I have a "Hunter " in the barn

[Johnch]

Well around mid morning I decided to try and kill a ground hog that had dug a hole next to the barn

So I grabbed the Marlin in 32 20 and a couple of rounds

Well the darn ground hog was not out when I looked behind the barn

So I sat a bale of straw down to sit on and 2 in front of me to rest the rifle on and sat back to enjoy nature

Well after about 2 min ....here comes Fred
A 5 month old Kitten , from one of the barn cats ...spoiled is a nice way to say he likes people and expects you to pet him

Well he crawled up in my lap and got his ears and belly rubbed

After 10 or so min ...he decides to start hunting
So he stalks some grasshoppers , catches one for me and starts back to hunting

A little while later I see the ground hog coming out of it's hole
But so dose Fred ....Now Fred is a large kitten for 5 months old ....but he is way smaller than the ground hog
But but he must think he is huge as he starts slowly stalking the ground hog

Well I just had to see how far Fred would go ...so I didn't shoot
Fred stalks to with in 5' and then charges
Well the ground hog didn't see Fred coming , so Fred got to jump on it's back
I am praying that Fred dose not get killed or hurt as the ground hog races back into it's hole with Fred hanging on

Well after a min ....here comes Fred walking back to me
No cuts or bite marks ....just some ground hog hair in his mouth

I don't think Fred hurt the ground hog ...but Fred now must think he is King of the Barn Yard after taking on a ground hog 3 or 4 times as big as he is

Well Fred will have to find another ground hog to kill as this afternoon the one Fred tried to get was back out ...but this time I pulled the trigger
1 less hole digging pest

Oh well Fred will have to find something else to hunt ....I just hope it is more his size

I just had to pass this along ...as I almost fell over laughing watching Fred try and catch a ground hog

John

[HarryT]

That would have got you $10,000 on America's Funniest Videos.

[John Allen]

I would have liked to see a video of that i bet it was funny as can be.

[Doc Highwall]

Thanks for the laugh and give Fred and belly scratch for me.

[wddodge]

That's an awesome kitty!! Fred deserves some Chicken of the Sea for supper..

Denny

[prsman23]

Fred is awesome!!!

[jcwit]

Excellent story, many thanks for sharing.

Give Fred an extra measure of treats and a Medal.

[CastingFool]

Too bad you don't have a video of the kitten stalking the woodchuck. We had an outside cat that cornered a woodchuck against an inside corner formed by the breezeway and the house. I didn't think the cat could actually kill the woodchuck, so I stepped in and shot the woodchuck with my .22 pistol

[richhodg66]

We haven't had an outdoor cat for a long time, but the last one we did have was a small female, sweet as could be to everybody, but the deadliest thing on four feet to any critter smaller than she was.

Cats are some serious predators. All ours live inside and are as domesticated as they can be, but that predatory spark is still in there and shows itself sometimes.

[smoked turkey]

I think I detect a little swagger from Fred and rightly so. Good job telling the story. I could almost see the story as you told it. Must of been some ride for Fred on the back of that critter as it headed for its hole!

[swamp]

Need a picture of this great hunter.

[OptimusPanda]

Now that's a good kitty! +1 on the picture though. The internet loves cat pictures.

[TXGunNut]

Great story! My last cat was a barely tame feral cat born in the back of my pickup to a feral cat who took a liking to me after a GF doctored her up a bit. They're gone now (including the GF) but another feral cat drops by 2-3 times a week for a little handout. Haven't gotten a good look at it but I know (hope) it's a mouser as "my" previous cats were.

[MaryB]

Now that would have been fun to watch! Groundhog stew for supper? They aren't bad eating.

[buckwheatpaul]

Outstanding story! We have a very small feral cat that my wife said just jumped into the truck with her when she went to the feed store....she thinks she is queen of the mountain and very few critters are safe when she sets hers sights on them.....like Fred she is cheap entertainment!

