Feral Cats...and I thought I had heard everything!

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

No kisses required. Shocked

Dimitri

Pumpkinslinger

Anyone ever try calling in feral cats? I have a .22 Hornet looking for something to do...

WileyWapiti

My grandmother "adopted" many strays after my grandfather passed away. It became a problem, so my uncle told my cousin and I to go out and deal with them, he even supplied a brick of .22 bullets. Grandma tied bows around the necks of the cats she did not want ....ummmm....removed? Well, after a few cats were taken care of, the rest ran into the barn, rather than firing oout in the barn, grandma would go out and set out a tin of food and milk and call them all to the dinner plate, again, they would come around the tins and we would open up on them. We went through this about 5 times and pretty well took care of her problem, I think we got close to 35 that day, My uncle's personal best was around 62, this is unverified, but it sure was fun listening to him tell the story.

I might make note here that we own a cat, but it doesn't try and take a pound of flesh off your hide every time you walk by.

Vince

62 cats + 35 cats = 97 cats worth of fun shootin'. Good math in my books Very Happy

Considering that she "labelled" the ones she didn't want tapped.....how many bloody moggies did she have??? Shocked

Like the attached pic....awesome. Well done guys.

Cheers, Vince

WileyWapiti

Vince - the 90+ cats were over a period of several years, unfortunately, she just could not let herself turn them away, so we would thin them out and then she would start collecting again.

So far as the bloody moggies, we were pretty careful to give the one's with bows a wide berth, so I think they were safe.

So far as the picture, my buddy sent it to me, I figured it was appropriate for this topic and string. The guys were all victims of a terrible wood working accident which only left them with one finger per hand, so I hope nobody took offense, the guys just are tragicly forced to live with the deformity is all.

Cheers!

Bushmaster

They're just telling us that we're "#1" in their book...

sniper

Good hunting!

The great cat hunters!

My wife's uncle wanted a couple of cats for his barn, and my inlaws had a feral cat problem. Sooooo....my mother in law volunteered me and my brother in law to provide them with a couple of cats.

It was about 11:00 pm on a cold, dark Idaho night, and we set out a garbage can baited with some fish that had been freezer burned, placed the lid in a handy location, and quickly hid around the nearest corner of the house.

In a few minutes, we were freezing our butts off, when we heard the sounds of cats feeding. We gave it a minute, then ran up to the can. I set it upright, and my brother in law slammed the lid on, batting one cat, who had cleared the rim of the can by about 18 inches straight up, back into it. The other one (or maybe it was the same one) almost squeezed out between the lid and can lip before we clamped the lid on, and tied it down. I swear, those cats left claw marks in the metal, they were so upset.

We delivered the kitties to the uncle's place, where we were very careful to point the garbage can away from us, and after a couple of long three counts, turned them loose.

Years later, I found out he had never told my nephews about the episode, so I corrected that during a fishing trip. Very Happy

tallboy · Rookie Member Joined: Nov 13, 2007 Posts: 4

I have to exterminate about a dozen ferral cats a year here. I don't know where they all come from, but my 22 Hornet has blasted many. If I did'nt keep them thined down, I'm sure they'd be crawling everywhere. And they say they are hard on most small game bird populations ?

Pumpkinslinger

I remember seeing a study done in WI on the effect of feral cats on songbirds and the number of birds they killed each year was astounding! I can't remember the exact figure but I was totally amazed. So, has anyone tried calling them in?

Bushmaster

Baiting with the smelliest canned cat food works...One must remember that domestic cats, feral or otherwise, are not native to this continent. Europeans brought them over on sailing ships...They are good at mousing and killing birds. I have a Russian Blue that gets birds without front claws...

Pumpkinslinger...You might try "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Here kitty, kitty, kitty.... ROFL

You HAD to know that was comin'.... Fencing

Vince

Bushmaster wrote:

Baiting with the smelliest canned cat food works...One must remember that domestic cats, feral or otherwise, are not native to this continent. Europeans brought them over on sailing ships...They are good at mousing and killing birds. I have a Russian Blue that gets birds without front claws...

Exact same thing here Bushy. Bloody cats. Feral cats have absolutely decimated the Australian wildlife. Our wildlife doesn't have any real predators so the cats have a field day. Mad

Bushmaster wrote:

Pumpkinslinger...You might try "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Here kitty, kitty, kitty.... ROFL

You HAD to know that was comin'.... Fencing

Good one Bushy. I'm proud of ya son.

Cheers, Vince

hunthard24/7

We don't have much of a cat problem here just gotta clear em out about every 2or3 years. Did have a major rat problem one year though. Was stealing the dogs food so one day we stuck a water hose in the hole and one it the hollow tree and set back with the .22lr got about 63 in about 3 hours. Something like 15 got away but cleaned them up a couple days later. It's always good to get some target practice in during the off months.