Thinking of getting a CAT to solve a MOUSE problem. How do you tell a good mouser?

[Flyoverland Captive]

How does it work to keep an outdoor cat when you live somewhere where it is cold, snowy & windy all winter long? Do you let them in the garage if you don't have a barn?

We have little chipmunk/gopher types that live in our rocks and I would love to get rid of them. They dig holes everywhere and the dog can't ever catch them though she tries. I hate cats, but would like to get rid of this problem.

Ours are never allowed in the house, ever. I don't let them in our detached garage either. I built a lean-to on the back of the garage so they have some shelter, but they usually just hang out on our covered porch curled up in some old blankets. They're remarkably hardy little bastards.

[4matic]

How does it work to keep an outdoor cat when you live somewhere where it is cold, snowy & windy all winter long? Do you let them in the garage if you don't have a barn?

Give them a little house to live in; just like a dog house only much smaller.

[drboudreaux]

A good mouser? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fbah...ture=endscreen

Cats are awesome.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Wasn't there a nursery rhyme about this?

[stuckathuntermtn]

I found it:

There Was an Old Lady
Who Swallowed a Fly


There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider.
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird.
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed a cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
Oh, what a hog to swallow a dog.
She swallowed a dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I'm not sure how she swallowed a cow.
She swallowed a cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse.
She's dead, of course!


wasn't quite what I remember, but if you get a cat, you might need to get a dog, and then you might need to get...um...idk, that's about all you need.

[f2f]

long but worth it (unlike the song lyrics above). can be converted to mice:

[Clownshoe]

I have two cats. Twin brothers. Both about 9 months old.
Since spring has sprung, I've started leaving the door open to let them go outside.
One cat (named Poco) runs outside everytime I open the door. He's gone for hours at a time. So far he's come back with a mouse and two birds (one bird was still alive, which he let go in the house. Me chasing a half dead bird around my condo is a TR in itself). This cat is a stone cold killer.

The other cat (Bones) won't go more than 2 feet outside the front door. He just wants to sleep on my bed and snuggle with my wife. This cat is a total slacker. At this moment Poco is outside, probably stalking something, and Bones is asleep at the end of my bed.

I don't know how you'd ever tell the difference without bringing them home and seeing what happens, but these little dudes are good times either way.

[MTT]

I have two cats. Twin brothers. Both about 9 months old.
Since spring has sprung, I've started leaving the door open to let them go outside.
One cat (named Poco) runs outside everytime I open the door. He's gone for hours at a time. So far he's come back with a mouse and two birds (one bird was still alive, which he let go in the house. Me chasing a half dead bird around my condo is a TR in itself). This cat is a stone cold killer.

The other cat (Bones) won't go more than 2 feet outside the front door. He just wants to sleep on my bed and snuggle with my wife. This cat is a total slacker. At this moment Poco is outside, probably stalking something, and Bones is asleep at the end of my bed.

I don't know how you'd ever tell the difference without bringing them home and seeing what happens, but these little dudes are good times either way.

Not sure how to pick the right Kitty.

My Cat, (Mr Kitty) was a feral cat and not doing well outside. I have turned him into a house cat. He brings me teats.@!$^$

I often wake up to a Bird, Mole, Mouse. Dead on my bed!!!

Never see mice in the house since Mr. Kitty came along.

Unnerving was seeing Dead Cat on the porch last winter. And bloddy paw prinks leading in from the cat door.

Cats are MEAN!!

[TBS]

Get yourself a female alley cat - one that has had to survive on her own for a bit. If you take good care of her, she'll kill every living thing within 200yrds of your house to show her gratitude. Guaranteed.

This but be careful what you wish for. We had a cat "adopt us" after the neighbors took off without her. She kept showing up at our door whining, and after about two months MsTBS started putting milk out for her. It wasn't long before you would hear scratching at the door,open it and find the cat with a couple of wounded mice. Lovely.

One morning while in the shower I hear MsTBS screaming - she opened the front door and cat brought in a wounded bird. Bird would try to fly away but with one wing destroyed the cat would just swat it down. Nothing like running around the living room naked and wet, trying to catch a wounded bird that the cat really wanted too.

