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Cat taken by pinemarten?

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  • 07-07-2010 10:48am
    #1
    JoJo_27
    Registered Users Posts: 69 ✭✭


    Our family cat of over 10 years disappeared a couple of weeks ago and we're all devastated. The night she went missing there was a series of horrible cat calls and cries. She wasn't much of a wanderer, the couch to the garage was mostly it so it's definitely not that she ran away. A couple of nights before she disappeared there was horrible commotion outside too and she arrived in with a damaged back leg that she couldn't use. I think this was probably inflicted by whatever got her in the end and put her at a disadvantage in defending herself. Our next door neighbours young cat went missing under similar circumstances also. We live in an area in Clare where pinemartens are relatively common and also foxes. We've always had foxes around the garden with the cats so doubt it was them. Prime suspect is the pinemarten - is it likely?


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    #2
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    JoJo_27 wrote: »
    Our family cat of over 10 years disappeared a couple of weeks ago and we're all devastated. The night she went missing there was a series of horrible cat calls and cries. She wasn't much of a wanderer, the couch to the garage was mostly it so it's definitely not that she ran away. A couple of nights before she disappeared there was horrible commotion outside too and she arrived in with a damaged back leg that she couldn't use. I think this was probably inflicted by whatever got her in the end and put her at a disadvantage in defending herself. Our next door neighbours young cat went missing under similar circumstances also. We live in an area in Clare where pinemartens are relatively common and also foxes. We've always had foxes around the garden with the cats so doubt it was them. Prime suspect is the pinemarten - is it likely?

    From my own long experience of living alongside pine martens with cats; no it is not likely.

    We invaded a pine marten's territory and there was no retaliation; my cats used to try to play with the pine martens.

    Even when they were rearing young, no aggression. They prey on small animals only.

    Maybe mink if not foxes; people often confuse the two on a brief sighting.

    Mink will attack and kill cats.

    They do exist in Co Clare.

    I have had a cat first attacked then killed by a badger also. Just the same; first attacked and dragged around then vanished. We heard the badgers attack several times'; the sett was too near the house.

    So no to the pine marten being to blame here.


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    #3
    JoJo_27
    Registered Users Posts: 69 ✭✭JoJo_27


    Thanks Grace. I don't think we have mink in the area but badgers and foxes are both around. I feel I can rule out the badgers though as whatever this was managed to get into our garage through a small open window (not high up) and get at bags of dog food.
    I think the hardest part is not knowing what happened to her. How she died, was she left somewhere injured or killed outright. All a bit distressing really.


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    #4
    John_Rambo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,597 ✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Very unusual for any wild animal to risk injury scrapping domestic animals unless there is safe food involved (ie; fox v hen or pine martin v pet rabbit). One deep skin tear from a domestic cat could mean the end for a lot of wild animals, infection ect... I would put money on your cat being injured or worse by feral cats.


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    #5
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    JoJo_27 wrote: »
    Thanks Grace. I don't think we have mink in the area but badgers and foxes are both around. I feel I can rule out the badgers though as whatever this was managed to get into our garage through a small open window (not high up) and get at bags of dog food.
    I think the hardest part is not knowing what happened to her. How she died, was she left somewhere injured or killed outright. All a bit distressing really.


    NB it may well not be the same critter that got at the dog food that got your cat; that is what they call circumstantial evidence. That is pine marten behaviour, but attacking a cat is not.

    Badgers on the other hand will attack cats and dogs; know someone who had the face taken off their dog by a badger in their sight.

    We had a cat "holed" by a mink and they will attack lambs; pines will not do that . They eat slugs and small prey only.

    I know; it was the same with our cat.

    Still wonder what happened to him. But he was a great softie and wanted to be friends with everyone.

    It wasn;t his first skirmish with a badger; at the house where the pine marten were, there was a badger sett near the house and he got badly bitten on the back then. Nasty ulcer resulted.

    But this second house; the sett was far too near the house and one night we found him covered in muck having been attacked and dragged across the yard. There was badger scatt fairly near and tracks.

    And many a night we would hear the skirmish between cats and badgers; I spent one night after one battle sitting in a field coaxing the other cats to come back home.

    These two are street wise and would not fall prey to a marten. But a badger is a different proposition altogether.

    Once one came in with a wound at the base of the tail; I bet the badger got face ache after trying that.

    Wild life is wild indeed. My present two have learned that and that a tree is a safe place to be


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    #6
    morganafay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭morganafay


    I wouldn't be surprised if it was a fox, because your cat is quite old and it's not unheard of for them to attack old or weak (or very young) cats. Especially if food is scarce or something. I don't know anything about pine martens really . . .

    It could have been feral cats . . . I don't know about feral cats, but in my experience with tame cats, they will fight yes, but not seriously injure each other usually. Especially if your cat is a female.

    Could it have been a dog?

    I hope she shows up again, even though it's been a few weeks.


