Posted by zog
on August 28, 2009, 11:59 am, in reply to "Re: Did an experiment with some CS"
A little while ago I checked it. The milk had finished separating into the thick curds stuff and the watery whey, but had lost most of the normal smell you would have noticed. I dumped it out in one of the two bowls I keep for the one tame, one semi tame and then the mostly wild cats that hang around the barn, they'll drink it up. Everything I put in those bowls disappears. Who knows though, might be feeding possums at night as well, no idea really.
I'd love to try and tame up the three big wild tom cats, but they came here as adults, just showed up, and no luck so far except one who will let me pet him a little, but that's it, no picking him up or anything. The other two won't let me get within say around 5-10 feet or they split fast. The one who lets me pet him is the smallest of the three wild toms, but he can kick the most cat butt, the other ones don't mess with him much except once in awhile. No idea what makes him so tough either.
He's pretty funny, needs a job as a security guard! He spends all day long just patrolling between the house here and the barn and the shed, any other cats come around he runs them off. He's *too* good at that, has run off a couple of the tame ones I had unfortunately. One of those guys makes it back here late at night and I crack the door open and let him sneak in to get fed and petted. He must sit and wait in the bushes and waits until he can't see that "guard" cat, then makes his commando sneak in.
As to CS and the cats, ya, and the dogs, been giving it to them periodically for years. I have one dog that gets a hacking cough every few months, a few days dosing her water clears it up. If not dosed, she'll keep hacking for weeks. One cat now, my littlest and last one left from the last litter (two killed by one of the older dogs before I could stop her, one croaked from whatever, one run off and disappeared, leaving one left who is my snuggle bunny at night little kitty), has terrible dual eye infections, one eye is now completely cured, looks like it anyway, the other only half way, the eyeball looks almost like a marble, nasty looking. She's getting some every morning mixed with some sardines mashed up in it. Hopefully the other eye will get better as well.
I just own too many animals to be running to the expensive vet all the time, so I have to do the best I can. I really didn't set out to have this many of course, all the dogs are rescue dogs, and the cats started out as a rescue queen momma then a few litters before I got the spying stuff paid for and done. Man, cats breed quick! I had no idea whatsoever when I started, basically still kittens can get preggers..cost me a few clams, an expensive lesson. I like all of them though, even the real wild ones, like having semi tame bobcats around or something.
I have one fixed tom who is a siamese and american shorthair cross, very handsome with creamy fur and dark extremities and face with blue eyes, he's my hiking buddy, goes for walks with us (meaning the dogs). Comes when he is called, doesn't fight or spray, will sit back and let all the other cats eat first, really a decent cat, and a great hunter when I let him hang out for extended periods out on the walks. He will nail something he will then eat just about every time. He just goes to the nearest thicket and a few minutes later comes out with something.
And man, them barncats and tame cats worked for the dang rats! When we first were living here, the place was overrun, now I barely just once in awhile see signs of them. I know over to the other side of the farm, they just can NOT get handle on the rats, they spend all sorts of time plugging holes and putting out ratbait, but then they shoot all the wild cats they see. I think it's nuts and they should just let the cats be and the rat problem would be self correcting but it ain't my farm so I have no say in it. Over on this side, the boss doesn't care much plus he knows I would be really annoyed to have to give them up and it works for the rats here. He says that the wild cats kill chickens over there and I am..not if you keep the dang doors shut and they can't get in. My cats here have *never* touched a chicken that I ever found out about, so I don't know what the diff is from over there to here. Maybe the cats here picked up on my cluckers are part of the pack as well, no idea, but they get in there and walk artound and check stuff out and never a glance. Now the quail when we had them in a big cage..I doubt they could have resisted, smaller and "wild bird" looking.
Down to just a few clucks left so soon the point will be moot. Need to get something else to put in their big run, a milk goat maybe. Not until next year though, that area now is this fantastic "wild" garden from all the oddball veggies and fruits I fed the clucks. Just thousands of tomatoes and assorted other stuff out there now, all starting to ripen up, so I'll let it be until fall then mow it again and off most of the weeds. I know the tomatoes in particular you can't let goats get to (the vines) so I'll probably have to spray it in the spring a couple times to make sure. We use some stuff that offs everything but the grasses, seems to work good (I have to do our fields with that every so often or it gets over run with weeds and stuff) and apparently one of the lesser harmful chemicals out there. I'd rather *not* use anything at all, but joe boss insists. I'd rather just spend a few seasons keeping everything mowed real short, that works too but it more labor and tractor time intensive. That and you can do a light disk harrowing, that's what we did back on other farms to control the weeds. You still get some, then you have to do manual spot eradication. Taking care of hayfields and pastures gets to be a lot like work, plus fences just seem to evaporate all the time no matter how well made. I know if I ever have to build my own fences, one of two ways, very tight woven and high decent wood that doesn't rot in a "snakefence" configuration, or use the fixed rigid lightweight corral panels they have now. I just hates flexible fence wire or barbed wire, at least for long straight and flat runs. For oddball curves and steep uneven slopes, good, anything else, seems retarded. It just doesn't last long enough and really sucks to keep it up and fixed all the time.
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