Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Free Cat to Good Home

We keep some chickens and ducks in the back yard. Chickens for eggs and we rolled the dice on the ducks, but came up with 2 males. So they may end up on the table sooner rather than later. And ducks are slobs. The chickens are not so numerous as to destroy the back yard, but instead they eat every weed, a bunch of bugs, and keep the smaller snakes away. Also fertilize and dethatch the lawn. Backyard looks wonderful. The back yard is wood palisade/privacy fenced in such that only a climber like a cat, bobcat, raccoon, or possum is getting in from the ground. Possums are no threat thus far and we are too far from the water for coons. Coyotes are not getting in and neither are stray dogs. Had a previous round of chickens killed by a neighborhood cat. Live trapped that and took it to the pound, another story.

Anyways, I roll up to the driveway and see a cat sitting on the walk leading to the backyard gate. You can see under the gate a ways and there is room for a slim cat to go under, but they will inevitably get zapped by the hot wire before they make it through. Hot wire is generally 6" off the ground along inside perimeter, but runs on the underside of the gate. From my limited cat understanding, it was looking longingly under the gate and then up & around at the gate/fence. Yeah, it saw my fowl, I am sure, and wanted a taste. The cat itslef was not a feral, given how well-kept it was. No collar, but immaculate white/gray fur and beautiful blue eyes. Beautiful creature.

I am not a cat hater, though I am more a dog-guy and I have seen the results of cats killing and mutilating for fun. So, I call out to the cat. If it is docile & friendly enough for me to pick up I figured I would take it to city animal control. If it was chipped, owners get a call & a fine. If not, it is beautiful and healthy enough to have a good chance at adoption. First call, it just looks at me and gives me the gimlet eye. Hmm. I call again and squat down. If it won;t come, maybe I can distract it and get it to move along. And I will set up my live traps again. Instead, it takes off like a shot diagonally into the street.

I am thinking where I am going to set my live traps when I hear a large-displacement 4-cylinder engine roar/rev up and as the cat gets 3/4 of the way across the street the small crossover SUV overtakes, hits, and causes the cat to go thumpity-thump along the undercarriage. There is some movement afterwards, but the cat is done for. It is possible the driver did not see the cat, given the street configuration. Four-way stop, revving from turning into the street from a stop, and flat cat splat. Also possible driver saw the cat and revved up to catch it in the street. There was room enough to hit the brakes, too. In any case, the driver never slowed down.

I will still set up my live traps again with oily tunafish. I had thought that done after trapping all the loose cats and taking them to animal control. After the cats are gone I just catch possums, which I let go as they are supposed to feast on ticks and bugs. We are required by law to either kill or turn over to animal control all mammals we trap.

So, I know the location of a cat you can have for free. BYO spatula and tongs.

Opossums kill chickens and eat eggs

Dag nabbit. We have relocated possums before, guess I can do so again. One year, I kept catching them after I removed the bait. They would just wander in and wait around for me to release them.

I love a story with a happy ending!

(My apologies to cat-loving members. I have no problems with keeping a cat in the house, but they have no place in the out-of-doors.)

They travel a long way to come back home. I know some folks that haul raccoons 4 or 5 miles and never seem to get rid of them. Same with relocating problem hogs or alligators or bears.

Possums either get a .22 CB short massage behind the ear, or a swimming lesson while they're still inside the trap. No returns yet- - - -I guess the Pet Sematary around here isn't taking any more clients.

People used to like dumping their unwanted animals on our property. Anymore of it don't belong at our place it dies. Not enough time in the day to mess with unwanted animals. Would like to shoot the people that dump them instead.

Hahahaha, what a great story

Shoot 'em all put in the road and run over it . Cause of death will be deemed vehicular and no one the wiser.

I heartily agree Sir.

I’m animal control at my house.

One year I earned the title, 'Great White Possum Catcher." Not HUNTER because all I did was catch them in a live trap. But I think I managed to pick up and relocate the entire possum clan.