Some cats are better hunters than others. Being hungry has only a little bit to do with it. Hungry cats eat what they catch. Well fed cats drag it home to you but rarely eat it. Healthy cats can live a long time but rarely do they hunt their entire lives. I've had cats that killed wild rabbits the same size as they were and I've had cats that only hunted lizards and frogs. Keep in mind that coyotes like to eat cats and they seem to know that houses in the country have house cats around them.

That is a beautiful plant. Thank you for your insight on what you have done to get these pests out of the plants. At this time, I have set up the traps all over, and with the help of the forced air heat, have let the pots get a bit dried out. I have gotten into the habit of spraying them each day with a mister. I am hoping that it will keep the mice out of the soil, and also keep from getting any other flying critters around. I have been watering lightly each week, but not as much as I was. I do my mouse damage assessment each morning. It's becoming routine, and I think the plants like the extra attention. I have chopped back my arrowhead plant quite a bit, and now have 5 separate ones growing from it. I was thinking of trying to train the sections to climb up something, myself. Thank you for the beautiful image you attached. Stacy.

Mz, I agree with Luvs..a trap is a very good idea. Perhaps there's a wildlife sanctuary in your area that would be willing to take them ? In regards to antifreeze.. it's my understanding that the component that had the most detrimental effect on animals has been removed.. the makers claim your pets ( thereby incl non-pet animals ) can safely drink the stuff. There's also another solution that may be a little bit more viable for you. It sounds disgusting.. but most sporting goods stores carry a lot of varieties of bottled animal urine ( I know..ewwww ). Perhaps you could spray or pour it around your property line it would help deter the little pests from coming into your yard. My ex was an avid hunter... so I know all about this stuff...lol. Maybe if the little bandits smelled a "predator" in the area they would leave for parts unknown.Seems like I actually saw bottled bobcat or mountain lion urine in one of the hunting catalogs he used to get. At any rate... good luck and hopefully you'll find something that will work. Susan

We have whole flocks of juncos, chickadees, finches, pine siskins, purple finches, plus sparrows, several varieties of woodpeckers, cardinals, jays, mourning doves, a pair of Carolina wrens (with sharp attitudes and beaks to match, lol), a couple of mockingbirds after raisins and suet, lots of titmice, nuthatches and plenty of robins at the birdbath water. There are also a few bluebirds in the yard getting drinks out of the pond tho they haven't visited any of the feeders. I don't have any mealworms for them, I don't know what they are eating. I feed lots of black oil sunflower, two feeders of thistle and some scratch feed for the ground feeders (doves, sparrows, and other seed eaters). They are going thru 20 lbs of seed in about 4 days.