The saga continues....the mighty hunter?

[CathyAnn]

Well...last week our little one year old caught bird #3!!!! Today, hubby saw him shakin' and flippin' something around in the backyard and went to investigate. He had a rabbit and it was very obvious that he had killed it.

Is this unusual???? Him catching this much "prey" (forgive me, I can't come up with a better word)?

Since we have never witnessed him in the act of catching the birds and rabbit, hubby is worried he is gonna kill our cat as he 'plays' pretty rough with him!!!

HELP!!!

Cathy

[Guest Smiley]

Not unusual behaviour at all for a Cairn

You brought a natural born hunter into your house and your dog is just doing his job. Your back yard will be safe from any and all trespassors and you will never, never have a mouse in house.

Kitty will give your Cairn a run for his money, but your dog will not "kill" his housemate... kitty can probably run faster than the dogger

[CathyAnn]

Nope....Mr. Kitty waaaaay too fat to run fast enough to escape...hehe! Plus, no front claws to really defend himself, if necessary.

I posted about this sometime ago. Just seems like this little is getting more than other Cairn's owners have said?? Summer isn't even half over yet....sigh.

[JRM]

We had a mouse in the house at the weekend - Molly flipped! The only thing that saved the wee mouse was that Molly couldn't run as fast on the wood flooring.

I stepped in and saved the mouse, but Molly was wound up for 2 full days!

[bubba]

We had a mouse in the house at the weekend - Molly flipped!

Goodness.....Cooper is an excellent mouse catcher! We got home from Oregon last weekend, and after we were in the house a few minutes, I heard a thumping noise and thought I had a burglar! Since my husband was in Oregon, and I was home alone w/the dog, I was kind of scared due to the fact I caught a burglar in my house last Labor Day. Anyway, Cooper was doing that deep stomach growl and running from the kitchen to the dining room. I was trying to decide if the burglar was up in the bedrooms or in my office when all of a sudden he started barking as loud as he could! Seems Mr. Cooper doesn't know to be sneaky around Mr. Burglar!!

Expecting a masked man to come running thru the house at any minute, I head back to the kitchen when here comes Cooper again, this time barking at the waste basket which I could now clearly see moving! Thank goodness I had emptied it and not put a bag back inside, because there were two mice inside and they wanted out! Did you know a mouse can jump about one foot straight up in the air!!!!! Good thing my basket was 18"!!!!

So, I call my husband who suggests to let them loose so Cooper can catch them.....I'm thinking, I'll walk them down to the other end of the block and set them free there. Then, I get the bright idea ....my neighbors have a snake they feed mice to! So, I cover my basket and walk over to their house where the babysitter is watching the three boys. Last I saw of mouse #1 was as it's tail went under their couch.....don't know what happened to mouse #2 as I thought it was best I leave.

Cooper was still looking for those things two days later! He was quite cranky with me....

pat.

[bradl]

That's a funny story! Burglars in the house, tho' ...yikes! Thank heavens for "alarm Cairns.' And Agent Cooper.

[JRM]

A burglar in the house? I think I'd faint! (their goes the hardman image )

Molly is still a tad upset so has chewed her way through an electrical cord (not plugged in) and is now quietly puking it up

Don't you just love Cairns?

[Toto times 2]

Cairns are mighty hunters. Mine are determined to catch bees right now and I am equally determined that they won't. They don't bother the cats at all (at least not after the first week). Our smallest cat (8 lbs) could win paws down if it came right down to it. She is the alpha member of the pack.

Cairns are just the best.

[Melanie]

I posted a question to this effect under behavior. I have just brought a 12 week old kitten into my house 2 days ago and was extremely worried about Maxwell. He also chases birds and squirrels in the backyard. Well after 2 days of watching Maxwell and kitty (Oliver) together, I know I won't have a problem. Max is such a soft hearted little guy and Oliver for only being about 2 pounds is quite the bossy little man. Max kisses him and mainly chases after him to watch him play. I catch Max sitting by Olivers kennel during the day on his belly with his legs out behind him. Both are very excited when I let them run the house. I absolutely love everything there is to my Maxwell and I can't believe his is going to be 2 already in July. Time sure does fly when you share your life with a beautiful Cairn.

Melanie

[Guest anabanana]

Hi, I'm new to the Cairn world and I just love my 10 month old Henry. I new he loved to chase small vermin and dismantle our stone walls as he tried to hunt them down. I honestly didn't think he would actually kill/mutiliate and partially eat them. Oh the horror of finding a half eaten chipmunk on my front porch! First I thought it was the neighbor's cat. Surely my cute little Henry would never dream of slaughter. I waited patiently for my husband to arrive to remove the partial carcass from the nearby welcome mat. Needless to say, I used the back door the rest of the day.

Still naively thinking that the cat next door was the culprit, I made my way from the back door, around the side of the house to the front of the driveway to await the arrival of the school bus. Henry was right beside me wagging his tail anticipating play time with the 3 kids. I told my kids about what happened and how I was surprised that Henry would allow a cat to munch on a chipmunk right on our front porch.

My children, anxious to see the reminants, headed for the front porch. Henry was following. As I watched him, I noticed something long, thin and rubbery hanging from him mouth. It couldn't be, could it? UGH, UGH, UGH!! I kiss that mouth!

