Cats are quite effective. I have one that leaves no rodent standing or digging. He seems to have eliminated the local gopher population and no mice have come into the house this winter. Another sadly preferred birds, but a trio of very large bells on her collar solved that problem and did not impede her significantly when it came to rodent control All three of my cats are belled and my yard is full of birds. Randy On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Judy Glattstein <jgglatt@gmail.com> wrote: > Carol in Connecticut asked about controlling the above critters. > > A good hunting cat makes an excellent organic pest control device. They > come in several colors, are affectionate, easy to care for, and > effective. Some say females are better hunters but I've had males that > would take squirrels and young rabbits. While there are rants about cats > killing great numbers of wild birds this has not been my experience. > Rather, it is very infrequent (compared to mice and voles) and usually > just fledged youngsters who in any case would be at risk from the local > foxes, coyotes, raptors, snakes. > > Some cats are great hunters, others not so good. If mother is a good > hunter, so are her kittens. Several of my neighbors have barn cats to > control the mice that come after the grain for the horses, sheep, etc. > And it is not true that a hungry cat is a more effective hunter. > > Terriers are good at rats but also tend to dig, another reason you might > prefer a cat. > > Don't want a cat? Talk to a friend with a cat, and ask for the solids in > the cat's litter pan. Dump them down vole holes and the critters will > tend to move out. > > Next year, at least here in New Jersey, we will likely see a population > crash in small rodents over the winter. Usual production for a mature > oak is about 25 pounds / tree. This year oak trees had a very poor mast > crop - only about 5 pounds / tree. Small rodents will starve, and the > knock on effect will be reduced numbers of foxes, red tail hawks, owls - > all the predators that rely on mice, voles, squirrels.Wild turkeys will > also suffer. Cycles of nature. > > Judy in New jersey where the weather is quite wet but fortunately warm > enough to be precipitating as liquid rather than snow > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- * * A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right. - Thomas Paine --- * *