[salty dog]

That sounds like it would have been worth watching. A long time ago I got to see one of our cats see a chicken for the first time. To a cat, bird = prey, so it headed straight for it. But it wasn't as brave as Fred, the closer it got the slower it went as the bird "grew". Never did attack and the chicken never ran away. That was one puzzled cat.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Good story. Years ago we had an old calico barn cat. It kept the small varmits under control and would leave the dead proof outside the milk house door so we could see the proof. One day after pheasant hunting and losing a rooster to a bad shot we finished milking and opened the door to see a dead rooster pheasant, still warm, and the calico sitting by it and seeming to say "see what I caught"! We cleaned it and it did have some #6 shot in it.Robert

[Geezer in NH]

Our Calico "Candice" was a great mouser sweet kitty we would have replaced her but my DR said get rid of the cat and your allergies will be gone. I told him I leave before her. She left us sadly when she was 17 years old. Sweet little kitty.

Now we have a Jack Russell terrorist female called Babe. She performs the cats job +. We have seen her biting a black bear on the back end chasing it away from HER chickens. Yes her chickens, she is their buddy's and protects them with her life.

She also sleeps with us and keeps my legs from cramping at night by being belly in against them (under the cover of course).

[Mytmousemalibu]

That cat is too cute! Taking on a whistle pig!

We used to have a good size tomcat stray we took in a long time ago. Just a super friendly kitty and just loved attention! He would pace the house and cry for someone if he couldn't find us. He was one heck of a hunter too. Mice and rats were childs play for him. He loved killing squirrels and eating the brains for some reason. He'd get many on the ground but he has given chase up the trees too, and caught them! Not bad considering that is the limb rats domain more than a cat's! No small critter was safe... Bunnies, snakes, rodents, birds, etc. That was his territory! He was more than proud to show you his kills too!

[MaryB]

My cat Oreo has to be in the room I am in if I am in the house. Friends heard me say "In here Oreo" one night and asked why. I told them that plaintive cry he just made means he is lost and needs to find where I am in the house. He comes running then finds a spot to lay where he can see me. He was abandoned three times so he has separation issues.

[MtGun44]

Good story, thanks for sharing!

[Mytmousemalibu]

My cat Oreo has to be in the room I am in if I am in the house. Friends heard me say "In here Oreo" one night and asked why. I told them that plaintive cry he just made means he is lost and needs to find where I am in the house. He comes running then finds a spot to lay where he can see me. He was abandoned three times so he has separation issues.

That sounds just like our cat Buddy that I spoke of a couple posts back. He was also a large black/white cat which is ironic since yours is named Oreo, I assume the same colors! Buddy made this loud and pitiful cry when he was looking for a family member. He loved to snuggle & rub on people. I miss the little guy :cry: He's been gone for a long time but I'll never forget him.

[bullet maker 57]

Our cat is deadly on anything smaller than he is. We find all sorts of critters on the walk or porch as proof of his hunting prowess. Then he comes inside and wants to lay in a lap and sleep. We call him Sir Sleeps A lot.

[bbs70]

We have 3 dogs
A mutt ,Fred
Male husky, Bogie
Female Husky, Sadie .
They are outside dogs, we have a fenced in yard that is attached to the house and garage.
I leave the garage side door open for them for when it rains.

I went outside this morning to get them fresh drinking water and found 9 dead mice in one of the 2 gal buckets we use to water the dogs.
I have on occasion found 1 dead mouse in their drinking water but this time there were 9
There is no way they climbed up a plastic bucket or have fallen in since there is nothing around for them to fall from.
And I don't think they all committed mass suicide.

I knew there were a couple of mice in the garage, but didn't pay all that much attention to them.
Fred is too fat & lazy to catch anything, plus he'd probably eat it.
Bogie is older & has a "I don't care attitude"
Now there is Sadie, 4 yrs old and into everything, she rules the yard.
I've even come home from work and found her playing with a garden snake.

