Living with carnivores

[summer_jackel]

Woken up at a little after five in the morning by happy, smacking, nomming sounds, I regretfully groaned my way out of bed in time to catch Magic finishing off the last bits of a rat.

I'm a little torn, here. (Not as much as the rat was, though. heh). On one paw, way to go and fulfill the reason we domesticated your species, old lady. I love that Magic does not act 13. I mean, she sleeps quite a lot, but that's kind of redundant since she's a *cat*, and really she's still about as active as she was when she was three. I continue to miss Fenris daily, and a lot. I'd as soon the remainder of my long-term companions stick around for awhile, ok?

On the other paw, there was a *rat* in my *house* for her to get. I'm pretty certain the ol' girl was not inspired to go hunting in the wilds of outside, or even under the house, in the middle of the night in a rainstorm. So yes, rats. I believe that the appropriate response here is "Do Not Want." But hey, I am protected by a stalwart lady-mouser and a homicidal psycho jungle cat, what's to worry about, right?

I'm a lot more concerned about the ants moving back inside for the winter. It happens every year. Sigh.

On the other other paw? I absolutely adore autumn. I love the storms. Oh yeah, Nature, bring it on.

Comments

[oldewolfe.livejournal.com]

"(Not as much as the rat was, though. heh)"

Ba-dum! TISH!

I haven't had a single mouse or rat since a snake moved in. I hear rodents will avoid anywhere they smell a snake has been. This was good, since neither of the cats I had knew what to do with.. well, *any* prey animal. 9_9

Ants

[silicondragon.livejournal.com]

We had a rat in the apartment once. A regular visitor through the toilet. Two floors above ground level. Had to poison it, then kill it manually. Not an easy job for spoiled city dwellers.

Ants are a bitch to get rid of. What I found helpful is to disrupt their chemical communication system; without it, they are just chaotically behaving individual units instead of a clever superorganism. Hygienic products with high content of menthol turned out to be somewhat effective. Experiment with what you have, spill it on their trails, find what turns the organized behavior into government-grade chaos. Generally, to achieve success, your house has to be more difficult for the ants than your neighbour's house (a general statement that applies to burglar alarms and door locks as well).

[troubleagain.livejournal.com]

Uck. Nomming sounds in the middle of the night *automatically* equals Do Not Want. I'm protected by three ferocious mouser/lizarder/birder critters.