Look what the cat dragged out

Not field herping, but miscellaneous wildlife :D I heard my roomie's cat outside messing around with something, so of course I went out there to catch it myself and check it out. Never seen a live one of these, lots of dead ones, so it was pretty fun! Was sure to return it to the cat when I was done though, he was very impatient with the fact I'd stolen his catch

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/IMG_3527.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/IMG_3528.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/IMG_3529.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/IMG_3531.jpg

Ohhh! That's kinda cute and creepy looking all at the same time! Is it some sort of mole?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like a mole to me. I never realized how big their paws were.

wow I like his little big paws!!

Moles are creepy little things... I remember the first time I saw one it was a "What the heck is THAT thing?" moment.

Wow never seen tjat before

He's kinda cute. It it a mole? Don't shrews look like that too?

Can't see the pictures but voles and shrews look like moles. Don't know where you're located but that would probably help determine. Or if I could see the pics at work...

Oh my goodness. He's cute. I'm sure kitty was very offended that you ruined her kill though. :P

It's a mole! Walked around on those big flat feet crooked with wicked claws (and the little bugger was STRONG!). Not to mention every time it made it to the grass it'd do it's best to inconspicuously dig under the grass :D Pretty much the funniest thing I've watched in a while. Cat was very impatient and when I let the mole go he was sure to go finish his job. Was great fun though!

Why would you let the cat kill it?

I mean, if it was alive and in decent shape, you could have put the cat inside and let the mole go back to doing mole stuff in the wild like it's supposed to.

I actually had one of these in my apartment once! Don't ask me how it got in but my cat found it and I rescued it before he could do any damage to the poor little critter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Why would you let the cat kill it?

I mean, if it was alive and in decent shape, you could have put the cat inside and let the mole go back to doing mole stuff in the wild like it's supposed to.

---

My thoughts exactly! It's not like the cat planned on eating it i'm sure...most cats like to kill because it's what they are hardwired to do in nature. Never seen a cat actually eat one. I know they are destructive but they can be helpful as well.

Yet another reason to hate outdoor cats. One of the number 3 reasons for bird deaths in the US . . . maybe its number 2 for moles! Who knows . . . My cat was an indoor / garage cat, and he would still find copperheads that came into the garage, but never hurt them, just wanted till I noticed her watching something :-)

Why let the cat do it's thing? You ever see how much destruction one of these things can cause?

I despise moles, I can't count the number of times I've twisted an ankle stepping on a mole run. They ruin your yard, tear up flowerbeds, it is almost unbelievable how much damage just one of these can do. And they are all but impossible to get rid of.

My mom has been fighting them for three years now and still can't get rid of them. Her yard looks like a mine field, she's tried sprays, smoke bomb things, those stupid sonic stakes, you name it, and they are still around.

Not only would I have let the cat finish the job, I'd have stayed there to make sure it got done.

Gale

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reptileexperts

Yet another reason to hate outdoor cats. One of the number 3 reasons for bird deaths in the US . . . maybe its number 2 for moles! Who knows . . . My cat was an indoor / garage cat, and he would still find copperheads that came into the garage, but never hurt them, just wanted till I noticed her watching something :-)

---

I agree 100%. Yet snake owners are the bad ones...

Poor little fella :/ Another reason I'm a dog person. Could not deal with 'presents' like that.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

Fun fact I learned on animal planet's '10 most sinister animals' or something similar...

Domestic cats and humans are the only animals on the planet that will kill something simply for the sake of the hunt. Every other animal does so either by accident, for food, defense, territory, etc. Cats will do so with no reason.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

Domestic cats and humans are the only animals on the planet that will kill something simply for the sake of the hunt.

---

Ever watched footage on killar whales? I saw a video of a pod, unprovoked, attacking a mother whale and her baby. Several would distract mamma whale(crucial since one good tail strike could kill any of the offending orca) while the others kept pushing the baby deeper and deeper. Eventually the baby whale grew too tired to resurface and drowned. The pod of killer whales swam away giving each other high fives. Just sayin, humans and cats aren't the only douchebags on this planet.

I'd hope that anyone who says it's fine to kill moles is also okay with people killing nuisance birds that poop on cars, snakes that get too close to houses and whatever other NATIVE wildlife lives around their house.

If it was some cute little baby bluebird would it be great to give the living thing back to the cat for it to torment to death slowly? Perhaps the shrill chirps of it dying would get on folks' nerves though.

I have dogs that take care of the critters in the yard. Including moles - one of my dogs digs them up, kills them and brings them to the door, just like a cat. Moles are so distructive to the yard - killing a few tends to drive them off to someone elses yard.

My dogs also do a good job dispatching mice and rats that escape in the snake room. They catch them much faster than the live traps do..... Is that much different than feeding my snakes? Half the time they eat the rodent.

I think it is a touch hypocritical to slam somone for killing a mole, when we raise and breed snakes and reptiles that eat other animals. Even if you feed f/t someone had to kill that animal......

What a cute little bugger

It's adorable and though I personally would have returned it to yard, I know many people see them as pests. It's just a cycle of life. We all kill rats/mice to feed our snakes and even if the cat doesn't eat it, other critters will.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John1982

Ever watched footage on killar whales? I saw a video of a pod, unprovoked, attacking a mother whale and her baby. Several would distract mamma whale(crucial since one good tail strike could kill any of the offending orca) while the others kept pushing the baby deeper and deeper. Eventually the baby whale grew too tired to resurface and drowned. The pod of killer whales swam away giving each other high fives. Just sayin, humans and cats aren't the only douchebags on this planet.

---

Actually, killer whales will eat off the baby that they kill. It's been documented numerous times and that baby will feed the entire pod. Sometimes the filming crews/boats/activity will drive a predator away from its kill though.

Wow, forgot about this and didn't realize it had gotten more replies. As to why I let the cat have it back, it just wasn't something I thought about. I've grown up with outdoor cats that took care of vermin on the property (rats, mice, moles, etc) so I wasn't particularly focused on saving it. If it had been a bird or whatever else, would've done the same thing.

Didn't mean to offend, I suppose it's a mentality difference. I don't own any cats currently (it was a room mate's cat) and I don't plan to, I like my reptiles. Should I get a feline of my own I may think about it more