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Cat Forum / General Topics / February 2005Cats and Snakes
Our two kittens have gotten pretty big now at 10 months. Since we sometimes have mice, we have encouraged their natural hunting instincts and they are both terror on the mole and mouse population. Yesterday Spirit ran into the house and proudly showed us the 3" garter snake he had caught. The snake was returned to the woods and since it was an unusal warm February day, the snake was very doscile having just thawed out. He brought it back today and it was worse for the wear. Last year we found a copperhead in our yard and I am not eager for our cats to think snakes are fun toys. I am hoping that when they encounter more agressive snakes, their instinct will ward them off. I'm wondering if I should be conserned and what others have experienced with cats and snakes. Dave Oops, that should have read the 3' garter snake ... Dave keep the cats indoors, their instinct most likely wont kick in when it comes to venomous snakes and the cats are destroying more wildlife then just moles and mice. read the indoor outdoor article here to see what can happen to outdoor cats http://littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=indoorsoroutdoors > Oops, that should have read the 3' garter snake ... > > Dave > keep the cats indoors, their instinct most likely wont kick in when it comes > to venomous snakes and the cats are destroying more wildlife then just moles > and mice. read the indoor outdoor article here to see what can happen to > outdoor cats > http://littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=indoorsoroutdoors It would be interesting to see such a detailed list of all the dangers an indoor cat is at risk from as well. All the numerous chemicals, electricity cables/sockets etc, cookers, boiling water, poisonous house plants, doors to get shut in, people to stand on them, objects to fall on them, children to injure them, people to not feed or water them or even abuse them, pets to attack them, rooms to get locked in, washing machines, tumble driers, fridges, freezers, ovens, heaters etc. Not to mention the fact that someone could break into your house and make your indoor kitty an outside one instantly without your knowledge or even set fire to your house with your cat trapped inside. You are not able to keep an eye on ANY pet for 100% of the time whether it is out or in. BOTH HAVE HUGE RISKS! >>Oops, that should have read the 3' garter snake ... >> >>Dave  SignatureBadger Badger Badger BC said: >>You are not able to keep an eye on ANY pet for 100% of the time whether it is out or in. BOTH HAVE HUGE RISKS! >> I think the biggest single risk for outdoor cats is still cars. But in spite of risk, I do not want to deprive them of the joy of climbing trees or chasing chipmonks. Every cat I have had before had a healthy respect for snakes and I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this. The posionous ones are rare, so I hope that encounters with more agressive garter snakes will make them more cautious. Dave > BC said: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Dave That wasn't a dig at you, sorry if you thought it was. Just a bit fed up of reading about how bad the outdoors is, as if the indoors has no risks at all! Living in England we do not have much worry with snakes. I must say I had always thought that cats like most animals had an inbuilt fear of them. I would imagine that your cat would learn to keep away if it met a wide awake snake in the warmer weather and that it was just lucky and proud to have found a docile one! Glad I dont live where you do, I'd go mad if my cat brought home a snake!!!! SignatureBadger Badger Badger A reponsible pet keeper will ensure that there are no risks indoors. Im keeping my cats indoors because i dont want them hit by cars, ripped apart by wild dogs and domesticated dogs, poisoned by horrible people, shot with guns by drunk idiots or kids with bb guns, venomated by venomous snakes, and ya know what i enjoy watchin birds at the bird feeders and squirrels runnin aroun in the yard playin and i dont want to see em murdered by cats. I also want my cats to have a long happy lifespan wich is something they wont have if kept outdoors where they can get diseases from other cats and from the things i listed above. >> keep the cats indoors, their instinct most likely wont kick in when it >> comes to venomous snakes and the cats are destroying more wildlife then [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>> >>>Dave > A reponsible pet keeper will ensure that there are no risks indoors. Im > keeping my cats indoors because i dont want them hit by cars, ripped apart [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > if kept outdoors where they can get diseases from other cats and from the > things i listed above. It is IMPOSSIBLE to remove ALL risks, even indoors. All a responsible owner can do is try their best. I fully UNDERSTAND why people in certain areas keep their cats in, it would be extremely irresponsible to let the majority of cats out into an extremely busy city. However, these newsgroups are read by people all over the world. In many countries like England it is very safe to let cats out(as long as you dont live in the centre of a big city), There are no risks from diseases or wild animals etc. and lifespan is in no way reduced. >>>keep the cats indoors, their instinct most likely wont kick in when it >>>comes to venomous snakes and the cats are destroying more wildlife then [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>>> >>>>Dave SignatureBadger Badger Badger >It is IMPOSSIBLE to remove ALL risks, even indoors. All a responsible >owner can do is try their best. I fully UNDERSTAND why people in [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >dont live in the centre of a big city), There are no risks from diseases >or wild animals etc. and lifespan is in no way reduced. There are also those of us who feel that it is more important that the cats be allowed to be cats instead of precious objects. I have a number of cats and some of them are happiest living mostly outdoors in the woods and fields while others are not at all sure that being outdoors without their human is ever a good idea. There *are* real risks for outdoor cats, especially predators and aggressive feral toms (traffic is not really an issue), but those that like the outdoors are unhappy when confined inside, and those that don't are unhappy when forced to go out. I worry about them when they are out, but I watch them, and it is clear that some of the cats are by far the happiest when they have caught something edible, and are next happiest when they are hunting, or just lazing about in the sun. My position is that it's about the cats and their happiness, not about my confidence that they are safe. T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) SPAM filter: Messages to this address *must* contain "T.E.D." somewhere in the body or they will be automatically rejected. Ted Davis said: >>There are also those of us who feel that it is more important that the cats be allowed to be cats instead of precious objects. I have a number of cats and some of them are happiest living mostly outdoors in the woods and fields while others are not at all sure that being outdoors without their human is ever a good idea. >> On the rare occasion that we can get our Main-coon to go out, he never strays off of our deck. The 10 month old siblings however, beg to go out night and day. I do wory about them a lot, but would not deprive them of their love of the great outdoors and the hundreds of trees to climb. The road is a little way from our house, but fortunately they seem to be afraid of moving cars. It is sort of like your children; you try to protrct them, but in the end they have to be their own persons and risk living. Dave >Ted Davis said: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >try to protrct them, but in the end they have to be their own persons >and risk living. Yes indeed. I also have cats that avoid the road, not that it has much traffic - only Snowball crosses the road to hunt, and not often at that. They mostly stay on my property and on the more or less abandoned property behind mine. T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) SPAM filter: Messages to this address *must* contain "T.E.D." somewhere in the body or they will be automatically rejected. Why don't you keep your cats indoors? SignatureCat Galaxy: All Cats! All The Time! www.catgalaxymedia.com Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of Your Computer Needs! www.panthertekit.com > Our two kittens have gotten pretty big now at 10 months. Since we > sometimes [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Dave >Our two kittens have gotten pretty big now at 10 months. Since we >sometimes have mice, we have encouraged their natural hunting [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >them off. I'm wondering if I should be conserned and what others have >experienced with cats and snakes. I've had a similar experience with a garter snake that got into an inclosed run. The kitten brought it in to play with and I was surprised that she seemed to know exactly what to do with that snake. She grabbed it behind the head, threw it in the air and jumped away. I've seen the same behavior with a rubber snake toy. Does that mean she could handle a poisonous one? I certainly wouldn't want to count on it. I know dogs can be trained to avoid snakes but I don't know about cats. I found this site http://members.dcsi.net.au/ausmist/hlthspt.htm which says cats are less susceptible to snake bite than dogs. I still wouldn't take a chance. BarB |
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