This is what it looks like behind my house right now?

[Platefire]

When they cut it and bailed it, all the field mice ran in my storage sheds. Been catching them every night since they cut the hay. Oh the joys of living in Louisiana Redneck territory!!

[sluckey]

Hawks usually have a field day too!

[Willabe]

Hawks usually have a field day too!

Ha, don't forget the owls, foxes and snakes.   

[EL34]

Feed those predators

[Platefire]

There is no continuous water source in the neck of the woods where I live and rain fed branches dry up in the summer. Right now were having a drought and haven't had any rain to speak of in two months. So the animals around here is hurting. I have what they call a "hoot" sewer system that supposedly releases purified water waste---I haven't tried it  anyway when it gets dry like it is now the animals come up to drink out of my Hoot system drain. Platefire

[EL34]

Cool, sounds like the water is being put to a good use 

[kagliostro]

When they cut it and bailed it, all the field mice ran in my storage sheds.

It's time for a few domestic cats (and remember not to give them too much to eat) 

Franco

[shooter]

a few domestic cats

mine are mostly feral, down to 3 from a high last winter of 7.  the coyote's like cats, and my neighbors chickens.  My kestrel population is up this year so my song birds are down

[Platefire]

The coyotes got my last cat 10 years ago. He was an outside cat (Russian Blue) that I called rat. What happened is they clear cut the woods adjacent to my house. They caught him going across the clear cut without a tree to climb. I heard it when it happened one nite s whole pack howling loudly and then it suddenly stopped--the victim was killed!! I hoped it wasn't rat but after that I never saw him again. Platefire

[shooter]

Russian Blue

Had the same breed, and indoor-outdoor, called him putz.  I was laying shings on the house one day and this cat just climbed up the ladder like it was nbd, came over nudged me.  Great breed, not sure his ending but most of the farmers around here ain't big on cats.

[Platefire]

I hadn't ever allowed myself to get too attached to an animal but with rat we were a match and it just happened anyway. I use to do what I call "Fight" with him, I would put a leather glove on my right hand and make a swipe at him and he would attack that glove biting and scratching with a vingence. That seemed to do him good. After he got the fight out of his system he was gentle. There was occations he attacked me unaware before I had a chance to get my glove and I got a little scratched up--but I didn't mind. I thought that was good prep for his defense in his outside life. I know he put up a fight on that final struggle.

[shooter]

get too attached

Yup, until I bought the place I'm at now(since '90) I was just a dog guy, exercised my basset by letting him tree cats, but now, cats, dogs, ducks, groundhogs, coons, possums, squirrels and  birds all get GOOD treatment on "the funny farm"  Putz stood out, he got into it with a coon, found the dead coon but no cat for 5 days, when he showed up he had lacerations needing vet care, paid the bill and he made it a year or so more, eating up the fact he reached indoor-outdoor status!

[Ritchie200]

The "Funny Farm"!  Ha!  That's our place.  We have a full time female barn cat that is about 14 and looks about 4.  She keeps the vermin out of the horse feed.  The stuff she has killed, from field rats that were her size, to 4ft copperheads (funny thing is we have king snakes and black snakes all over and she leaves them alone - good cat!), to opossums, to cornered and snarling coons - and she is a fairly small cat.  We have adopted several other cats that have shown up, running up a few vet bills in the process.....  Our original girl just gives them a sideways glance and they cower.  She has been fixed but I've seen her go after and chase toms twice her size with significant amounts of the toms hair flying in the process.  She is definitely the female Bruce Lee of kitty cats!  I don't know who will keep the peace when her time comes, she will be hard to replace....
Jim

[Platefire]

I presently don't have any pets other than wild animals. Several years back I use to have a fox come up and catch bugs underneath our security light during a bad drought---guess he was hard up. I started feeding him dog food. I would come out at night and play my mandolin for him while he ate. He would let me get within about 20 feet of him but no closer. This went on a couple of months and he finally disappear. Guess he got tired of my mando playing

My neighbor has a Basset Hound that comes over and visits but I haven't been treating him too well lately. He's bad about coming up behind you and stealing your cap or a tool and running off with it. I've been telling him to get gone but he's kind of hard headed and I haven't got the heart to hit him.

Caught a Possum in my fig tree a while back and much to my amazement he didn't run off but stood deathly still in the tree and played possum. I would put my hand on him and he wouldn't move or bat an eye. I would walk away and come back latter and he would still be there. That's the first time I ever saw a possum play possum, they usually take off. Platefire