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    #7
    thalia_13
    Registered Users Posts: 730 ✭✭✭thalia_13


    Hope your cat turns up ok! Have to say i immediately thought badger when i read the story. Or a mink, which may have bred wit the pinemarten. We had a mink tear the neck out of a newborn calf while the mother was delivering its twin. Awful creatures! I really hope it turns up, it might just be resting somewhere tryin to recuperate? Best of luck


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    #8
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    Was the cats leg checked out by a vet before you allowed her out again? 10 isn't that old for a cat but if let out in a weakened state she could of become victim to wildlife or a dog or another cat could of had a scrap with her.


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    #9
    JoJo_27
    Registered Users Posts: 69 ✭✭JoJo_27


    Guineapigrescue wrote: »
    Was the cats leg checked out by a vet before you allowed her out again? 10 isn't that old for a cat but if let out in a weakened state she could of become victim to wildlife or a dog or another cat could of had a scrap with her.


    Cat had been checked out by vet, only muscle damage she reckoned but it certainly put her at a disadvantage. She only travelled short distance from back door to low window of garage to nearby hedge/toilet - only out for minutes. She was a nervous cat but could stand her ground with dogs etc. Must've been a badger or mink but not aware of any in the area.


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    #10
    homerhop
    Registered Users Posts: 1,953 ✭✭✭homerhop


    thalia_13 wrote: »
    Or a mink, which may have bred wit the pinemarten.

    Ok forgive my ignorance but how in gods name did you come up with that one?


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    #11
    homerhop
    Registered Users Posts: 1,953 ✭✭✭homerhop


    JoJo_27 wrote: »
    Must've been a badger or mink but not aware of any in the area.
    rest assured there will be a badger in your area, mainly nocternal animals so you wont see them that much, same with mink, if there is a river, lake or stream near by there will be mink on them.


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    #12
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Also at this time of year, badgers will have young and will be very aggressive to any intruders.

    That was probably so when we lost our cat.

    Their trails and setts go back many generations.

    Very few mink sightings in Clare so far but that does not mean they are not there. They are indeed vicious creatures.


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    #13
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Having studied Pine Martens, Foxes, Badgers, and Mink up close and in detail for decades, I think it highly unlikely that any of them would attack and kill a Cat. I have seen Foxes retreat rather than engage a Cat. I have seen Cats attack Foxes and the Cats win. Mink though one of the greatest killers out there would not take on a Cat. Badgers - big and strong, fierce and territorial but again unlikely to take on a Cat. Pine Marten? Now come on! I think not.
    Cats go missing every day. Cats are killed every day. Cats get in fights every day. And the usual culprits? Other Cats. Most likely Feral Cats.


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    #14
    wildlifeboy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭wildlifeboy


    homerhop wrote: »
    Originally Posted by thalia_13 viewpost.gif
    Or a mink, which may have bred wit the pinemarten.
    QUOTE]

    A Minky Marten? they are extremely Agressive...:rolleyes:


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    #15
    thalia_13
    Registered Users Posts: 730 ✭✭✭thalia_13


    Well a friend from tipp caught a half breed mink pinemarten in his garden, it was more brownish red like a pinemarten but had mink features. Sounds mad, anyways a vet friend of his reckoned they can breed in wild if mink is in minority in area. Survival etc!

    Cant say i have ever seen one, or if i really believe it was what my mate thought it was. :)
    But minky marten is very funny must tell my friend that one!


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    #16
    LostCovey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    thalia_13 wrote: »
    Well a friend from tipp caught a half breed mink pinemarten in his garden, it was more brownish red like a pinemarten but had mink features. Sounds mad, anyways a vet friend of his reckoned they can breed in wild if mink is in minority in area. Survival etc!

    Cant say i have ever seen one, or if i really believe it was what my mate thought it was. :)
    But minky marten is very funny must tell my friend that one!

    I don't think American Mink and Pine marten will hybridise. They may be confusing them with ferrets and polecats, which will.

    LostCovey


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    #17
    thalia_13
    Registered Users Posts: 730 ✭✭✭thalia_13


    Could possibly be what was caught then, because i didn't think they would cross breed.
    Haha goes to show never take people at their word, even vets!

    Anyways we are gone well off topic, OP i really hope your cat turns up! Lost one of my own cats this wk and am still distraught about it :-( would never wish it on anyone.


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    #18
    homerhop
    Registered Users Posts: 1,953 ✭✭✭homerhop


    There are no polecats in Ireland ;)


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    #19
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Derrick Wailing Lumberjack wrote: »
    Having studied Pine Martens, Foxes, Badgers, and Mink up close and in detail for decades, I think it highly unlikely that any of them would attack and kill a Cat. I have seen Foxes retreat rather than engage a Cat. I have seen Cats attack Foxes and the Cats win. Mink though one of the greatest killers out there would not take on a Cat. Badgers - big and strong, fierce and territorial but again unlikely to take on a Cat. Pine Marten? Now come on! I think not.
    Cats go missing every day. Cats are killed every day. Cats get in fights every day. And the usual culprits? Other Cats. Most likely Feral Cats.

    Badgers can and do take on cats and dogs; period. I have seen this several times. And well-documented elsewhere, especially when they have young to defend.

    Mink also will attack a cat; again, this is personal witness.

    Far more so than other cats.


