Jet's Furkid Palace: A kitty has gotta earn her keep...

Sunday, January 22, 2012

A kitty has gotta earn her keep...

Lately we had a influx of rats and mice into our garden. I'm not sure if it was something to do with the weather, or the fact that the garden is an unruly mess, but I got sick of seeing all the mice and rats scurrying around outside.

You would know that Froufrou and Mittens are inside kitties. Frou is an inside kitty because she is an efficient, ruthless and indiscriminate hunter. Mittens is inside because she has no street smarts.

With Frou in the house, the small rodents never make their way in to the house proper, but they do get into the ceiling sometimes.

Anyway I decided that we would have to do something about all the rodents in the garden, so I started letting Frou out for a few hours a day. She had an immediate and devastating impact on their numbers. For the first few, she asked to come inside and ate her prey in the laundry.

Now there are no rodents left, she is going to be re-confined to the house. Well done Froufrou, but I'm not going to let you go on to hunting the birds and lizards.

Comments (21)

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houndstooth4 82p · 694 weeks ago

Frou is a mighty huntress! That's an impressive record for clearing the rodents out! I guess she's Queen of the Castle for now. :)

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

she is! even Mittens has given her some respect !

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genjiscorner · 694 weeks ago

Glad to see that Frou's skills haven't gotten rusty.

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

she was a bit flabby and slow at first, but it didnt take her long to get back into the groove!

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jan · 694 weeks ago

We are glad that Froufrou had a mother who taught her a marketable skill.

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

yes, and I think if she hadn't learned it she may not have survived the first 6 months of her life - she was living in a junkyard and was the only kitten in her litter that survived :P she may be small but she is tough

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georgia little pea · 694 weeks ago

How I wish I could borrow Frou for a week.. Every summer, we get an infestation. Last year, despite 2 dogs, they came into the house and ate the mangoes off our dining table. [I actually blogged about that lol]

The Other Half doesn;t like killing them but there wasn't really a choice. He googled the most humane way to do it. Now we capture and gas them, supposedly it's like going to sleep.

This year, perhaps because of the cooler weather, we haven't had it bad at all. [I hope I'm not speaking too soon.]

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

yeah I have offered to lend her out, but so far noone has taken me up on the offer! I find it hard to kill them too, but at least Frou kills them straight away, she doesn't do that kitty thing of batting the poor mouse around and playing with it.

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Declan Greyhound 76p · 694 weeks ago

Well thats a bit unfair! Does you a favour and then gets locked up! You may have to start importing new rats & mice for her! We had a mouse in our pantry but KC was scared of it. Hehe! Deccy x

2 replies · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

haha well I could lend her out to solve the vermin problems of other people.... though I have offered before and noone has taken me up on the offer...

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Declan Greyhound 76p · 694 weeks ago

What a business opportunity! "The exterminator - Rent A Moggie" Deccy x

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Caron · 694 weeks ago

Wow, she's a huntress! My Annie is a hunter too. Unfortunately she gets a few birds in the yard during summer. :-(

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Miss Veil · 694 weeks ago

I'm sure she had a great time and is probably hoping another batch of rats moves into the yard soon so she can get back out there.

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Honey the Great Dane · 694 weeks ago

Oh my God - I can't believe that picture...is that a *real* rat???!!!

I don't know if we have rodents nearby...so far, Muesli's hunting efforts have been confined to skinks & lizards and the occasional cockroach - but she always seems more interested in playing with them than eating them!!

Hsin-Yi

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

actually that's just a little mouse! you don't want to see the picture of the beheaded rat she left on the back doorstep - it was about 1/3 of Frou!

Mittens plays with cockroaches, Frou isn't interested in them - she only likes things she can eat :O

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Greyhounds CAN Sit · 694 weeks ago

I could have used Frou here last winter when I had heaps of mice come in the house. Maybe she'd like a holiday here this coming winter? Good job not letting her hunt birds etc. Beryl can catch a sparrow but she can't catch a mouse, duh. Well, she has caught a mouse on a walk, but doesn't take any notice of them in the house. Perhaps she thinks they're pets?

1 reply · active 694 weeks ago

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jetsagenda 82p · 694 weeks ago

haha I don't think she would like the flight, the way she carries on in the car you will have a kitty encrusted with it's own poop and wee! :P

Barbie and Bender don't notice mice and rats - I think they are too small to be worth chasing. I think if you are sized between a rabbit and a kangaroo Barbie will consider it though. She has shown no interest in birds - which is a good thing for all the seagulls that like to hang out on the beach :)

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Julie · 694 weeks ago

Eeek! We've only had mice once, and my tuxedo kitty, Monkey was the hunter of the group. He would get so disappointed when we would take them away from him :( Good work Frou!!

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Kristine · 694 weeks ago

Hahaha! Go team Frou! Our cat is a terrific hunter as well. I have seen him take down birds almost the same size as he is. Back when we first moved to our current house on the lake, we used to get frogs in our basement on a disgustingly regular basis. Since that first summer, I haven't seen one frog since.

He usually stays inside and only goes out when we are out with him, but it is nice to know we will never, ever have to worry about rodents.

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Bert · 693 weeks ago

Allred is a bit of a hunter too. ONly he goes next door, catches the mice and other rodents, then brings them back here and lets them loose in the house.

I beleive Frou, should give lessons about "How to Finish the job" I would sign Allred up to be the first one in the class.

Bert