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Yall have any barn/permanent outdoor cats?

Posted on 3/17/23 at 6:47 pm
Posted by tadman
Member since Jun 2020
3761 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 6:47 pm
I'm on a few acres in south Alabama and considering getting a few mousers to keep the rodents and snakes away. I don't want houst cats, litter boxes, etc...

Is it realistic to put food out 1-2x/week and let them live off the land? When I go to the camp for 1-3 weeks can the neighbor do the same? Our dogs have a self-watering bucket so that shouldn't be a problem.
Posted by deeprig9
Unincorporated Ozora, Georgia
Member since Sep 2012
63784 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 6:47 pm to
DOn't do it.
Posted by Lambdatiger1989
NOLA
Member since Jan 2012
2288 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 8:04 pm to
Just make sure they are fixed.
Posted by 1897
Member since Apr 2018
644 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 8:20 pm to
I have had a handful since living in the country. They come and go as people drop them off in the road and coyotes eat them. They are resilient creatures. If we don't feed them or water them for a little while, they're OK. If we do, they're OK. We just get a round of shots and fix the ones that decide to stick around
Posted by Yewkindewit
Near Birmingham, Alabama
Member since Apr 2012
19999 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 8:29 pm to
I was able to get 8 dermal cats for a friend’s asphalt plant location. He wanted them as mousers and also pets, so to speak. Coyotes got all of them within 2 months. I had built a 3 level house for them but they preferred to roam.
Posted by highcotton2
Alabama
Member since Feb 2010
9371 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 9:46 pm to
quote:

Is it realistic to put food out 1-2x/week and let them live off the land?


Don’t know, but I bet the raccoons will really appreciate you doing that.
Posted by Purple Spoon
Hoth
Member since Feb 2005
17747 posts
Posted on 3/17/23 at 10:32 pm to
We have two that are fixed. We went through a few before we found these two salty frickers. They definitely have helped with rats and squirrels in lofts.

Get them fixed. Nothing worse than a bunch of feral inbred cats shitting and pissing all in your sheds.
Posted by Outdoorreb
Member since Oct 2019
2504 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 11:43 am to
I have 2. 1 I thought was dead because I never see him, but I saw him on camera about a week ago. I feed them about 2 times a week.
Posted by BFIV
Virginia
Member since Apr 2012
7700 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 12:03 pm to
quote:

to keep the rodents and snakes away


Snakes will take care of the rodents. Cats will take care of your native quail and songbirds. Don't do it.
Posted by Taxman2010
In The Woods
Member since Jan 2022
524 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 12:18 pm to
I have one that showed up as a kitten. We had to trap it to take it into the vet to be fixed. Vet called us after we dropped it off and said “that cat is basically a bobcat,” apparently it tried to get his arse when he took out of the trap. It leaves us snakes and rats on the porch periodically.
Posted by Flanders
Bham
Member since May 2008
9842 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 2:00 pm to
We have one outdoor cat due to moles and chipmunks.

Neighbors cat would hunt and push all the rodents to our yard. These suckers were burrowed all under my concrete pads. Since we got the cat we’ve had no more tunneling under the house.
Posted by pdubya76
Sw Ms
Member since Mar 2012
5945 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 2:10 pm to
We have 2 mama cats that are supposed to hunt. They are getting older and just lay on the porch. Get some and let them hunt for food. When ours were younger they kept all the critters away from the house.
Posted by JoeBobRuby
Member since Sep 2005
5920 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 3:05 pm to
quote:

Snakes will take care of the rodents. Cats will take care of your native quail and songbirds. Don't do it.


This is the right answer.
Posted by chinese58
NELA. after 30 years in Dallas.
Member since Jun 2004
30321 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 4:49 pm to
Lowe;s in Ruston has a fat Calico cat out where they have plants. I noticed the tip of one ear had been bitten off. Other than that he looked healthy for a professional.

When I worked on a NELA hog farm, we had a 22 pistol out by the grain silo. I always enjoyed shooting the big rats out there.
Posted by iwantacooler
Member since Aug 2017
2152 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 7:53 pm to
quote:

I noticed the tip of one ear had been bitten off.


Cats that have been trapped, fixed, then released, will have the tip of one ear cut off to signify that it’s been fixed. Maybe that’s what happened?
Posted by Outdoorreb
Member since Oct 2019
2504 posts
Posted on 3/18/23 at 9:03 pm to
quote:

Cats will take care of your native quail


WTF are quail?
Posted by El Segundo Guy
SE OK
Member since Aug 2014
9550 posts
Posted on 3/19/23 at 9:04 am to
I have 2 cats here for my barns and property. The female never leaves about a 5 acre area. The male will wander say a 50 are area. Both are fixed.

I have a few coyotes around but I do my best to kill them. Every blue moon I see a bobcat. I've always wondered what kind of predators the cats have ever had to dodge.

I do let them inside every once in a while (the female is laying in my lap right now) but they love it outside.

They kill mice, moles, snakes, skinks and baby squirrels (I love it when they get the squirrels). They so get the occasional bird but it's more than worth the trade off.
This post was edited on 3/19/23 at 9:12 am
Posted by El Segundo Guy
SE OK
Member since Aug 2014
9550 posts
Posted on 3/19/23 at 9:23 am to
Also, I have no litter boxes for when they do come in. I am 100% against a litter box in the house and if they needed one in the house, they would never step foot inside.

Somehow they've learned and never mess in the house; I think it's because of my bulldog and them watching her has trained them.
Posted by BFIV
Virginia
Member since Apr 2012
7700 posts
Posted on 3/19/23 at 10:07 am to
quote:

WTF are quail?


Food for free roaming cats.
Posted by dstone12
Texan
Member since Jan 2007
29965 posts
Posted on 3/19/23 at 4:59 pm to
We found two yellow ones on the road and let them live in the barn. Then we got two white one and the yellows disappeared.


But the new ones are docile and kill mice.

My kids love them.
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