First denial, then anger, then I thought maybe I'm not feeding him enough, then sadness that I purchased a killer, then because of how much I adore my Cairn I thought--- "Wow, he is amazingly fast and agile". Acceptance set in.

We've had many more chipmunks. I no longer wait for hubby to discard the body parts... I always use the front door ... and I'm waiting for the proud day he captures a squirrel.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Riley is 14 months old and to date has caught: several ants, a bee, a mouse and is currently stalking a chipmunk and a small rabbit that live in a row of bushes surrounding our pool area. He can sit there all day long and stare at those bushes!!! My hope is that he never actually catches one of them - - - the idea of achieving this is what keeps him BUSY all day!!

[Guest Grumpy]

We have only had Georgie_Fuzzbutt for a few weeks. A few days ago, she was busy sleeping on the couch, and I was outside, chasing the neighbours cat out of the garden, when I relised that something was amiss!!!!!! So, after a protracted protest, GFB joined me in the garden. I wont go into details, needless to say, her lesson in chasing cats was hilariously funny (for the neighbours, who are about to have me committed) and absolutely futile. As we speak, she is hard at work asleep in front of the fire, and the garden is plagued by felines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CathyAnn]

Lovin' the tails...no, wait, tales ....

Well, last night was another success for baby boy! Killed a possum....thankfully a small one. Not sure if a large one could do some damage to him should it happen?

This is getting very, very good at this.

Cathy

[bradl]

Yes, I believe a possum could do some damage. Possums are reportedly quite resistant to rabies but I'd still probably take the body in for a rabies test should one get a bite in before the dog dispatches it. At minimum I'd ask animal control in my area for their recommendation.

I know from the sad experience of others that a racoon can definitely kill a Cairn.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Just to add - - - - we actually had a rabid possum try to get to my two golden retrievers when they were in their outside pen. Luckily my next door neighbor was an old hunter and disposed of the possum before he could hurt the dogs. He was covered with a white dripping foam and we buried him in several garbage bags deep in the woods. You never can tell with the wildlife around nowadays - - we have had rabid racoons also come up near our pool area - - again - - the "mighty hunter" took care of them before any damage was done - - I would be a bit careful.

[CathyAnn]

Another one tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!

A baby again......saw Momma a little later waddling towards the backyard.

Poor hubby getting no sleep.....I wake him up so he can come out and pick 'em up for disposal.

Cathy

[CathyAnn]

You probably think I am kidding....but, after I signed off last night, he got ANOTHER baby.

We must have a nest nearby....

I just pray he doesn't tangle with Mommy.

Cathy

[Logansmom]

Cathy,

These stories are so funny! I can only imagine. My little guy caught a cicada, well actullay about 25 of them, and promptly threw them back up.

He also caught a wonderful piece of pooh before I could snag it.

I'm afraid I have the city dog variety. I'm anxious to see what he does with himself when we see my folks up in Northern Wisconsin in September. Poor thing will probaby run yelping from the deer.

Thanks for the chuckles.

[CallisMom]

Cathy,

I know I shouldn't be (as I won't let Calli get our frog who seems to live in the middle of our yard) - but I am chuckling myself. I am still waiting for a chipmunk but all she seems to be chasing these days are moths and butterflies and ants!

Today I had a scare - I was cleaning the birdcage out - the birds were flying around the room while I was doing this . . . well my youngest let Calli out of her crate. At one point one of the birds landed on the floor right in front of Calli - I'm talking touching her nose close. My heart is pounding - all I could think was - this is it! Bye, bye, birdie!!! But she didn't jump at it or anything. Her tail was wagging but she just kind of touched it with her nose and that was it. (Lucky me - I got to the bird . . .) I often bring her up to look at the birds - but she never really seems to care about them at all (just their feathers when they waft out of the cage) - so I figured if she did "get" the bird - it would be because she wanted to play not necessarily hunt - she knows they are family members. Well, I don't think the kids will be letting her out the next time I clean the birdcage.

Logansmom - we seem to have the same type of dog!!

[anabanana]

Callismom! Have your every read the story of "Ferdinand the Bull"? Calli is so funny. I'm Henry's mom, the chipmunk killer and coyote dodger.

Did you know it takes alot of agility and prowness to capture a butterfly or moth?

Cathy, good luck. I'm worried about the momma.

[Guest Guest]

Well Rebel 18 months has killed 2 birds and a rabbit. He really pays little attention to squirrels now but he found a large turtle in the back. When we figured out what was going on Rebel would not go to close but he barked and barked. Later that night I found what looked like a tear in the skin on his front leg so I suspect that the turtle won the battle after all. We rescued him and and took him down to the creek.

[CathyAnn]

Baby possum #4 entered the gates of heaven at about midnight last night....

Cathy

[bubba]

Did you know it takes alot of agility and prowness to capture a butterfly or moth? 

[CathyAnn]

Pat...we are in the heart of Chicago suburbia. Never thought I'd see this many possums either!!

My hubby looked on the internet re:possum reproduction. Evidently, they have approximately 8-9 babies per litter!! UGH !!! Sure hope this momma wasn't THAT fertile!.

Cathy

P.S. Our litle guy likes bugs, too. Dessert, I guess......

[bubba]

My hubby looked on the internet re:possum reproduction.  Evidently, they have approximately 8-9 babies per litter!!  UGH  !!!  Sure hope this momma wasn't THAT fertile!.