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Red Oak Farm
3040 Big Buck Road
Trezevant, TN 38258
owners@redoakfarm.com
Copyright © 1998 -2008
All Rights Reserved
Red Oak Farm
Revised: almost weekly
Rodent & Insect Control
This is Tom. He mediates between any arguing felines. Like all our cats, he was "dropped" in the bottom land and made his way past the local coyotes to the farm where he now makes his home. I have never understood the mentality of people who regard pets as "disposable" and dump them out in the country when they tire of them. Any cat that we wind up with is taken to the vet immediately for shots and neutering. Tom brings "presents" to the porch to let us know he is working for his dinner. He is our best ratter.
This is Miss
Kitty, who outlived Mr. Dillon and Chester. We don't know her exact age,
but think she is probably around 10 years old now. She is our oldest cat
and very stand-offish at times. Especially if you have been petting some
other cat. She disapproves of any new cat that comes into the household
and if it were not for Tom's intervention, she would probably send them
packing.
This
is Miss Annabelle. Miss Annabelle currently holds the farm record for most
rodent kills in one day - 42 mice in less than 3 hours. We were cleaning
out a shed....... She will also kill
moles, voles, squirrels, rabbits and birds. We believe she and Tom are
related because of the markings, but have no way of knowing.
And
of course we have to mention our early warning system for prowlers - human or
animal. Meet Smokey, a Rottweiler mix and Sugar Baby, a chow mix.
They work together to eliminate moles and terrorize squirrels. They get
along fine with the cats.
Actually, we showed you these pictures just for fun. In a modern poultry farm, you do not utilize cats (or dogs) for rodent control.
Rodents such as mice or rats carry diseases which emus as well as people can catch. They can also do a lot of damage to the pocketbook when you are feeding them instead of your emus.
Insects can cost money in contaminated feed as well as in sick or dead emus. A swarm of buffalo gnats can make an emu chick anemic real quick, and fire ants can kill one in minutes. Stinging flies can stress a bird.
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