Catbird Seat

Here's Teddy in the catbird seat or bird feeder I should say. He is the sweetest cat. Very vocal. Yesterday, I caught him with a chickadee in his mouth and chased him down. I got him by the scruff of his neck and he let go of the chickadee and it flew up in a nearby tree and fussed and fussed. Whew! If I can catch the cats just after they catch the birds then the birds can sing for another day. But, if I'm not around... Did I mention they bring in field rats through the doggy door? One day last week they brought in three in one day. Teddy, Boo, Midge and MeanMom are the barn cats that have moved up to the house. Teddy fights his brother Boo: Midge is young and plays with both of the boys while her mother MeanMom lurks around outside hissing and spitting and chasing or jumping my little weiner dogs. How mean is she? She's so mean, we are at the stage of clawing and grabbing my hand, pulling it to her, then biting it and licking it. A big improvement. I'm trying to tame her so I can take her to get fixed. I have become one of those people I revile; the ones who don't take care of their animals and/or have them spayed or neutered. Let me explain. My farm/barn has become a cat farm; I never knew they had so many babies. I have spayed and neutered 9 cats so far, but I can't afford to do all of them (and they usually leave after I do that). So, all I can do is continue to feed them. I love them all, even MeanMom. They are so sweet (except MM). My husband wants to shoot them but I won't let him. Teddy, Boo and Midge all got to the house because they were hurt or sick. More vet bills. And no, there are no rescues etc. in this area. By the way, MeanMom looks a little fatter, hmmmm. She thinks the garage is her house and goes into the loft where she has her litters. We've tried the havahart cage and she's too smart for that. Let me know if anyone has any ideas. In 23 years, we never had this problem.

UPDATE: Today after I wrote this the dogs and I went out for a walk in the field. I looked back and here came Teddy, Boo, Midge and MeanMom. Meanmom came up to me and rubbed my leg, a first, then let me rub down her back a couple of times then clawed my hand and bit it. We did this several times while out walking and she got better at letting me rub her. Major event for MeanMom. She doesn't bite hard; the claw she catches my hand with is a little more bothersome, but I think soon she will let me pet and rub her without biting. She's finally starting to trust me; it has only taken a year. Hurrah! I've finally made headway with MeanMom.