Present from cat...

Jack B. Badd

So, after 5 months of getting nothing but bumblebees and earthworms, we arrived home today to find a pigeon (and a rather scattered pile of feathers) on our living room floor and a certain someone looking unbelievably pleased with herself!
Me, I'm a bit sceptical that a cat could take down a healthy pigeon. Am I belittling her without good cause or is it likely that she found this one wounded and decided to drag it inside for some fun?

mymo

Don't underestimate the puss.
Once saw my uncles tiny cat(who is half the size of your average cat), leap from a tree down onto a large crow. It was bigger than her but she wrestled it and killed it in seconds. Couldn't believe it.:eek:
She then plucked the feathers before eating it. She did leave the beak.
Also saw sister in law's 3 legged cat catch a rabbit almost her size.
Can sometimes see the relation to lions;)
Pigeons are slow, tell the puss they're a hero and dispose of the evidence discreetly. Don't envy the clean up.:P

Croc

Try Bats for size, one of mine went through a phase last year of catching them, spotted him one evening bring one down in mid flight.

He would sit under a street light on our garden wall and as he saw one pass he launched himself and hey presto

Jack B. Badd

mymo wrote: »

Don't underestimate the puss.
Once saw my uncles tiny cat(who is half the size of your average cat), leap from a tree down onto a large crow. It was bigger than her but she wrestled it and killed it in seconds. Couldn't believe it.:eek:
She then plucked the feathers before eating it. She did leave the beak.
Also saw sister in law's 3 legged cat catch a rabbit almost her size.
Can sometimes see the relation to lions;)

I stand corrected

mymo wrote: »

Pigeons are slow, tell the puss they're a hero and dispose of the evidence discreetly. Don't envy the clean up.:P

She was quite clean about it actually. The bird was in one piece apart from having most of its plumage ripped out and scattered about the place and no blood to be seen in the flat - although a very thorough search was done! I really hope she doesn't get into a habit of this though...

bubski

Think its the good weather, mine have started back with the "gifts" as well.

Mice only thank god, dont think I could cope with anything bigger!

A friends cat used to bring back rabbits on a regular basis back to her, the only way into the house was through the 2nd floor bathroom window.!!!

bigpinkelephant

bubski wrote: »

A friends cat used to bring back rabbits on a regular basis back to her, the only way into the house was through the 2nd floor bathroom window.!!!

God, I can't imagine mine being athletic enough to kill a rabbit! Lazy so and so's! On the other hand, they were all reared with rabbits from when they were kittens so they have no interest in them.

Latchy

They can do amazing things with DNA now . If they ever make an animal version of crimewatch your murderer cat is doomed , you do know this ?

Peyton Manning

What a shit cat you have.

Mine got me a Playstation and a HMV voucher.

Latchy

My jackdaw insists on brinking home unwanted Jewelry every night .

If only I knew who owners were .

ISDW

One of my young cats has turned out to be a serial killer. We have had a baby hare (still alive and set free) a rabbit, loads of birds, and not small ones either - some still alive, some dead. I have lost count of the number of mice he's brought in. Because we have a puppy at the moment, the cat flap is kept locked, and he's bringing them all in through a small window - don't know how he does it but I wish he'd stop.

Fletch123

Our old cat Chips used to bring us goldfish from the neighbours pond. And torture frogs in the backgarden (let go of them briefly and then jump on them again). When I saw her doing that I'd run out with a jug of water and scare her away from the poor thing.

She once killed a magpie and was stalked for weeks by a flock of them, bet she regretted that one.

Thing is though she used to eat at least some parts of her prey. She always decapitated them before leaving them as presents... I'm sure there must have been some psychology behind that.

hadook

Ha, a pigeon is nothing - my cat brought home a 5 month old rottie once.

We heard a noise outside and looked out to see a very cowed pup huddling into the corner of the back door with a very satisfied cat belting it every time it looked like it was planning to move. The neighbours who owned the dog had cctv footage of our cat opening their back door (we had to put childlocks on the fridge to keep him out, he was a monster for opening doors) and herding the dog out a few minutes later. There's a good half mile between their house and my parents place too.

trishawisha

Hey all...love all the stories. My poor kitten doesnt get the chance to catch anything. We're living in a newish housing estate with an enclosed back garden, she only gets out there no where else. Shes a mad hunter- whenever a fly comes in the house, no matter what she catches it.
I felt like we need to get her something to play with so I hung bird feed thingys in the garden---a bit sick I know--- they were on to her though and she hasnt caught anything yet.
I feel sorry for her....what to do?

Jack B. Badd

hadook wrote: »

Ha, a pigeon is nothing - my cat brought home a 5 month old rottie once.

