Well, where to start. I currently have a 12 year old springer spaniel. He is my old hunting dog. He won't be with me much longer. Age has caught up to him. Thorin has been my best bud for years. He just chuffed at me because i would not let him out. He is a line bread dog. Specifically for falconry. Although i always hunted via gun. More truthfully we took week end walks in the woods and ate blackberries till we fell asleep. That was across the US in Oregon and Washington, We now live in Connecticut. Yes the peoples republic of CT. Since moving here my pup and i have been spending more and more time together. I don't think i can go through the emotional pain of loosing him and training a new pup. Which brings me to reason 1 for a cat. I have always admired them.
Being a stay at home dad i thought i would find my family a nice piece of property to spruce up. So i have 1.67 acres (though the city requires me to keep up the balance of 2 acres) I back up to a rock wall and have had a rat problem since Hurri-not-cane Irene. The rock wall is about 250 wide. 40 feet deep and 20ft high. I have baited the last two years with mixed results. I can bait the 14 rat boxes once a month and still watch the things on the back wall.
What brings me to reason two for a cat. When we first moved in there was a family up the rock wall that has since moved. They had a grey and white tom. He prowled our yard daily for almost the first year we lived here. I saw not one sign of rats or mice untill the week after they moved. That simple act of a predator in the area kept those pests at bay. Why do i want them at bay? well for one i am the only house that has this section of wall along our road. the rest have a more sloping section with less burrows for the pests. 2 I don't like baiting rats, mice, chipmunks. 3, I don't want to spray constantly for ticks. Spraying for ticks worked while the neighbors cat kept the beasts at bay. We found no ticks in our yard. After he left the rats, mice, chipmunks brought the things over onto my grass and shrubs through the barrier of spray. So I started baiting. which works great in the summer, but is not sufficient to keep the mice and rats at bay during the cold. where they head to my house.
Reason number 3, I want a partner in crime so to speak. My bud, now blind and feigning deafness is my buddy day in and day out. Working in the yard. Painting. Chuck a ball here, Have him fetch a chipmunk there. Get an Icecream cone, you get the picture. He is by my side anywhere and everywhere i can get away with him going, and most places i can't. That all being said. I have two kids, a daughter, and a son 10 and 9. They will be heart broken when his time comes. I would like to get them involved in learning to train a pet. Something that very few owners do now a days. IMHO it is a skill more should take the time to learn. I think a intelligent and playful cat will suit their active and robust nature as it would my need for a companion.
On to the iffy bit. I looked at hybrid laws yesterday and notice that the peoples republic of ct has a waiver for bengal cats specifically. Those that are f4 or later. It seems to read as if animals f4- and later, or tica breeds are allowed. I can a call into our DEP concerning clarification of on this. Are there any Savannah owners on the forums here living in CT? If so what has been DEP's dispensation towards the cat as a breed. Savannah is my first choice, by far. Bengal would be a Good second cat i believe. The owners who turned me to the savannah's were both bengal owners.
Thanks for reading my dissertation on my mental frailties.
~Aaron
Being a stay at home dad i thought i would find my family a nice piece of property to spruce up. So i have 1.67 acres (though the city requires me to keep up the balance of 2 acres) I back up to a rock wall and have had a rat problem since Hurri-not-cane Irene. The rock wall is about 250 wide. 40 feet deep and 20ft high. I have baited the last two years with mixed results. I can bait the 14 rat boxes once a month and still watch the things on the back wall.
What brings me to reason two for a cat. When we first moved in there was a family up the rock wall that has since moved. They had a grey and white tom. He prowled our yard daily for almost the first year we lived here. I saw not one sign of rats or mice untill the week after they moved. That simple act of a predator in the area kept those pests at bay. Why do i want them at bay? well for one i am the only house that has this section of wall along our road. the rest have a more sloping section with less burrows for the pests. 2 I don't like baiting rats, mice, chipmunks. 3, I don't want to spray constantly for ticks. Spraying for ticks worked while the neighbors cat kept the beasts at bay. We found no ticks in our yard. After he left the rats, mice, chipmunks brought the things over onto my grass and shrubs through the barrier of spray. So I started baiting. which works great in the summer, but is not sufficient to keep the mice and rats at bay during the cold. where they head to my house.
Reason number 3, I want a partner in crime so to speak. My bud, now blind and feigning deafness is my buddy day in and day out. Working in the yard. Painting. Chuck a ball here, Have him fetch a chipmunk there. Get an Icecream cone, you get the picture. He is by my side anywhere and everywhere i can get away with him going, and most places i can't. That all being said. I have two kids, a daughter, and a son 10 and 9. They will be heart broken when his time comes. I would like to get them involved in learning to train a pet. Something that very few owners do now a days. IMHO it is a skill more should take the time to learn. I think a intelligent and playful cat will suit their active and robust nature as it would my need for a companion.
On to the iffy bit. I looked at hybrid laws yesterday and notice that the peoples republic of ct has a waiver for bengal cats specifically. Those that are f4 or later. It seems to read as if animals f4- and later, or tica breeds are allowed. I can a call into our DEP concerning clarification of on this. