Alternatives to a barn cat

[RedmondDressage]

I lost my most awesomest barn kitty ever a few weeks ago :no: and the rats have already started to move in, plus there are now moles EVERYWHERE. My SO is being kind of an a$$ about getting a new barn kitty for some reason, although I have first dibs on two kittens that a friend is taking on tomorrow.

To humor him - are there any rodent and mole solutions that are as effective as a barn cat and:

a) Involve little to no manual labor

b) Do not involve poison. I will not put poison in my barn with my dog and chickens poking around in there.

[Where_sMyWhite]

Dogs? Esp terriers…

[RedmondDressage]

[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;8716490]
Dogs? Esp terriers…[/QUOTE]

Got one of those - Cattle Dog/Terrier mix. He likes to chase but not much of a hunter… And a second dog DEFINITELY won’t fly, trust me, I’ve tried :lol:

[AKB]

A barn fox will keep you free of rodents. We had terrible rodents until a local fox added our barn to her hunting schedule. I don’t know how you can get a barn fox.

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

Sounds like your SO needs to be in charge of all extermination efforts if he won’t allow the cat.

Alternately, search for a new SO. :lol:

[RedmondDressage]

[QUOTE=OldLadyYoungOTTB;8716510]
Sounds like your SO needs to be in charge of all extermination efforts if he won’t allow the cat.

Alternately, search for a new SO. :lol:[/QUOTE]

My friend suggested I set him up with a slingshot and make him sit out there all night taking out the rats. He gets up for 5AM for work so maybe a few nights of working two jobs will straighten him out :yes:

[LSMarnell]

You need some black snakes! Zero maintenance & I think they are actually better at the job than cats!
Not as cuddly though.

[roseymare]

Traps that electrocute them

[HungarianHippo]

Perhaps find out what the “for some reason” is. Get to the root cause of the barn cat aversion (have they been spraying? do they need heated space that he’s unhappy to provide? etc. Can the two of you brainstorm on ways to mitigate those cat problems?)

Rodents will go away when you remove feedsources. Is your grain storage truly rodent-proof?

Another angle is to outline the cost of rodent damage-- one single incident of chewing on electrical wires or expensive tack is a pretty big dollar amt. phrase it in terms of “Ok, since we want to give up our cat insurance policy on rodent damage, we need to put $xxx in reserve to cover the rodent-induced losses”

[sascha]

Ditch the SO and get new barn cats. Or, get a couple of ferrets. Put the SO in charge of wrangling the stinky things every morning and every evening. Oh and also in charge of making your barn ferret proof so they can’t bugger off on you when on duty out of their cage.

[yaya]

Too bad your dog doesn’t want a friend. Since the Jack Russell moved in, my rat population has never been so low.

I even signed him up to compete in Barn Hunt, but I’m no good at reading his signals, and he keeps wanting to mark the course. So we stay home, where he has a variety of targets (mice, rats, squirrels, birds, and the occasional baby bunny )

[RockinHorse]

Snakes and Owls.

[Winding_Down]

what if a cat mysteriously appeared at your barn? :winkgrin:

[js]

Yep, you need a barn snake (or two). We have 2 very big rat snakes that live under our old barn, they are very efficient, don’t bother humans, I rarely ever see them and when I do they go their way and I go mine. Maybe once SO encounters a large snake, he might feel differently about a nice barn kitty.

[Gamma]

[QUOTE=AKB;8716507]
A barn fox will keep you free of rodents. We had terrible rodents until a local fox added our barn to her hunting schedule. I don’t know how you can get a barn fox.[/QUOTE]

You can buy one, on the internet. It will be partially domesticated. (Really.) Cost is somewhere in the upper 4 figures to lower 5, but plan on vet bills and things adding up (and extra liability insurance, because “bit by a fox” is scary). Also, remember to check if it is legal in your state/jurisdiction.

[RedmondDressage]

[QUOTE=yaya;8717078]
Too bad your dog doesn’t want a friend. Since the Jack Russell moved in, my rat population has never been so low.[/QUOTE]

Oh my dog would LOVE a friend. It’s SO who doesn’t want the second dog!

His reasoning for not wanting barn cats is that he thinks they will end up being house cats. The last one wasn’t and I don’t want more house cats (we have 3) so I’m not sure why he thinks that.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we don’t really have sizeable snakes here in western WA. I’ve only ever seen little garter snakes. If we did he’d probably love that though - he has an albino king snake in the house… Blech (I’m not a snake person).

Friend isn picking up these kittens tonight and offered to raise them in her barn for a bit while I work on him. If I can’t get him to budge she’ll just find them another permanent home. Seems like a win-win.

In the meantime I’m thinking of live trapping some of the rats and letting them go in his shop. Maybe that will change his tune :lol:

[SnicklefritzG]

Suggest this movie for a date night activity:
http://static.dolimg.com/lucas/movies/indianajones/mobile_ij_last_crusade_07-352083d4e5ca.jpg

[QUOTE=RedmondDressage;8717281]
Oh my dog would LOVE a friend. It’s SO who doesn’t want the second dog!

His reasoning for not wanting barn cats is that he thinks they will end up being house cats. The last one wasn’t and I don’t want more house cats (we have 3) so I’m not sure why he thinks that.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we don’t really have sizeable snakes here in western WA. I’ve only ever seen little garter snakes. If we did he’d probably love that though - he has an albino king snake in the house… Blech (I’m not a snake person).

Friend isn picking up these kittens tonight and offered to raise them in her barn for a bit while I work on him. If I can’t get him to budge she’ll just find them another permanent home. Seems like a win-win.

In the meantime I’m thinking of live trapping some of the rats and letting them go in his shop. Maybe that will change his tune :lol:[/QUOTE]

[arlosmine]

There are plenty of snakes in W. Washington. Put an ad on Craigslist and see of some one can spare a few adult rat snakes. They are pretty easy to catch if you like doing that sort of thing (some of us weirdos do). It may just be hard to get people to part with them… They do a great job.

[csaper58]

Maybe your SO would like a Pet Barn Python?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wKdhSF94Yw

Maybe you need a new SO AND 2 new barn kittens?

[walktrot]

[QUOTE=Winding Down;8717088]
what if a cat mysteriously appeared at your barn? :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we had one move in with the 3 others and she is called “feral kitty.” We have no rodents and they also eat Blue Seal barn cat food.