Originally Posted by
JMS
The problem with poison is that Rusty is a hunter and scavenger! If he can catch it he will eat it and if it is on the ground he lays claim to it! If he eats enough of the poisoned rats before I can gather them, the poison could kill him! It takes a month for the poison to leave the body once ingested, so, where one or 2 rats in a month wont hurt Rusty, 2 a week could potentially be fatal!
As for cats, they would be a tasty meal for Rusty! We had a feral cat that lived in the area. A big mean black cat! I am told that it lived in the area for more than 2 years. the coyotes wouldn't even touch this cat, and most dogs I have known will engage a feral cat in battle and once the cat begins to fight back, the dog high tails it out of there! Not Rusty! I heard the barks one night at about 12 am. I stepped outside to see rusty jumping back and forth in circles around the very angry feral cat who stood his ground! Rusty lunged, the cat slapped, rusty backed off and lunged again, the cat slapped again! I tried to chase rusty off but he was having none of it! He grabbed the cat around its middle and shook the cat! the cats claws dug into Rusty's face! I pulled Rusty away to give the cat a chance to escape and he did! I let rusty go but apparently the cat came back because the next morning Rusty was strutting around the yard with the dead feral cat in his mouth!