The Cat - A Gardener's Friend

by the 3 Rs | July 11, 2007 at 11:59 am
527 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments

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The Cat - A Gardener's Friend

The Cat - A Gardener's Friend

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    Are there any stray cats hanging around your garden. Don't chase them off! Cats are natural predators and will kill mice, moles, rats, and even small rabbits that would otherwise eat your garden produce. And, not to mention, cats also provide fertilizer for your garden.
    Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, has cats on their payroll as part of their Pest Management Program. The cats are fed, given medical attention, and provided with shelter for their service of keeping the gardens free of rodents.
    We visited Longwood Gardens and observed this cat program in action. At dusk, a bunny hopped into one of the vegetable gardens, stripped a leaf off of a plant, and started to nibble on the leaf. A cat came patroling through the garden, noticed the intruder, and gave chase. The end result was one less rabbit to eat the vegetables and a nice meal of rabbit for the cat!


 

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liamssoft
liamssoft
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:18 on July 11th, 2007

the 3 Rs, brilliant photos and I like this story. Good stuff. Unfortunately they also kill the
birds.

0
Point and Shoot Kinda Gal

I looked after one of the Longwood cats, the beautiful Jojo, last year for two weeks and visited her (and her owners!) this year.  (I could upload a pic of her if I knew how!) They are a necessary part of pest control and their impact on birds seems to be negligible. Also, in case anyone's wondering, they are very well looked after. In fact Longwood's magazine this month devotes its first eight pages to an article on its cats!


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liamssoft
First Flagged at 12:18 PM, Jul 11, 2007 by liamssoft
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