Comments on: Rogues’ Gallery: Rats

By: crocuskitchengarden

crocuskitchengarden — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:07:50 +0000

Hi Jo and Lyn. I think cats divide gardeners more or less right down the middle. You have Jo’s point of view, that they’re cute (with which I happen to agree); and your position Lyn which I entirely sympathise with but have never actually suffered from myself. This is probably why I don’t mind having cats around! There was a lot of apprehension from my fellow plotholders when I first came up with the idea, but Sooty and Sweep have been so efficient at chasing off mice, rabbits and rats that they’ve completely won everyone over, even the ones who seriously, seriously didn’t like cats. And I’ve never found cat doo-doo on my veg beds – half-eaten mice and some rabbit innards, yes, but not poo.

I think it probably depends on the cats. I once had a huge ginger tom who looked most impressive but never, to my knowledge, scared or caught anything, especially not mice. In fact I do wonder whether he was a long-lost cousin of Garfield’s. I think it helps if your cats are female, as they’re the best hunters, and also young. And used to catching their own food: domesticated cats are far less efficient hunters as they’re fat and lazy. Bless ‘em.

By: Lyn Whitfield

Lyn Whitfield — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:31:50 +0000

Mmmm… not convinced on the cat front. I live in a street full of cats and while they dig up and cr*p all over my vegetable bed, they don’t do much to keep down vermin. I’ve had a rat in my basement lightwell and saw one on my front steps in the cold snap. The rat in the lightwell did freak me out. But it found a most ingenious way out and then sat around washing its whiskers, without doing anybody any harm. Unlike the cats, which are stupid and leave filth everywhere.

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:32:54 +0000

Sooty and Sweep are so cute. Glad they’re helping in your quest to rid the allotment of rats.

By: crocuskitchengarden

crocuskitchengarden — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:20:28 +0000

Hi Meredith, yes the small bunnies are a pretty grim spell we go through every spring, too. I have to vet the shed for remains before letting my 7-year-old on the allotment as she’s very fond of bunnies. I’m less fond of them since they stripped out all my pea plants one year.

To be honest, I’m thinking that when my elderly house cat eventually passes on to the fluffy cat bed in the sky I shall always have feral cats kept outdoors. They have to be the healthiest, fittest little cats I’ve ever looked after: because they hunt for their food, and therefore eat mainly raw meat (sorry if you have a delicate constitution) instead of processed commercial cat food they are glowing with health and the most cat-like cats I’ve ever had.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:26:26 +0000

Rats creep me out, too. We haven’t had any show up yet. But then, we have two kitty predators on the loose, one of whom brought me back a dead mouse with half its tail missing as a lovely little gift over the weekend. They do kill small bunnies on occasion, too, which makes me sad — but then, I like to eat my salad crops. And there hasn’t been too much disturbance of the seeds by squirrels since they started patrolling last spring (squirrels being the *other* rat around here). Only two birds, that we know of, have been lost via this “nuclear option.” (Love how you phrased that!)

My cats were housecats, totally indoor and domesticated, until last year when we moved out to a quiet space in the country. We had been living in tight, trafficky, urban quarters where it’s very dangerous for cats.

I’m so glad you gave those feral cats a home. Lots of no-kill facilities end up with difficulties because of feral kitties cooped up and miserable, and no one willing to adopt. Bless you and your garden!