Like other typical ranches, we keep a few cats around . While I find them to be totally useless in protecting me from skunks, I have to admit they do a great job keeping the rodent, gopher, mole and lizard population in check. Their rotund bodies attest to their hunting skills.
I very much like cats, but I have mixed feelings about them because I also raise birds. We have several large outdoor pens that house a variety of birds. We also have a large building about the size of a double car garage that houses some of the more delicate birds. Now I know it's a cats natural instinct to hunt birds as well as rodents and lizards, but I've been very fortunate in that my cats don't seem to bother the birds. Or at least they didn't until yesterday.
Here, to the best of my recollection, is what happened: I periodically spray my birds with pesticide to prevent creepy crawly things from taking up residence on them. Since I have so many birds, I purchase a large quart bottle of pesticide, dilute it to the proper strength then pour it into a small spray bottle for application.
After mixing the pesticide yesterday I couldn't find the little spray bottle I normally use, so I looked around and eventually found another one . I flushed it out several times with water and then added the pesticide. As I was about to begin spraying the birds, a friend dropped by and I was side-tracked with her visit for about half an hour.
When I returned to the bird room to pick up where I left off, the little spray bottle of pesticide wasn't where I thought I had left it. After a few minutes of hunting, I located it and sprayed all the birds.
About that time one of the cats walked by outside the bird room, and I was struck with the brilliant idea that I should also check them for fleas and tick. This is something normally I do on a regular basis and since I was already in an anti-pest mood, the timing seemed right. There is a small multi-purpose utility table in the bird room, that I use for...well, multi-purposes. When I check the cats, I customarily squirt a little catnip on the table and on one of their toys then bring the cats in one at a time and look them over.
Yesterday I followed my usual routine. The first cat up was Gracie. She is a very docile cat and I've never seen her go after any birds, not even the wild ones. I picked her up and set her on the table. Now normally she sniffs the catnip toy and rolls over so I can easily examine her. However yesterday something strange was afoot, because she had no interest in the table, or the toy. Her interest seemed to lie in the caged birds. I had an awful time controlling her long enough to complete my examination.
I didn't think too much of it, I figured I had caught her at a bad time and she wasn't in the mood to be checked. I released her outside and grabbed another cat, Solo. Now Solo can be a handful at times, but generally the catnip distracts her long enough for me to look her over. Yesterday she was more than a handful, she was pretty much down-right ballistic. I couldn't control her at all. She kept squirming away from me, leaping off the table and launching herself at the bird cages. After several attempts that were thwarted by me, she successfully managed d to attached herself to one of the cages with such intensity that I had to literally pry one claw off at a time.
She kept stretching her paws though the cage wire in an attempt to snare one of the birds. I was trying to hold her with with my left arm wrapped under her front legs and my left hand on one of her legs. With my other hand I tried unsuccessfully to pry her claws lose. My two hands were no match for her skilled four paws. The more the birds fluttered the more intense she became. He eyes were dilated and her breath hot. I've never seen such intense determination.
Fortunately, by some amazing miracle I was finally able to wrestle her off the cage and manipulate her writhing body out the door. Unfortunately the minute the door was open Gracie bolted back in and in one amazing acrobatic leap crashed into one of the bird cages and pulled it over. As I turned to see what had happened Solo pushed back past me and executed a similar move.
I knew I had to stop the insanity fast or I'd lose some birds. I glanced quickly around for something to distract the cats with. The only thing I spotted that might work for cat riot control was the bottle of pesticide. I grabbed it and sprayed it in the general direction of both cats.
Amazingly they both stopped dead in their tracks and focused on me with large glassy eyes. It was like something out of a Stephen King Movie. For a fleeting moment, fear crept into me as I imagined my own cats to be demon possessed! None-the-less, I bravely took advantage of the momentary pause in their insanity. Very calmly and carefully I lifted the cats off the cages by the nape of their neck and dropped them outside. I swear they both were grinning.
As I turned to survey the damage and check for injured birds (which I am happy to report there were none) the cats began emitting long mournful wales. I very slowly turned around and saw them both hanging by their claws on the outside of the screen door. Scary!
I was totally baffled, until I started to clean up the mess. It was then that I realized that after my friend's visit I had inadvertently switched bottles. I had sprayed the birds with catnip and the table and cat toys with pesticide.
Does anyone know how long it takes for catnip to wear off birds?
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