I used to have a barn cat named war kitten he was a black cat that was fearless he could outfight any tom that dared come near. He kept the barn mouse free and I never had a chipmunk go after my tomatoes when he was around. He also found every buck I shot before I did in his tenure in my barn. He also defended the hind quarter of a buck I shot from a gray fox I got to see that. Like every barn cat he just disappeared one day. Fast forward to late last July I was cleaning stalls when I heard kittens we have replacement barn cats that honestly are a little lazy, the female has had 3 batches of kittens and the first 2 litters a Tom would come in and kill them. I heard the kittens and in a moment of softness I brought the kittens and the mom in the house. 3 kittens and we found a home for one with our house sitter that left us with 2 males that were not going to be house cats they were moved to the barn. Unnamed kittens but one stood out even as a kitten living in the house when he reached about 3 weeks he decided he could play fight with the dogs, then it was more than play he stalked the dogs to fight and never backed down. In the barn he would go after the horses tails, they could kick his head off but this kitten shows no fear. At 10 weeks he killing mice on a regular basis. Tonight my wife and I are headed up at 9 to bring the horses in and clean stalls we get to the front yard and the dogs lose their minds there is a opossum by the bird feeder, and of course little war kitten is in the mix trying to bat at the grinner. I went in the house to grab the 410 come out and move into position I have to use 1 foot to keep the damn cat away. I pulled the trigger and 2 dogs bolt because of the loud noises, the damn cat is not gun shy he is batting at the opossum as it does it's death twitches. Then we go to the barn and the horses are eating grain the damn cat bolts at the old gelding while he is eating and startles the horse, the damn cat sensing that he has some power over the horse goes in the stall the horse is now pissed off and tries his best to stomp the cat, swing and a miss by the old horse the cat is fearless. As soon as I let an arrow go I am going to the barn to grab the cat and see if he will track he has the right attitude.
When I was back in my BB gun days (6ish), I had a cat that would retrieve every bird I shot. There were days where she'd retrieve 100 sparrows/starlings in one day. She'd eat the first couple, bring the next few back for her kittens, and then the rest she would drop at my feet and turn back around waiting for the next dead bird to fall. I've hunted with a lot of good dogs and I can honestly say hunting with that cat was my favorite.
Good barn cats are worth their weight in gold. We had one when I was growing up that looked like a skunk and fought like a badger. Dude meant business..
I shot the biggest deer on the plot tonight a little 8 point it was liberating to shoot a deer that would have made me happy 10 years ago. No trophy but the recovery is more important no blood trail because of snowfall had to fall back on an emotional support animal
War Kitten the tracking cat his first training track only 50 yards but he followed arrow to recovery.
Congrats on the deer Sota!!!! I’ve always grown up with barn cats/house cats. They have a special place in my heart (especially after I had my cat Coors all through college). Almost on the level of dogs to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can forgive a cat sitting by the bird feeder if the barn is mouse free. I just can't have a cat in the house, the cat is not so bad but the litter box is. My daughter always had a cat or two in the house.
We currently have 2 cats. They REFUSE to use the litter box. They are just like dogs. Sit and the door and whine to get out. In the summer, they prefer to stay out all the time. And we have an orange one that looks a lot like yours Sota.
So War Kittens brother I named Shart because he always comes in the horse stall when you are done picking apples and wet spots and takes a crap in the wood shavings. Fresh cat crap makes me gag. Anyway he gets his butt kicked by war all the time and he is just kind of a fat tub. Yesterday I get home and see him finishing off a gray squirrel, kinda impressive for a 5 month old cat. During my hunting season there was a red squirrel by my stand, for those of you that do not have the pleasure of dealing with a red squirrel they are little a-holes they will bark at you they are really annoying. On my land of 10,000 squirrels red squirrels are rare you see one about every 2-3 years. If they come in the yard to the feeder I will take them out. I have a squirrel dog that barks at the gray squirrels when the quit running and sit in a tree. A red squirrel that barks back is more than she can take from an indignant tree rodent so she would have barking fits when the red was in the yard. Today I get home and get out of the truck and Shart comes up to me and drops the red squirrel right in front of me. Good cat.
I bet more red squirrels (we call 'em pineys) are killed by p-o'd deer hunters every year than all other non-natural causes combined. Once they lock on to you they will growl and bark for hours. They are also vicious little suckers. They're more like weasels than squirrels. I've seen them kill big grays more than once. Rip their guts out and leave them to die.
