Mouse Brings Hope to Heritage Farm

Ivy, our adopted kitten, has been growing up to become a driven kitten. She likes to eat. Food is motivating for her. This could be quite an asset on the farm.

Food is a fine reason for Ivy to pursue her next meal. Unfortunately, she has not been trained to hunt. Even though she has instincts as a cat, her adoptive mother, Baby, is not a hunter. So Ivy does not have a seasoned hunter as an example to follow after. But food still draws her.

Though her cuteness endears her to most of us on the farm, she would be much cuter if she would become a mouser…a cat who keeps the rodent population in check. Several cats who call the farm, home, congregate and tend to wait for a handout. How much nicer it would be to have Mousers to earn their keep.

If the cats don’t do the work, we have to take measures into our own hands. We trap them, the mice, that is. 🙂 We set up a trap for unwanted mice several days ago. And, sure enough an unlucky mouse SNAPPED the trap!

On the farm we find uses for things that others might discard. In this instance, we recycled the dead mouse. We offered it to a “herd of cats” just outside the farmhouse. The fastest cat, the one most interested in a mouse for breakfast was Ivy.

Ivy’s appetite shows her grit. She growls when patted while she has a newly found mouse in her grip. She rejects the advances of curious cats in the “herd”. She is single-mindedly busy.