Hunter cats... sigh

[moonbells]

Moonkitten came home on Friday morning with a not-quite-dead woodpigeon and kindly brought it in the front door. I think I prefer the mouse he brought a couple of weeks ago. DH said he was hoovering feathers up for quite some time after he evicted both of them.

He's also lost two collars this week - both double-belled - not that the bells seem to be warning the birds off! (Least they do come off ok)

I think we have got a thug hunter in the family. And he's only 15 months old.

Meanwhile Mooncat has been seen up trees several hundred metres away from the house, so I think her territory is now seriously overlapping a good eight or nine other cats'. Surprised she's not lost any collars too given she's a climber. She is the only tortie in the road (the rest are mostly blacks or tabbies) so pretty distinctive.

Anyone any advice on how to deter them apart from what we're already doing? They are both kept in at night from dusk onwards and not let out until after their breakfast.
And any stories on what their darlings have brought home?!

[CatKisser]

Hunter cats are awesome!
My hunter was sadly killed a couple of months ago so I've avoided those joys recently but when she was alive we had:
Mice,voles, shrews, sparrows and my favourite - Moles. (Which she often let go so they'd run behind the book cases and need to be fished out.

The worst occasion was when I got out of bed at 3am for a wee and stepped on a mouse head.

[thecatneuterer]

I'm so glad I've never had any hunter cats! I really don't think I could cope - particularly if something wasn't quite dead.

I did once come home at dawn and saw an eerie looking circle of about 8 cats in the garden all facing inwards. I went to investigate and there was a terrified small rat in the middle of the circle (which I picked up and moved to safety). That's the nearest any of mine have ever got to killing anything.

[tobiasfunke]

One of our cats has a record of 7 dead things in one day. In the summer we get 2 offerings a day. It is usually the intestines of some sort of rodent with its head left beside the pile staring at me. He obviously doesn't like the teeth.
Worst one was 2 dead baby rabbits both half eaten. Big rabbits he doesn't bring in as he can't get them through the cat flap. Instead he lays them beside my door of the car. He is a serious serial killer.
His brother is a lazy lump who occasionally brings something in alive and then watches it for a bit before he gets bored. In a way that's worse.
We live in the country so I figure the mice are better dead than eating my wiring.

[haggisaggis]

My current cat generally brings in a couple of creatures per day - usually mice but also birds and baby rabbits. Negotiates them through 2 cat flaps and up a flight of stairs - and often brings them in alive. dh, ds and I spent an hour from midnight to 1 am this morning chasing a small mouse around while we tried to catch it! My first cat brought in earthworms...

[moonbells]

Couple of creatures a day - yikes. It actually scares me that Moonkitten may get to be more prolific a hunter as he matures. I do love my cats but I'm also a birder and despite having all the feeders up unclimbable poles, it's still a worry. (Though if he got the squirrels that steal the bird food I'd probably cheer!)
Yesterday Moonkitten brought home a young blackbird, and the bin stinks of corpses. Yuk.

[mermaidstale]

Mine's a big-game hunter. Butterflies, bees, spiders (little ones) He's hard.

[RubbishMantra]

MKitten likes flies. I swat 'n' stun them, he finishes them off by eating them.

MCat was very proud the day when he presented DH with four juvenile stoats. He doesn't have the killer instinct anymore I hope.

[CatKisser]

Noooo not stoats!!! I'd give Scabbers a right bollocking if he did that
I was awakened last night by a horrible, high pitched growl - 'twas Olive, the 11 week old. Usually that means she's acquired a piece of plastic or something else that need removing from her chops, but this time it was a poor butterfly! Ashamed to say I switched the light back off and left her to it.

I don't know why she growls so protectively - snowy really couldn't give a toss!

[WellWhoKnew]

Birds, live, mice live. I now have tupperware strategically positioned to catch the blighters and set them free.

It is well used tupperware.

Mine are also only allowed out during the day.

No collars though - they can be a bit of a risk to cats that like to hunt, I'm told.

[daftbesom]

Oh Lordy, one of our cats is a clever hunter, the other is a bit of a thicko.

Unfortunately it's "Thicko" who drops lives voles, woodmice etc in the house then stands there looking surprised when they make a beeline for anything they can hide under. I have been trapping them under a pint glass and setting them free outside, but they are usually quite dazed and I fear the cat just goes outside and finishes the job.

The "clever" one has dragged a rat through the catflap (eek), also a bat. Thankfully both dead [I don't mean that really about the bat, just it would be a bit difficult to catch-and-release]

[daftbesom]

I did once get into bed and shriek as my foot touched something cold and wet ... and shrieked some more when I turned down the duvet and found the constituents part of an eviscerated mouse.

[moonbells]

We got a mouse this morning. Well half of one, anyway. Joy!

[LadybirdsEverywhere]

Live robin here at 5am. Managed to grab him and take him outside and luckily he flew off once I opened my hands. Live vole the night before - also rescued and released. Hate it when we get mouse guts and a head.
We usually receive two gifts every night in the summer.

[moonbells]

In the past 24h the pair of marauding monsters have brought down a mouse, a squirrel and another pigeon. The latter is still sort of alive but moonkitten is not letting me near it to put it out of its misery. Argh! Old cat was never like this! I should learn how to pluck and gut woodpigeons perhaps.