Back in the autumn I hinted that I had been keeping a tally of what Maigret and Poirot had been catching in the garden. Some people on the Wild about Britain site chose to interpret that as meaning that I was a "sicko pervert who gets her rocks off on this sort of thing" - such charming types you do meet in cyberworld. Actually we did it to see what sort of impact having two young and fit cats (as opposed to one elderly and cantankerous feline) would have on the wildlife population of the garden, particularly the sparrows, which are numerous here.
We kept a tally per cat through the year, counting only those kills that we saw our cats with the body for, and with lizards, it had to be the body rather than the tail, which detaches very easily. Maigret was the more effective hunter - Poirot is not built for stealth - but Poirot got the bigger prey, and still yearns to catch and eat her own chicken. Fortunately our neighbour regards this ambition as a joke and doesn't get cross when she tries. We take the same attitude when she goes for ours, as we know from experience that once she gets pecked by one of the chickens, she will leave them alone.
Between the two of them, they have got 27 lizards, a nest of 5 baby robins, 4 baby blackbirds, 2 sparrows, 3 pigeons and 22 mice. The robins were a shame, but we have suitably pruned the tree the nest was in with the hope of stopping the same thing next year. The blackbirds had been left in the rhubarb patch on the ground - any cat would have got them. The sparrows were babies chucked out of one of the 8 nests on the side of the house - they could well have been dead or dying anyway, and certainly given each nest had at least 2 if not 3 broods this year, it was not a major impact.
The toad fought back - so that doesn't count, and he is still patrolling the garden when not hibernating. The hedgehog got jumped on a few times but again is fine. I have no qualms about the mice or pigeons - both are vermin around here, and as I have said before, a good mouser is well regarded in this rural community. So much so that next door's cat, Nenette of the kittens, who is also a formidable ratter, has been rented out in exchange for firewood, to rid a local small holder of their rat and mouse problem. We gather she is having a wonderful time!
Apologies for lack of photos this time - some issue with Typepad and my computer not quite getting it together today, although there are nice pictures on the links in general.
An update! I have won in the battle for getting photos on, so here are the two savage killers, ready for the next victim.
Whatever the motives, data like that supplied is useful, if only to give the green welly brigade some hard and fast numbers with which to complain about the devastation caused by domestic cats.
I seem to remember a cat at 10 Downing Street that was noted for it's ability at getting rats and mice, which at the time were a problem. So much better than poison or traps, and I see you have chickens too, so a good mouser in the neighborhood must be a boon, (when not being rented out)
Posted by: Derek Potts | 02 January 2009 at 04:25 PM