Mama Rabbit In Mourning Vigil

[sudsmaster]

It's customary out here for dogs and cats to get rabies shots. I believe it's mandatory for dogs, if not also for cats. All my cats got rabies shots and regular boosters as needed.

While I might see a raccoon in SC attacking a slow, injured, or dead cat, I can't see a possum ever attacking a normal cat. Possums are just not predators that way, at least out here. Yes, they are strong, and good climbers, but quite slow and generally vegetarian, although they will also eat stuff like worms, grubs, snails, slugs.

If raccoons and possums were cat predators there'd be a lot fewer cats in this neighborhood... Now, coyotes and loose are a problem for cats, but my home is near downtown, unlikely to see any coyotes to begin with, and my property has six foot high fencing and gating so I'm not too concerned about canine intrusion of any kind. And the cats are smart enough to know where the escape routes from outside into the gated area is (I left them a small hole in one fence - too small for a dog but big enough for an average cat). There was a wild predator dog that was killing cats on the other side of town a few years ago - it made the local paper - but that dog was either captured or killed back then.

 

[yogitunes]

Sorry to say but my Yogi will chase and eat any small animal in the fenced yard...so I have learned to walk the yard first and scare off any rabbits or squirrels to escape the outside of the fence area, I do feed these little guys on the outside, to keep them there, but morning always brings them into the yard....I also have a pet bunny, and I keep him in a cage in the house, very protected, and spoiled, but I could never let anything happen to him, or any animal, if I can avoid it.....

what really gets me is people who have pets like snakes, and purchase live bunnies to feed them, I know its just the nature of the snake to eat them, but thats in the wild, where the bunny may have a fighting chance to survive, but to toss a live one into an enclosed space to be eaten and hear him scream, THAT I CANNOT TOLERATE!...that's just me...and many people may get upset over my opinion on this, but I don't care, I won't even give feeder goldfish to my oversize catfish, he's gonna have to live on the food out of the tincan!....feed your snake ROADKILL, there's already too much of that around, and it's free.....feed your snake anyway you like, just don't do it around me.....

 

[tolivac]

On the coons and possums vs cats-I just go by what some of the neighbors and coon hunters say.If I owned any cats out here I would keep them inside.One of my neighbors that had a cat(their cat died)made up a "birdcage"type thing outside his garage his former cat could go into-the cat would be outside-but protected by the cage.
I don't want a snake in my house even if he is in a cage-How can you keep a snake as a "pet" you can't play catch with him or take him out hunting.The snake is not vey "cuddly"I think snake are WILD animals and should be outside-NOT in your home.There are plenty of snakes my way nataurally-some you don't want in the home because they are poisonous.And it become a problem if a "pet" snake gets loose in the area it really doesn't naturally live-Florida has that problem of "pet" pythons getting loose.I knew a neighbor out here that has a python and he keeps him in his cage-a 50 gal aquarium tank.the tank has a tight lid that has vents so the snake gets air-and heat lamps to keep the snake warm in the winter.He feeds it mice that he catches around the house.He uses small box type mousetraps to catch the mice live.Snakes such as pythons like live or stunned prey-they don't normally like dead prey.You can't get me to keep a snake of any sort in my place.I can enjoy them outside.Sometimes see lemon snakes in the yard-beautiful creatures-but best in the GREAT OUTDOORS!