Hunting kicks up a notch

Charlotte is really getting into the hunting.  We've had a total of 6 mice (that we know of) in the house.  One died in the dishwasher, one died in a trap and Charlotte ate the other four.  She's gotten quicker about eating her prey.  And while we think she ate the first two mice (they disappeared between times we checked on her); we her eat the last two, so we know she's eating what she catches. 

This morning she caught and quickly at a bird.  From seeing her stalking to when it was gone was only a minute or two.  I was busy with Marley, so the bird had no chance of rescue.  I think she probably killed it at the first strike since she laid it on its back and it never moved.

I'd rather she stick to mice and such, but an outdoor cat needs to be able to fend for itself in case there's a reason it can't come inside to the cushy food bowl and bed.

We make sure the traps are put away and the cupboards are either open or that she can open them when she's in the house.  She's able to track them down rather than wait for them to find, and trigger, the traps.  It also gives her a reason to come back inside.  And, with the hunting she's not eating near as much kibble. 

Killers!

With the cooler wetter weather we've been invaded by mice.  First it was one mouse that got away from Charlotte.  It found the trap under the kitchen sink.  We thought we'd taken care of the problem.  Then we started having more mice.  We've made sure Charlotte has access to all the spaces we've seen or heard mice.  She's caught and eaten at least 3.  The latest one, I woke to noises in the bathroom. Charlotte was chasing, catching & releasing another mouse.  That was her second one yesterday.

Marley was "helping" her.  He's not quite sure what's going on, what the mouse it, but he wanted to get involved.  When he wanted to take it out of the bathroom, I had to draw the line and close the door to keep him from taking it to the living room or other area with more hiding places.  In the end Charlotte ate it, confirming for us that she is eating them, not just letting them go again in the house.

I think between the two of them we shouldn't need the mousetraps any more.

A whole night!

Last night he got me up at 11:30, but then not again until a little after 7am!  I even got up to use the bathroom once, and he slept through it.  Oh, I thought this might never happen after all the 2-4 am pee & poop trips in the dark.

I expect it will be a few days before he goes through the night again, but I'm hoping they'll happen more and more frequently.  I'll still have to get up to pee, but there's a big difference between shuffling to the bathroom and taking a hike to the back of the yard (which includes putting on a robe & slippers and putting some kind of leash on Marley).

A couple of nights, when there weren't too many mushrooms, I let him go out while I held a flashlight to keep an eye on him.

Speaking of mushrooms, I'm trying a "natural" approach to mushroom eradication.  Since the mushrooms are really just the equivalent of flowers, with the actual plant equivalent below the surface, picking them and tossing them over the fence (or in the garbage) only keeps Marley from eating them.  As soon as it rains, or we water the lawn, they pop right up again for several days.  Several sources on the internet recommend a solution of 2 TBS baking soda in a gallon of water, applied with a sprayer when the temperature is between 60-75.  Since the whole battle is to keep him from eating them, I don't just spray the mushrooms.  I pluck the little monsters and immediately spray where I just plucked.  That way the above ground part is gone but I still know exactly where to spray.  I don't know how effective, or how long it will take yet, but I'll keep any eye out for how many come back now that I'm spraying where I pluck.

We've got at least 3 or43 (maybe more, it's hard to tell) kinds of small yellow-brown-tan mushrooms that don't seem to get more than about an inch to inch and a half across.  Mostly we try to find them while they're still 1/4 - 1/2 inch across.  That means they're still down in the grass and hard to see if you're not looking straight down at them.  Or see Marley going for something in the grass and get him off it and pluck whatever's left. 

We also have puffballs.  Again, we've been able to find most of them when they're still only an inch or so across.  Being white, and I mean white, they're easy to spot. The danger with these is mostly from releasing the spores and inhaling them ... unless it's one of the few toxic varieties.

And we have boletus mushrooms.  These are the biggest ones.  As they mature to 2, 3 or more inches across (overnight they can get that big, I've been watching) they also get slimy on top.  These are a spongy mushroom with no gills, just lots of spongelike holes all over the bottom.

And the mysterious gray "fluted" mushroom that I've only seen once so far.  I keep watching for it, but have not seen it since that one time.

Is this a unique situation here in our yard?  Nope, the lawn at the courthouse has at least as many mushrooms and as much moss.  I took Marley to the dog park to start getting him used to it.  And the mushrooms (only a half dozen or so that I saw) were tall, fairy tale tall-cap mushrooms, but much paler and a bit larger than what we've been plucking.  The cemetery has a curvy line of them - looking like ours but several sizes bigger.

Any of you know good ways to rid a lawn of mushrooms without poisoning the pets?

