Category: Information

CAT ATTACK!

It was mid October and there was a great commotion going on in our garden. First there was a bang as something ran into the metal gate alongside the house. Then a blur as a creature ran past followed by another blur in hot pursuit. The first was a squirrel, the second a local cat – plain blue/grey in colour. Then several minutes of chasing – the squirrel trying to hide with the cat hurling itself into and onto the shrubs the squirrel was sheltering in. Three times the squirrel got to a tree but the cat grabbed it by the tail and pulled it down. A moment of confrontation and the chase was on again. Eventually the squirrel got up a tree to seeming safety. However the cat had not read the health and safety guidelines and followed up the trunk. For another 10 minutes the cat tried to reach the squirrel, perched on the tip of a branch, but this was too spindly to support the cat’s weight. Eventually the cat got bored and tried to get back to the ground but going up is often easier than coming down! After some too-ing and fro-ing and considerable loss of dignity, the cat reached safety and wandered off. The result a draw with plenty of exercise but no obvious damage to either party.

Many cats are loved by their owners but it is estimated they kill around 27 million songbirds in the UK each year and many more millions of mice and voles. There are suggested ways in which you can reduce these numbers such as fitting a bell to your cats collar. None of the many cats which wander through our garden has a bell attached.

Squirrels are regarded as a pest by many. They have contributed to the decline of our native red squirrel in several ways including spreading Squirrel Pox to them, to which the Greys are immune. They also damage trees, particularly newly planted ones, by gnawing away at the bark. And your house may not be immune as they chew through cables and enlarge holes to get access to roof spaces. So for many, this battle was between two villains.

Attacking squirrels can be risky for cats. They can get scratched by the squirrel which can put up quite a fight and as squirrels can carry diseases the scratch can become infected. Some cats will eat squirrels which brings additional problems such as small bones blocking the cat’s airways and catching diseases such as Toxoplasmosis or taking in parasites. For some days there was no sign of any squirrel in our garden but then a wary and very tentative one re-appeared and normal business has been resumed.

In all the years we have lived here, this is the first time we have witnessed such a contest. It would be interesting to know if any other readers have noticed something similar.