Over the years she brought home squirrels, a small duck, moles and a nutria. The worst part though was when she would catch dragonflies and pull their wings off. You could hear them buzz but the carpet was dark brown so they were hard to find.

[OldLarry]

So apparently those glue traps work really well. Now have a drawer full of live mice stuck to traps, with Mrs. Larry and two little Larry Girls FUH-REAKING OUT.

Thankfully I am safely ensconced here in my office about 60 miles away

[userA]

get a cat larry

[Todds]

Tom wasn't a very good mouser.

[DeathVan]

get a cat larry

Yeah, you can't pet a glue trap.

[beaterdit]

Not sure how to pick the right Kitty.

My Cat, (Mr Kitty) was a feral cat and not doing well outside. I have turned him into a house cat. He brings me teats.@!$^$

I often wake up to a Bird, Mole, Mouse. Dead on my bed!!!

Never see mice in the house since Mr. Kitty came along.

Unnerving was seeing Dead Cat on the porch last winter. And bloddy paw prinks leading in from the cat door.

Cats are MEAN!!

Holy shit!

Second the female cat thing. Got two pound cats Luke and Leia, litter mates, to deal with mice at my cabin. Leia was a stone cold killer, killed and ate her prey every day. Mice, moles, birds, rabbits!!! Luke would play with the mice and inevitably release them, still alive, in the house. Now he doesn't even bother. Leia died and was replaced with Spot, a male kitten I found in the alley. Not a good killer either. Good thing I don't have a mouse problem in my new domicile.

[hutash]

He just wants to sleep on my bed and snuggle with my wife.

Don't we all?

[Clownshoe]

^^^^^
well played sir

[half-fast]

I think you need a wolf...

[OldLarry]

Holy shit!

Second the female cat thing. Got two pound cats Luke and Leia, litter mates, to deal with mice at my cabin. Leia was a stone cold killer, killed and ate her prey every day. Mice, moles, birds, rabbits!!! Luke would play with the mice and inevitably release them, still alive, in the house. Now he doesn't even bother. Leia died and was replaced with Spot, a male kitten I found in the alley. Not a good killer either. Good thing I don't have a mouse problem in my new domicile.

Luke and Leia? Do you sleep on Star Wars sheets?

Maybe I will get two and name them drums and space...

[userA]

deep n pow

[Kim Jong-un]

You may also want to make sure your mice don't get into your yogurt. Apparently it makes them randy and they bang out more mice.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...les-eat-yogurt

[Flyoverland Captive]

Oh yeah, one more thing... they kill anything they can catch. The little bastards left me a nice treat this morning.

[Tippster]

Luke and Leia? Do you sleep on Star Wars sheets?

Maybe I will get two and name them drums and space...

Heh - or China and Rider.

[That was Pontus]

Dang, they ripped the head right off that jackalope.

Cats can be pretty badass. Growing up we had an alley stray that adopted us. One of the most loyal critters I've ever come across (i.e. at night he'd do rounds & sleep on everyones bed). Survived a bout with cancer, killed anything that moved in the yard, kicked the shit out of most of the other cats in a 2 block radius. Ended up putting him down when he was 16 or so. The cancer had come back, he had some severe arthritis and so was only beating up cats that came into the yard. The day before he was taken down to the vet, he let a bluejay go in the house. That was entertaining.

[liv2ski]

3rd the get a girl cat. Our princess is an indoor/outdoor cat once she figured out the dogs door. She has always been a stone cold killer. Neighbor had a mouse problem, put her under his crawl space, no more mice. She is 15 and still a killer.

[Jer]

Dokie and Vlad are boys and they slaughter everything they see. Found 1/2 of a big-ass rabbit they dragged into the PMSGear factory this morning. They also enjoy placing mouse heads in weird ritualistic patterns for me.

I would agree tho that in general females tend to be better killers. Tamu is 14 and I've still gotta watch her or she kills birds. My boy Toobie chased a squirrel once about ten years ago but he mostly just chases cars.