No leash

The last couple of days I've been letting Marley out in the yard without a leash.  It's been several days since the last rain or watering so there are few, if any, mushrooms coming up.  So, if he finds any they will be few & far between (I hope).  Funny thing is, he's so used to one of us being on the other end of his leash that he expects me to walk out with him to the appropriate area of the yard when he does his business.  I don't have to be right next to him, but I have to get out there.

We also have made progress with fetch.  The 2 ways to get the stick back are to use the 2 stick method - he has to drop the one he just brought before I toss the second one - or the "mercenary" method - he has to drop the stick to get the treat.  He loves fetch, but he doesn't want to give up the stick. 

Sounds like I need to find a way to wean him off the treats so he'll do things because he wants to please us, not just because he's a lab.  I saw a dog show where a family was deciding between 3 breeds and the lab breeder told them "they're not the smartest dogs, but they'll do anything for food".

Updates

Marley is getting much, much closer to being potty trained.  But, it's still "closer", not "trained".  In the last couple of nights he's done some "interesting" things.  Mostly not good things.

There's nothing like hearing the quiet little whine/whimper in the wee wee hours of the night, getting up, using the bathroom, putting on my robe, heading out to the laundry room to put on the Crocs, only to find Marley has detoured over to the dining room to drop a steaming pile of ...  It doesn't happen often, but when it does it really sorta ruins the rest of the night.  So, night before last I found myself mopping the pee spot in the laundry room where that had seeped through the rug he peed on, then mopping the place where he'd dropped one of the biggest poops of his life.  Try getting back to sleep after that.

Or last night, like a few other nights and days, he got me up at 1:20 to pee.  Then he got me up at 1:50 to poop.  Then he got me up (I thought) another time (not sure when), but didn't want to go out and hadn't left any "surprises".  Then he got up about 5 and again about 5:30.  I say I thought he got me up because several times last night I thought he was whining, but it turned out Tom's nose (or some part of his airway system) was making a very, very similar sound as he breathed; quite different from his usual sounds.  Needless to say, that raised heck with sleep. 

Oh, and at 3 or so, there was a lot of thumping from the bathroom.  The mouse Charlotte had captured and released, and captured and released, and captured and released earlier in the evening was between the litter box and the wall and she was trying to get at it.  I  moved the litter box and the chase began again.  And it got away from her again.  Right now it's somewhere under/in my stove.

Unlike our last cat, Charlie, she did not capture the mouse, bring it in the house and release it.  Her mouth was empty when she came in.  Too bad she's only a hunter.  She caught it many times, but never harmed it enough to even slow it down.  She knows to chase, but not what to do when she has caught her prey. 

So, we know she'd never survive as a barn cat or feral cat, even if she wasn't picked off by a predator herself.

Travel Nix

Sometimes having pets limits your traveling plans.  Other times having pets can completely shut down any traveling.  We have now fallen into the second category.  Marley likes to ride in the car.  Don't know how he'll do in the motorhome, but I think he'll figure it out and do OK.

Charlotte, on the other hand, has put the kibosh on travel for the time being.  She has become so determined to spend more hours outside than inside that we don't dare take her on a motorhome trip.  Despite our best efforts to keep her in, she gets out every few days.  We had started letting her out when we got Marley, knowing that sooner or later we'd be letting him know about the doggy door in the living room.  Charlotte has decided outside is where she wants to live, with brief visits for food, litter box and a bit of human contact.

Since she decided she really likes the outdoors we've not been able to keep her in for more than 2-3 days at most.  Keeping her in sometimes takes both of us; one to hold her and one to take Marley in or out.  It's been a real battle and this morning it came to a head. 

I had put the lid (with a generous hole for entry/exit) on the covered litter box because Marley was showing too much interest in her leavings.  Last evening she checked it out, perched on the edge of the hole and peed as if it were a toilet.  But, this morning, before she escaped again, she went into our closet and pooped on a duffle bag of my clothes.  We learned of it shortly after when Marley went in to eat it.  We picked up what was left.  Then a little later he went back in there and peed on top of the same bag.

If we leave here with the motorhome and both animals, we'll come home with one.  We just won't be able to keep Charlotte in the motorhome - she has too many levels to strategically sit and wait for the door to open when we come back - 3 steps, the arm of the couch and the back of the couch ... and we would be 3 more steps below the bottom inside step as we unlock and open the door.  There's no way we can have hands at all possible levels she'd launch from.

So, kiss the fall trip goodbye.  She would get out.  We'd have to move on.  She'd be either lost or hit by a car, caught by a coyote, owl, dog or ...  We can't leave her here for weeks ... water, food and litter only last so long.   To board her would be cruel - most "boarding" consists of putting the cat in a cage and providing a litter box, food and water.  I don't think she's gone wild enough to feed herself, and there are coyotes and a tomcat in the immediate area around the house.  Not good.

Unfortunately, I figure by spring she'll be gone ... hit by a car, caught be some other animal ... then we'll begin thinking about travel possibilities.