Originally Posted by
dragonmist
We would be overrun with squirrels, rats and mice if it weren't for my cats. Squirrels and rats are more of a threat to wild game birds by stealing eggs and chicks. Not that they breed pheasants under broodies or in incubators any more. They bring in young stock from France. ... which is how Fowl Pest was brought in a couple of years back. That could have devastated the poultry / egg farms over here. [I'm country born and bred, and my family are Landowners in Ireland, and the USA, so I do know a bit about the subject.]
The retired gamekeeper next door believes that no-one should be allowed to keep cats on the Estate as they might attack pheasants. He says he once saw a cat jump on a pheasant and try to kill it. One Feral cat attacks a pheasant in 40 years, so all cats will do it? You might as well say all dogs should be shot because 1 dog bites a child.
At 8 weeks old my kittens are introduced to the rooster. He just chases them. If they still show too much interest I put them in a pen with Gnasty Gnorc who is my best broody hen. She batters them with her wings and pecks them. I don't let her really hurt them, just frighten them. None of my adult cats will go in the chicken pen when the birds are out. Tackle a pheasant... not likely is it? He says cats can't be trained. That's why they are easier to house train than dogs! Smudge would retrieve a ball for you. His favourite game was to push a ball down the stairs, chase after it, and take it back to the top of the stairs and send it down again. A very noisy game. He liked me to throw the ball up to him at the top of the stairs, and he would send it back down to me. A lady near here trains cats and dogs for movies. She reckons cats learn quicker than dogs, and remember what they've been taught. Dogs have to have the training reinforced constantly.
All the Keepers were taught by old Keepers, who were taught by old Keepers ad infinitum. Blaming cat predation used to be the lazy keepers excuse for a poor show of pheasants., so the slaughter goes on. We have had 10 years of a keeper who didn't shoot cats. The new one does, but we didn't know that till the cat crawled home full of shot. The Beat Keeper is using the old excuse because the pheasant numbers are down. We have heard the poachers out here at least a dozen times in the last few weeks. Night vision goggles and a high powered air rifle are the favourite tools, though I know of one old boy who relies on his own night vision and is a deadly shot with a catapult. He only nabs one occasionally for his own use, so I mind my own business. I think he's in his 80's so good luck to him.. There were at least 5 men up in the copse opposite the house Sunday Midnight. The shortage is caused by 2 legged predators, not cats. At one time I would have phoned in and reported it. Not any more I wouldn't.
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