Corn crib and Kit the cat.

[Gary Mitchell]

We milked back when I was a kid, still at home. One of my jobs was to scoop a wagon load of corn on once a week for when the feed grinder man, Hugh McCafferty, came around. We had slat sided cribs on either side of an alley in the end of one barn. I emptied them before starting on the bigger snow fence crib.

I had a pet barn cat that I called Kit the cat. Kit followed me around like a danged puppy would, which was kinda unusual. Anyway, when I would get down toward the end of the crib, mice and the occasional rat would make a mad dash from the diminishing corn pile toward the exit door I was scooping out of. Kit would wait about halfway to the door and when a mouse would go tearing by he'd nail it. Kit would pile up several but when a rat would shoot by he'd just ignore it like nothing was there, even little ones got a pass. If it had a tail longer than a mouse it got a free pass from old Kit. I reckon somewhere along the way old Kit had been educated on rats. gm

 

[Non-farmer]

Always love a good cat story. I have been addicted to those varmints for nearly 50 years now.

 

[Hayfarmer]

I had a small dog at one time, part chiwawa(sp) We sledded our bales in piles and when you got to the bottom ones generally there were mice underneath. Dog would wait and grab a mouse and shake it hard, kill it and go on to the next. I don't think she ate them just didn't like them I guess. She was also hard on garter snakes.

 

[Steve in VA]

I had a small dog at one time, part chiwawa(sp) We sledded our bales in piles and when you got to the bottom ones generally there were mice underneath. Dog would wait and grab a mouse and shake it hard, kill it and go on to the next. I don't think she ate them just didn't like them I guess. She was also hard on garter snakes.

My first Border Collie was death on mice. However, once she waited while hay was being moved because she KNEW a treat awaited. Last bale and she darted in, jumped back, looked at me, and spat out a toad. It took a while to wash her mouth clear of toad.

 

[Tgrasher]

Somehow, we had a black and white Persian cat, with one leg cut off, that had kittens every year. I remember her dragging a large rat across the drive, from the barn, to her kittens in a garage. The rat was half her size.

 

[dcarp]

We milked back when I was a kid, still at home. One of my jobs was to scoop a wagon load of corn on once a week for when the feed grinder man, Hugh McCafferty, came around. We had slat sided cribs on either side of an alley in the end of one barn. I emptied them before starting on the bigger snow fence crib.

I had a pet barn cat that I called Kit the cat. Kit followed me around like a danged puppy would, which was kinda unusual. Anyway, when I would get down toward the end of the crib, mice and the occasional rat would make a mad dash from the diminishing corn pile toward the exit door I was scooping out of. Kit would wait about halfway to the door and when a mouse would go tearing by he'd nail it. Kit would pile up several but when a rat would shoot by he'd just ignore it like nothing was there, even little ones got a pass. If it had a tail longer than a mouse it got a free pass from old Kit. I reckon somewhere along the way old Kit had been educated on rats. gm

When I was growing up, Mom had a big Tomcat. One morning he came home dragging a full sized rabbit.

 

[stevieb49829]

When I was growing up, Mom had a big Tomcat. One morning he came home dragging a full sized rabbit.

That happened here, once. When I yelled at the cat, he dropped the bunny, and it hopped away through the fence to safety. I got a really mean look from my old tomcat on that one. steve

 

[Gambles]

As a kid growing up on a dairy farm, we always had cats. The dairy inspector didn’t like that fact, but it was a necessity to keep rodents at bay. I always remember going out during the cold winter nights with the Daisy Red Ryder and shooting the sparrows that would sit pretty tight. The cats learned real quick to follow me around to get a free, easy meal.

 

[trackrat]

when i was maybe 10 or 12 we had a skunk that lived in our hay barn big old skunk not a civet cat we baled a lot of oat hay mice everywhere she stood between your legs waiting for you to pick up a bale too bad for the mice she never offered to spray us and let us pet her nice old varmint

 

[cumminstinkerer]

my grandparents raised hogs for years and had an old feed bin shed that had pellets and home ground feed in them, they had a stray mutt dog that was part beagle and god knows, his name was Prince, every morning and night at chore time when the bin was down to where you took door slats out you best just open the door and step aside for a couple minutes, ol prince was in there fast as lightning grab a mouse or rat, kill on the way out, drop and right back in until the dug out of his reach. Same ol dog one time we cut pigs, had like thirty some that were a bit bigger than normal, we went through them all that day, it was hot as it is today here in Iowa, that dog ate every pair, the next two days he never left the front step other to grab a drink, I never did see him eat any more nuts from then on either!

