Barn Cat?

MossRoad · Dec 31, 2014

Oh yeah, and you don't have to spay or neuter your traps. :laughing:

TomSeller · Dec 31, 2014

Thread on these a while back. Cheap, effective. Don't need to reset them after each mouse. These are Internet pictures, the board one is missing the bait.

MossRoad · Dec 31, 2014

TomSeller said:
Thread on these a while back. Cheap, effective. Don't need to reset them after each mouse. These are Internet pictures, the board one is missing the bait.

I have a friend that uses those for chipmunks that get into his garage. Very effective.

Streetcar · Dec 31, 2014

I would occasionally lose an egg to a snake, when I had chickens. I figured it was payment for the rodent removal. I would move the snake out of chicken coop and not have a problem for months. Rhode Island red and leghorn chickens

joecoin · Dec 31, 2014

Larry Caldwell said:
When it comes to rodent control, you can't beat snakes.

Agreed, but they won't work in the winter, some kind of union deal.

Looking4new · Dec 31, 2014

TomSeller said:
Thread on these a while back. Cheap, effective. Don't need to reset them after each mouse. These are Internet pictures, the board one is missing the bait.

Put some beer in the bottom to drown the mice....At least they die happy. Skunky beer will do fine.

TomSeller · Dec 31, 2014

Looking4new said:
Put some beer in the bottom to drown the mice....At least they die happy. Skunky beer will do fine.

Might even attract them.

JSanders10 · Dec 31, 2014

Thanks for all the advice... thinking on it.

I don't like snakes (found 15 rattlers under a piece of tin this summer during a cleanup) and have bush-hogged a couple other rattlers. The non-venomous good snakes, I don't mind. The property has an old farm house on it, as well, I am turning into a family hunting cabin. Rats have had their run of the house for five years. Traps and poison blocks have done their job for now, but I am looking long term.

I like the owl idea... like I said in a post above, I do have two owls in my barn occasionally. Perhaps I need to mount a couple own houses on the exterior of the barn.

When I cut the pastures this past summer, I had a couple hawks perched nearby who fed pretty well on those days.

The rattlers, the 5' mama snake and 13-15 'babies' about 12-15".

FTG-05 · Dec 31, 2014

I have four shop cats, one is full grown, probably two years old, the other three are kittens from last summer.

The three kittens follow me around like they're little puppies. They all live in the shop and they have access to both food and water 24/7. I also have a dog and they have access to the dog's water bowls as well. I put in a cat door to the shop and just recently set it so they could go both in and out. I had previously had it set so they could only go in because I would put them up at night. Now I let them go outside as they want. Turns out they like to hunt at night!

And these cats hunt! The time I saw a mouse in my shop was the mouse head one of them left in my tractor bucket.

The "cats hunt especially when fed" theory is also what I've heard. And I heard that from a person at work who has two houses: One for herself and one for her cat rescue organization. So I've decided to ensure my cats have food for whenever they want it.

Cats or Rats: Take your pick. And if it's rats, good luck with the snakes that aren't that far behind.

Now, a question for the owl experts: Can you have both cats and owls or are they exclusive?

Thanks and good luck to the OP.

Looking4new · Dec 31, 2014

An Owl will kill a cat and eat it. All that fur makes a nice nest. They will swoop in and if they have a clear area to take off again away goes your cat for flying lessons, except it is already dead.