We will be moving to Missouri as soon as our house is sold .
The house is out in the country and I am dreading to see what Sadie comes up with next.:roll:

[MaryB]

Yup he is a tuxedo kitty and sleeps up against me most of the night unless I am tossing and turning to much. He has to rub and be petted often. I have trained him to be gentle(he gets to excited and can make my hands hurt by pushing to hard), and to put his paw on my palm and pull my hand down to be petted. Hold my hand flat he reached up and does it.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd248/maryalanab/IMG_20140704_2136250011_zps3fefhvxt.jpg


That sounds just like our cat Buddy that I spoke of a couple posts back. He was also a large black/white cat which is ironic since yours is named Oreo, I assume the same colors! Buddy made this loud and pitiful cry when he was looking for a family member. He loved to snuggle & rub on people. I miss the little guy :cry: He's been gone for a long time but I'll never forget him.

[FergusonTO35]

I have three outdoor cats. The female calico is a hunter extraordinaire, the male and female ragdolls just whine to be fed. I love 'em all!

[bikerbeans]

Wife and daughter have 8 barn cats, of which half of them are killers. One of my chores in the morning is to feed the horses and remove the dead bodies. Amazes me that an old cat can catch and kill a full grown rabbit.

BB

[richhodg66]

Kinda funny, wife and I are cat people, but went several years with only one, exclusively indoor cat. Last January, she got a kitten from a coworker which is huge now and not even full grown. About a month ago, a lady brought a six week old kitten in to give to one of her coworkers for a barn cat, you can guess how that panned out. So now we have a house full of cats again.

This morning I pull into the yard and there was a cat on the edge of the woods. We live on 18 acres out in the sticks. I called to him and he came up to me after about 10 minutes of calling and coaxing. Very friendly, obviously has belonged to someone. Looks like he belongs to us now, but he will be an exclusively outside cat since he still has claws and is intact. It's been a few years since I had an outside cat and it was always in town. I'm gonna have to figure out how to keep coyotes from eating him and also how to give him some shelter and warmth in Winter outside.

How did we become cat magnets all of a sudden?

[MaryB]

A 5 gallon bucket on its side with a small square door in the lid. Put it on a hay bale then stack bales around it leaving a little hols for the cat to get in. Will be coyote proof and warm. I toss old towels and rags inside as bedding. I have several outdoor strays that people dumped off. Most will let me pet them once or twice then run. With 2 inside already I leave them outside!

[richhodg66]

This onewas obviously well socialized at one time, absolutely loves human attention. I'm about to break down and get him fixed and declawed and bring him inside.

Thanks for the idea, we found a similar idea of using a plastic tote with a syrofoam cooler inside it and then cutting a hole for the cat to get in and out. Weather is real mild right now, I just put a cardboard box with an old blanket on its side on the porch and he likes it, but I'll have to arrange something better before it gets cold.

[jcwit]

We have 2 6/8 week old kittens that the mother left at our doorstep, wife says she likely didn't have enough milk, me? I have no idea. They sure are cute tho. We bought a covered litter box with swing door, put some bedding in it and filled it with dry straw, they're snug as a bug in a rug on the porch. growing like weeds. The mother comes around every day, just to check on them I think. Can't touch the mother at all, but the kittens snuggle right down when you pick them up.

[Pee Wee]

Reminds me of my old days in N.C. Shooting ground hogs, good story

[RogerDat]

Fred just proves you can't stop a fellow that won't quit! Odds be damned, you are going down.

[JonnyReb]

What a great thread, love the story of Fred and all the rest of the cat tales.
My own "Jack" is against my right foot as I type, he's a special fella. Lenny the 18 lb wonder cat is out by the chicken coop and our ancient 20 year old "Roo" is asleep near the woodstove. Cats are awesome..

[TXGunNut]

Tonight I finally met the cat that's been hanging around the last several weeks. Pretty skittish but seemed a bit curious about me. Saw it hanging around tonight and realized I hadn't bribed my pest control contractor lately, lol.