Oskar's foray into "prey model" feeding...Or hey, this toy is edible!
Well, it WAS prey model feeding, but I didn't do it, and it is kind of a funny story. Oskar went outside for his final pee before going to bed, and he wouldn't come when called to go to bed which is highly unlike him....he's usually quite a creature of habit. So I got his favorite squeaky toy out and squeaked it a few times--that always works to get his attention. Except it didn't.
Then I heard an answering squeak in the yard. I swear it sounded JUST like his toy. I figured he's slipped a toy out of the house and was playing with it. I got a flashlight and went out into the yard, and he did have something small and squeaky. Several small squeaky things. He'd dug up a rabbit nest, and there was quite a bit of resulting carnage. The funny thing was that Oskar was clearly a bit surprised by his new "toys" because, well, they obviously stopped squeaking when he bit them, unlike his usual toys.
But he adjusted, and he ate them. Prey model feeding! Except only midnight snack sized for my 110 pound boy....
Of course, they were wild rabbits, so now I'll probably have to get a de-wormer for him, but it was quite an adventure for him! I have to admit it was a bit sad to see all that baby bunny carnage, but what dumb rabbit thought it was a good idea to build a nest in a yard where there are three dogs?
Then I heard an answering squeak in the yard. I swear it sounded JUST like his toy. I figured he's slipped a toy out of the house and was playing with it. I got a flashlight and went out into the yard, and he did have something small and squeaky. Several small squeaky things. He'd dug up a rabbit nest, and there was quite a bit of resulting carnage. The funny thing was that Oskar was clearly a bit surprised by his new "toys" because, well, they obviously stopped squeaking when he bit them, unlike his usual toys.
But he adjusted, and he ate them. Prey model feeding! Except only midnight snack sized for my 110 pound boy....
Of course, they were wild rabbits, so now I'll probably have to get a de-wormer for him, but it was quite an adventure for him! I have to admit it was a bit sad to see all that baby bunny carnage, but what dumb rabbit thought it was a good idea to build a nest in a yard where there are three dogs?
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I agree, but I don't think bunnies are too smart In my front yard there's always rabbit poop and that's where the dogs go to potty.
Coarse cats go in yards that have dogs and plenty of dog smells, but they still go in it.. lol
She would really like Oskar.
@tjbart17 - that reminds me of when Isaac turned over a rock and found a bunch of ant larvae. After I explained what they were, he wouldn't leave them alone. He was gathering them all up and "saving the ant babies." He was mortified when I suggested we put the rock back. "You'll squish the ant babies!"
I had this maniacal cat some years back. My sister's cat actually, but she was the top huntress in the whole city of Phoenix. That cat was so good she could catch Humming Birds. She wouldn't kill them right away either. She would just wound them, then let them flutter around and smack them and pounce and stuff. She'd bite a couple times then jump back and watch as the poor bird still tried to get away. Then she'd finally kill it, eat half and leave the rest in the middle of my bedroom doorway. She was evil.
Tara and Heidi, I loved those stories! and Oskar, at just over a year old, is very "young" still, and kind of like a baby....still learning and figuring things out and he has a kind of "childlike" quality that is very appealing. It's not puppyish (though he still has some of that) so much as like a toddler...
I do find it interesting that my NKs know right away that when they kill something they should eat it. (They've even tried to eat the snakes and lizards, but apparently they don't taste good). In contrast, my friend's Border Terrier breeder says BTs kill mice and rats, but they don't eat them, but tend to "present" the things they kill to their people. I guess that's a breed behavior that has been selected for?
She survived, but after that she never went for lizards.
At the house we live at now Fig would catch baby bunnies bring one to our back yard and let them go then chase after them. I was outside so I told her to go and she ran off the baby bunny was so scared it stood there even when I got close.
Eventually it ran off to the woods.
She'd catch tons of mice, moles, shrews and who knows what else and bring them to our front door or back door.
Saya has chased two bunnies at age of 9weeks or 10 and even chased a hawk at age two years old.
She caught a snake once, but she got surprised and let it go snake was shocked a bit, but Saya actually left it when I told her to leave it and come on.
She does eat whole prey quail and it's her favorite meal in the world.
Poor Oskar broke his squeaky toys.
Saya loves squeaky toys too.
*Now that I think about it, she did show interest in one random squirrel roadkill once. But it was only one time (I didn't let her get to it). Plus, I'm not sure that even counts.
There's a great pic on the Shiba side of Lindsay's girl Shiba with her first kill: a mole! (I think it was the first anyway!)
The bad thing is that it's really hard to get said dead animals away from them, so they do often eat them, and I have to watch them for parasites. We've not had a problem before (except the parasites my Akita had when I got him which was a whole different issue) but I do have to give them de-wormers on occasion to make sure they don't have problems from all the things they kill in the yard and eat. (I don't worry about the birds, but the rodents are kind of sketchy. And Saya I'm glad to say they've not gotten sick from eating anything, but like I said, they kill the snakes/lizards but don't eat them. They also once caught a bat, which they didn't eat either).