We heard a noise outside and looked out to see a very cowed pup huddling into the corner of the back door with a very satisfied cat belting it every time it looked like it was planning to move. The neighbours who owned the dog had cctv footage of our cat opening their back door (we had to put childlocks on the fridge to keep him out, he was a monster for opening doors) and herding the dog out a few minutes later. There's a good half mile between their house and my parents place too.

I wouldn't mind a puppy actually

pwd

better eat it to be polite

bigpinkelephant

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

I wouldn't mind a puppy actually

Be sure to remind the cat that a puppy is for life and not just for Christmas!

Jack B. Badd

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Be sure to remind the cat that a puppy is for life and not just for Christmas!

I would imagine that as far as she's concerned a puppy is probably for lunch!

doctor evil

Thankfully our cat is a bit elderly for bringing stuff home.

OP, put a bell or two on the collar and it should help. Keep the cat in at dawn and dusk. Especially when it's baby bird time.

pwd

puppy will be like this when he grows up

Jack B. Badd

doctor evil wrote: »

OP, put a bell or two on the collar and it should help. Keep the cat in at dawn and dusk. Especially when it's baby bird time.

Yeah, she already has a bell on and now that the days are longer she's not outside at dusk, dark or dawn...

Jack B. Badd

This has now gone a bit beyond a joke. Our darling remorseless killer brought pigeon #4 in this morning (5th bird in total) and my boyfriend had to put it out of its misery as it wasn't totally dead.
We need a solution or by the end of the year we'll be knee high in dead pigeons. She's in overnight which includes dawn and dusk and she has a bell on her collar. From the first month she was with us it's been obvious that she'll become depressed if she's kept indoors perpetually and a cat run is no good due to the structure of the garden. I've looked around online and the only other reasonable suggestion is a sonic collar. Has anyone any experience with these and do they help at all?

Emmo

putting a bell on a cat only makes them better killers.

They learn to move without making the bell go off and then when they pounce they love the sound the jingling makes combined with the death cries of prey*

Is the cat hungry?

Does the cat watch you bring in the shopping and put it down in a certain place.

Our cat used to watch us bring in the shopping and then put it in the kitchen. From then on all the gifts were put in front of the fridge.

Emmo

*may not be entirely true

It wasn't me!

If you live in the country and they're woodpigeons, frankly I'd just breast them out and have them for dinner.

Yet to see anything that really stops a cat killing things. They're just extremely efficient predators and actually do a lot of damage to wildlife, particularly small bird stocks. Pigeons and rabbits are no bother to them, so you're pretty much going to keep getting the gifts.

sorella

Croc; thank you re the bat. Our cat brought one in dead yesterday, and we wondered how.. But they can catch swallows too...

I heard of whippets catching birds too.

On the plus side - and we are out in the country - they make short work of mice and even rats.

One was alive last week; pretty wee brown mouse running along the curtain rail.

It is a part of their life; if they brought eg pigeons in, that would feed them and the dogs. And no these are certainly never hungry. They feed as they want, and always food is there for them.

Calhoun

I was woken up one morning by the screams of my baby brother ( 5 at the time), our little monster had successfully caught a magpie that was still alive. It was crazy as on the electric wires outside of the house about 50 magpies sat watching screaming at her, i thought they were going to launch a full scale attack.

My other brother decided he would free the magpie as it was still alive and went outside to get it from the cat. She seen him and ran off into our neighbours garden with it still in her mouth. Which doesnt sound to bad until you see the size of the fence, she was scaling 6-7 foot fences with the magpie in her mouth.

She got away with the bird because he was to slow and we never seen it again . They are very funny though, they dont eat them just kill them for sport.

SlipperyPeople

my cat is the terror of the birds in my estate. brings home starlings and smaller birds all the time and loves to anounce it by climbing in the window with bird in mouth, dropping it and giving a big meow saying look at me here ya go! brought home many pigeons. and ive counted at least five seagulls some of which are massive.then again everyone calls him the panther coz hes huge and half wild. Was some fun the day he brought a seagull in alive.....:pac:

sorella

Our's tend to eat the innards and leave the rest...

PinkTulips

i've had a succession of cats who only bring me ^live^ presents.... maybe they think i'm a kitten that needs training?

one of my cats chases foxes.... not sure what she'll do the day she catches one

i've heard that if you give out to the cat it thinks the 'gift' isn't good enough and willl keep bringing you more but if you excessively praise the cat for the pressie they think they've suceeded and don't bring any more.... seems to work for me, and my mother who always gives out to her cat is constantly bombarded with feathery gifts