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    #20
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    thalia_13 wrote: »
    Well a friend from tipp caught a half breed mink pinemarten in his garden, it was more brownish red like a pinemarten but had mink features. Sounds mad, anyways a vet friend of his reckoned they can breed in wild if mink is in minority in area. Survival etc!

    Cant say i have ever seen one, or if i really believe it was what my mate thought it was. :)
    But minky marten is very funny must tell my friend that one!


    I will believe this if they did DNA testing etc; there is wide variation in coloration etc.

    And what was your friend doing trapping a protected species anyway? Pine martens are protected in Ireland


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    #21
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    thalia_13 wrote: »
    Well a friend from tipp caught a half breed mink pinemarten in his garden, it was more brownish red like a pinemarten but had mink features. Sounds mad, anyways a vet friend of his reckoned they can breed in wild if mink is in minority in area. Survival etc!

    Cant say i have ever seen one, or if i really believe it was what my mate thought it was. :)
    But minky marten is very funny must tell my friend that one!

    Highly unlikely. Colouration in many mammals and birds can vary considerably among individuals (a reason for have a fieildguide with paintings rather than photos). Many Grey Squirrels look Red and Red Squirrels have grey tints. It doesn't mean cross breeding.
    That Vet should know better than suggest such a thing. If not his field he should just say so, rather than wild speculation. It's this reluctance to admit not knowing something that leads to absolute ignorance being spread. :mad:


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    #22
    magnumlady
    Registered Users Posts: 3,657 ✭✭✭magnumlady


    We have a pine marten visiting our garden. Our cats are fine.
    There is a photo of him here:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/4277995845/


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    #23
    sandra3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5 ✭sandra3


    seriously...will a mink attack and kill a cat? We def have minks in the area and i have a cat....she doesn't venture out late night at all and usually heads out about fourish and mainly stays in area. I will go nuts if anything like that happens....what can i do?????????????:confused:


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    #24
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    sandra3 wrote: »
    seriously...will a mink attack and kill a cat? We def have minks in the area and i have a cat....she doesn't venture out late night at all and usually heads out about fourish and mainly stays in area. I will go nuts if anything like that happens....what can i ?????????????:confused:

    Do not panic! Most cats are pretty street wise. Yes they can.

    The only time we had a real problem was with a deaf cat who got"holed" by a mink. It only got to her as she did not hear it coming. No other problem and we were in a very remote area full of mink and other critters. So please worry not.


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    #25
    sandra3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5 ✭sandra3


    That is a relief but hearing about lots of attacks....good to know that the odds are slim. thanks


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    #26
    tim63
    Registered Users Posts: 34 ✭tim63


    had a cat go missing for 24 hrs on monday, came back with 4" of bone missing from front leg between ankle and knee, paw only held on by blood vessels, vets never seen anything like it, don't think it was a trap because 2 breaks in bone, he just wondered in at 11;30 at night as if nothing was wrong, luckily managed to get him to a vet, doing well though coming home tomorrow.
    not seen mink here but have foxes, badger and of course feral cats, like to know what did it though :mad:


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    #27
    sandra3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5 ✭sandra3


    Thats nasty ****. had teh vet any opinion on what might have attacked? our cat attacked a goose and her young a couple of months ago and managed to escape minus a fang...very lucky i think!! I hope your cat will be ok. Its awful when this kind of stuff happens to them....where did it happen? We are in Oughterard and i know the place is crawling with mink, i see them often and they are apparantly very family orientated and where there is one there are many :( Suppose its ok now as weather is fine wait til cold weather really kicks in and food supply is dwindling......:(


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    #28
    él statutorio
    Registered Users Posts: 1,259 ✭✭✭él statutorio


    this might sound harsh but the only good mink is a dead mink.


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    #29
    dollydishmop
    Registered Users Posts: 561 ✭✭✭dollydishmop


    magnumlady wrote: »
    We have a pine marten visiting our garden. Our cats are fine.
    There is a photo of him here:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/4277995845/

    Stunning photo Magnumlady !

    We had pinemartens living in our roof last year, rearing a litter of young...they did an awful lot of damage, and whilst extremely rare I was very glad when they moved on, but they posed no threat and came across as very timid.


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    #30
    magnumlady
    Registered Users Posts: 3,657 ✭✭✭magnumlady


    dollydishmop wrote: »
    Stunning photo Magnumlady !

    We had pinemartens living in our roof last year, rearing a litter of young...they did an awful lot of damage, and whilst extremely rare I was very glad when they moved on, but they posed no threat and came across as very timid.

    Thanks, it's a while since I've seen our guy.


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    #31
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    dollydishmop wrote: »
    Stunning photo Magnumlady !

    We had pinemartens living in our roof last year, rearing a litter of young...they did an awful lot of damage, and whilst extremely rare I was very glad when they moved on, but they posed no threat and came across as very timid.

    That is my experience of them also. My first encounter was late one night when I heard a noise and saw one at the fruit bowl. Vanished up the chimney leaving a toothmarked apple, three pear cores and eight date stones.. One of the cats we had then use to try to play and run with her. They will not attack eg cats; they live on smaller prey etc. Gentle creatures.


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