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Cat v Grey Squirrel (1 Viewer)

Andy Adcock

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Cyprus
I watched from my kitchen window yesterday as a cat, made a real effort to catch a Grey Squirrel, has anyone seen this happen, do cats kill Squirrels?

I turned out to be quite funny, the Squirrel, bolted under a gate and proceeded to sit, very calmly, eating on the ground, almost face to face within 20cm of the cat but from behind the safety of a metal fence, the cast was driven mad by this and was pacing up and down as the Squirrel seemed to mock it.

When the cat realised that it could also get under the gate to go after the Squirrel, it just ran up the tree and looked down at the hapless cat with seemingly no concern at all.

Not a cat playing with a mouse but a Squirrel, playing with a cat!


A
 
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My brother's current cat brought in six in one Autumn and still catches them occasionally. He habitually took them under Dave's bed to eat and was distinctly miffed to have them taken away. Grey Squirrel is no problem to a skilled and determined adult cat.

John
 
My brother's current cat brought in six in one Autumn and still catches them occasionally. He habitually took them under Dave's bed to eat and was distinctly miffed to have them taken away. Grey Squirrel is no problem to a skilled and determined adult cat.

John

Cheers John, I thought that a GS may be a slightly more formidable prey item for a domestic moggy, clearly not.



A
 
Hi A

Got a black tom who often brings home squirrels and rabbits but the worst was when my wife and I were having lunch he came home with a very alive stoat which he released in our kitchen.

Nigel
 
Hi A

Got a black tom who often brings home squirrels and rabbits but the worst was when my wife and I were having lunch he came home with a very alive stoat which he released in our kitchen.

Nigel

I had no idea that cats would take Squirrels, shouldn't be surprised I guess.



A
 
How do domestic cats get along with Pine Martens?
It is likely that Pine Martens will be reintroduced in the Forest of Dean in the near future which could bring them into contact with the local cats.

Tony
 
How do domestic cats get along with Pine Martens?
It is likely that Pine Martens will be reintroduced in the Forest of Dean in the near future which could bring them into contact with the local cats.

Tony

PM are obviously bigger but I think that an aggressive cat would still take one? Not sure a domestic moggy would take one on but a hungry, feral cat might?

I hadn't realised how big Pine Marten actually is until I saw a stuffed one in Russia last year.




A
 
Here in the Ocala National Forest, where we spend our winters, there is a large population of E. Gray Squirrels, if I look out I can probably count a dozen in sight at any given time. They do a fair bit of damage, chewing wiring etc. moment. Locally here we have a feral cat problem. The cats are definitely hunting the squirrels. I've seen cats climb high into the oaks in pursuit of the squirrels. I don't know how many the cats actually catch but they definitely get some because I've seen the remains. Some people are cheering for the cats, some for the squirrels.
 
Foxes can be an issue for Pine Martens - in some parts of Scotland the shortage of breeding dens inaccessible to foxes is held to be a limiting factor - but I doubt cats are in the same league.

The Irish have shown that Pine Martens are highly effective against Grey Squirrels, so the sooner we have them in numbers across England and Wales the better.

Nothing will start to get a grip on the feral cat problem till we have Lynx in numbers.

John
 
Here in the forest, we have bobcats, coyotes and foxes, even the odd panther, but nothing seems to control the feral cats.
 
Some people here are trapping the cats, taking them to be spayed then releasing back into the area. I'm not optimistic but maybe it will help.
 
Some people here are trapping the cats, taking them to be spayed then releasing back into the area. I'm not optimistic but maybe it will help.

If you've taken the bother to catch them, despite the spaying, they should not be re-released to wreak havoc on local wildlife.

People in defence of cats should realise, that what you actually have with even roaming donmestic cats, are neighbourhoods with artificially high numbers of an apex predator which is not natures design.



A
 
If you've taken the bother to catch them, despite the spaying, they should not be re-released to wreak havoc on local wildlife.

People in defence of cats should realise, that what you actually have with even roaming donmestic cats, are neighbourhoods with artificially high numbers of an apex predator which is not natures design.



A
I agree but there is a whole organized effort to this. There area number of groups dedicated to catch, spay and release. Part of the rationale is that if one group of cats is removed then more will move in from domestic cats straying or being deliberately released. I really don't know the answer to the feral cat problem although I think that mistakenly kind people who feed the cats are adding to the problem.
 
It is an ecological tool to release non-viable individuals back into an ecosystem - flooding with non-breeders means that the chance of any young being produced by any mating is low as one or both partners are effectively infertile. Not quite sure how effective this would be with feral cats though (longevity, others moving into an area etc etc).

Going in with spades might be effective though (but not for the squeamish).
 
in Oz feral cats are possibly worse even than rabbits for ecological destruction. no-one except a few greenies that cannot read statistics and reports bats an eyelid if you kill them. i killed at least 80 in 20 yrs, probably 100. they reckon 7 small animals a day to a feral cat so i saved nearly a quarter of a million native lives plus the ones their progeny would have killed. i cant do the maths for cat reproduction but that would be a fair few more. and some feral dogs too. i kept dogs and a cat but breeding was controlled as was activity outside.

fewer feral cats in uk but they all kill birds at any opportunity. i watch them hunt daily, pampered pets that kill.
 
in Oz feral cats are possibly worse even than rabbits for ecological destruction. no-one except a few greenies that cannot read statistics and reports bats an eyelid if you kill them. i killed at least 80 in 20 yrs, probably 100. they reckon 7 small animals a day to a feral cat so i saved nearly a quarter of a million native lives plus the ones their progeny would have killed. i cant do the maths for cat reproduction but that would be a fair few more. and some feral dogs too. i kept dogs and a cat but breeding was controlled as was activity outside.

fewer feral cats in uk but they all kill birds at any opportunity. i watch them hunt daily, pampered pets that kill.

They don't even have to be feral, I'm a great believer that if you have a pet, you should invest in it's care and not just leave it to roam.

I personally cannot understand why a cat can shit all over the place and kill all manner of wildlife where a single dog, would be shot for the same.


A
 
They don't even have to be feral, I'm a great believer that if you have a pet, you should invest in it's care and not just leave it to roam.

I personally cannot understand why a cat can shit all over the place and kill all manner of wildlife where a single dog, would be shot for the same.
As a cat owner, I agree. :cat:

well... humans do it and they're meant to have minds, souls even
Unfortunately I agree here too. :-C
 
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