Ive had cats all my life but never ferals until October when we moved here. We have just adopted 2 feral cats, mother and daughter, to live in our stables. They had been at the RSPCA for , can you believe it, 4 years! But they are still quite wild and wont let you handle them.
They are currently locked in our tack room while they acclimatise.
What Im worried about is that we have started to see rats so we need to put poison down. I know about putting it in bait boxes etc but Im very worried that a dying poisoned rat will stagger out and be eaten by one of the cats and hence poison her too. TBH this is also a big worry re one of our spaniels who will literally eat any old thing he finds.
Any advice for me as I don't think I cannot use poison
Is it time to retire yet?

nutterly_uts

  • Joined Jul 2014
  • Jersey - for now :)
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2015, 05:50:39 pm »
Maybe look into the other animal safe baits like eradibait - i've had good success but i know others dont rate it

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2015, 06:26:29 pm »
Try the live cage traps, we have had reasonable success with them in the barn.  Obviously you have to be prepared to dispose of the live rat. 
I had a labrador nearly die by eating the remains of a poisoned baby rat - he survived after treatment but was always poorly.  The neighbour had put out poison without telling me >:( .  I think your ferals would certainly like a rat snack!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2015, 06:29:35 pm »
Ask your nearest farming neighbour if he knows anyone with working ratters.  Properly trained terriers are fearsome hunters.

stufe35

  • Joined Jan 2013
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2015, 07:09:21 pm »
If you catch a rat in a cage trap you should not dispose of it....leave it there it will attract others.

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2015, 08:53:34 pm »
Could you hold off putting poison down and wait to see how your feral girls do with the rat population? By the sounds of them they are still holding onto their feral former life so are probably fabulous hunters. I've got a feral kitten brought home at 9 weeks old approximately. She shredded her skin cat toys within seconds and still shows feral behaviour with regards to toy prey and she is now nearly 5 months old. I would imagine your adult females being very eager to continue the hunting life.

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2015, 03:28:04 pm »
Ive held off poison to date and Dentman is due round any time now to talk  shooting the little long-tailed blighters.
The 2 ferals have another 6 days of imprisonment in the tack room to do but Im already starting to have my doubts about them. They are now quite often right at the door when I open it, not hiding from me. And they seem to like my husband and are even going up to sniff his hand. This is not at all what our last feral was like and Im really not wanting them to be pets  :-\ I hope their 4 years in the rescue hasn't dented their instincts....that would just be my luck
Is it time to retire yet?

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2015, 07:21:52 pm »
You don't need a feral to have a good mouser. My big ginger cat 'Frodo' is the friendliest, comfort seeking cat there is but he is a killing machine, hunting on a daily basis. He even caught a weasel last year  :o
There is a reduction in the birds visiting our garden and he snacked on the couple which would follow me to the hen area at feed time  :'(  OH and the cat are keeping tabs on who has caught the most rats to date , OH just winning with his new rifle nightsight ::)

The cats temperaments will play a huge part, some ferals are lazy, some settle to human bonding much easier than others, others still live their life total feral only eating cat food when the weather is poor and hunting is hard. If they have previously been hunters there's a good chance they will want a taste of it again  :fc:

lord flynn

  • Joined Mar 2012
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2015, 08:48:10 pm »
agreed-my cat was picked up as a stray at a farm. He's like a dog- comes to call, jumps onto my shoulders to come and shut up the poultry (not that I let the setter do that lol), you can rub his tummy and he's not scared of much but he's a killing machine even though fed by me twice daily. When he gets bored of mice etc here he goes across the valley to rat and rabbit at a local farm. The amount of prey drive is very individual.

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2015, 09:34:57 pm »
I agree, the hunting instinct depends on the cat's temperament not the degree of 'wildness'.
We have 4 cats, they all sleep in the house and we feed them plenty. The oldest cat is lazy and doesn't hunt (she is actually an ex-feral who now seems to enjoy her old age in comfort), but the 3 younger cats are out hunting for hours every day, in all weathers. We don't have rats, but we get an endless stream of daily 'presents' from mice & voles to rabbits & squirrels, and even moles sometimes.
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2015, 10:53:27 am »
well we will soon see as I let them out today for the first time.  Theres no poison down so far so nothing to worry about there. If they are both still here tomorrow we will be doing better than the last time we adopted ferals.
Is it time to retire yet?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2015, 12:53:33 pm »
Good luck!

I hope you've taken pics before letting them out, in case you need to advertise, "Anyone seen..."!   :-J
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2015, 08:44:52 pm »
How are your stable cats getting on Kimbo?

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: Newly arrived ferals
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2015, 11:53:30 am »
Hi! Well....long story but we now have 3 as the male from the original pair turned up again. It appears that he (wild thing that he is) has taken up residence in a palatial house down the lane and just visits our scruffy yard 3/4 times a week to eat the resident cats' food and murder all my garden birds  ::)
Yes the 2 little ferals are still with us but can hardly be described as feral .... Im forever chasing them out of the kitchen and as soon as we sit down in the tack room ( especially my husband) they are all over us! Couldn't catch a cold....No I tell a lie: They can catch half dead shrews.

Needless to say, we love them to bits  ::)
Is it time to retire yet?

 

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