 

[paul]

When we filled the crib and ground for the beef we had a mess of cats. Each one seemed to have their hunting territory.

When I would start the feed mill tractor and head down the hill to the corn crib, the long haired little momma orange and white kitty would come running and park herself under the crib. She wouldn’t bother if I drove a different tractor that direction. She knew what was up.

I wonder how many mice and rats she got over a couple years?

We had an extra good rat terrier dog, he would park himself by the crib when we shelled out the remaining corn in late august. One year we came around the corner of the crib and there on the grass he had a pile of dead mice and rats. A pile of them. Wow. And a big grin on his panting face.

Paul

 

[paul]

When we filled the crib and ground for the beef we had a mess of cats. Each one seemed to have their hunting territory.

When I would start the feed mill tractor and head down the hill to the corn crib, the long haired little momma orange and white kitty would come running and park herself under the crib. She wouldn’t bother if I drove a different tractor that direction. She knew what was up.

I wonder how many mice and rats she got over a couple years?

We had an extra good rat terrier dog, he would park himself by the crib when we shelled out the remaining corn in late august. One year we came around the corner of the crib and there on the grass he had a pile of dead mice and rats. A pile of them. Wow. And a big grin on his panting face.

Paul

I was moving a tub in a shed one winter. A small rat ran out of it and up my pants leg. I got my hand on the lump as it got just about to my hip. Really wasn’t thinking too clearly at that point and the normal reaction to a varmint was to call the dog, so I started calling for the rat terrier.

As he came in the shed I got a thought, is this a good idea what can he do about it? Will I be better off with him trying to get the rat?

So I tried to discourage him a bit. Poor confused mutt.

Finally got my pants off, the rat ran back to the tub but the dog got it. I didn’t really notice the cold for a bit standing there with my pants at my ankles on a crisp winter day.

Paul

 

[randyrenfro7]

That sounds like the Pascagoula squirrel. Did you start to naming names?

 

[DRussell]

Oh my! The mental pictures from that!

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I was moving a tub in a shed one winter. A small rat ran out of it and up my pants leg. I got my hand on the lump as it got just about to my hip. Really wasn’t thinking too clearly at that point and the normal reaction to a varmint was to call the dog, so I started calling for the rat terrier.

As he came in the shed I got a thought, is this a good idea what can he do about it? Will I be better off with him trying to get the rat?

So I tried to discourage him a bit. Poor confused mutt.

Finally got my pants off, the rat ran back to the tub but the dog got it. I didn’t really notice the cold for a bit standing there with my pants at my ankles on a crisp winter day.

Paul

This sounds like the song, " The Day the Squirrel Went Berserk ".

Rats move fast and don't give you much time to think....I'm gonna start tucking my pants into my boots

 

[sonny2]

my dad told of the time one of his younger brothers saw the tail of a rat sticking out of the corncrib, he grabbed a hold of it and called for somebody to kill it

 

[Gambles]

Here's a new trap that I will by trying soon. It's a live trap and it's a multi use. You wind it up, the mice go in, steps on the trigger and gets stored in a separate compartment. It's then ready for the next mouse. The brand is: Kness, made in USA and I purchased it off Amazon. We'll see how it works.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Let us know? gm

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Here's a new trap that I will by trying soon. It's a live trap and it's a multi use. You wind it up, the mice go in, steps on the trigger and gets stored in a separate compartment. It's then ready for the next mouse. The brand is: Kness, made in USA and I purchased it off Amazon. We'll see how it work

My Mom's folks had one like that, it worked fairly well but baiting was a pain and it was pretty much useless without something for bait, unless they ran into it by accident

 

[Gambles]

Let us know? gm

Will do. But they will go in by curiosity. I’m not baiting it.