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It's bad enough when I'm brought dead field mice, worse still when they're still alive and I spend all evening on my hands and knees trying to catch one and put it outside. Now my cats have upped their game (no pun intended) and are now bringing in freshly murdered baby rabbits. We've not had them in the garden before but now there seems to be lots of them. (why?)

I'm upset at the cats and tell them off but OH says it's nature and I'd be more upset if all my veggies were trashed. Should I really praise the cats for saving the veggies?

Also what do I do with the corpses?

marshlander wrote:It's bad enough when I'm brought dead field mice, worse still when they're still alive and I spend all evening on my hands and knees trying to catch one and put it outside. Now my cats have upped their game (no pun intended) and are now bringing in freshly murdered baby rabbits. We've not had them in the garden before but now there seems to be lots of them. (why?)

I'm upset at the cats and tell them off but OH says it's nature and I'd be more upset if all my veggies were trashed. Should I really praise the cats for saving the veggies?

Also what do I do with the corpses?

Count your blessings and praise the cats to no end. A few rabbits will completely destroy your garden. Even one rabbit in the garden is a disaster. This year my main vegetable garden was fenced with chicken wire all 170 feet as protection against rabbits. Dig a hole about two feet deep in the garden and buy the dead rodents.

Cats are ruthless wildlife killers, it is what they do. I hate the fact that mine kills birds, but I can handle that because she has kept the mice at bay and has killed a few rabbits in her time. It all balances out, nature is good at that.

There are loads around at the mo it is just that time of year. they are growing up and looking for places to live, it turns out that your garden is not a good place to settle down.

The corpses can be buried, but that can lead to foxes digging them back up, or just place them in the bin.

Sorry to have to correct you folks, but cats are not murderers, that is something only humans are capable of, nor can you really call them killers in a human term, they are hunters pure and simple and even when they appear to be playing with an animal they are infactsharpening their hunting skills. As Human's we should never define animals by our standards, as they still live in harnmony with their environments we do not.

And as Durgan says better a few rabbits than all your vegetables, our cat sandy can sit in the middle of our chickens and ignore them but he is a dedicated rabbit, mice and rat hunter, yay for my garden and feed stores.

SusieGee wrote:Dear Marshlander

Would you please ship your cat (s) to me first class post immediately as we have a rabbit explosion here at the moment and there are more baby rabbits and big b*****s than you can shake a stick at, and I would welcome a good hunter with open arms

Regards

Susie

Sorry, I am first in line for the cats.

I wish my cat had dispatched the baby rabbits we had.... would have saved me from doing it.

Cat's are excellent pest controllers and IMO you should praise your cat no end.

I don't like it when my cat kills birds (especially the pretty ones) but she gets lots of praise for killing mice and other small rodents.

We got her to control a mouse problem we had, and she has always done her job (except the baby rabbits)

ive got two cats like that, you are lucky, rabbits will munch everything in their sights, dont worry bout it, while they look cute, they are pests

Agreed, our Cat is great at catching Rabbits, and will eat them as well, which I think is best all round. You just get left with the two furry feet attached to the backbone ala Itchy & Scratchy.

my old cat is twenty this year so has given up hunting rabbits..he still keeps the barn stables and tackroom mouse free though!!
He used to catch loads baby rabbits and leave us the present of rabbit trousers as we used to call them! he also bought a pheasant home once. hes curled up in the hay barn at the mo, refuses to come in the house in the summer when the logburner isnt lit! sensible chap!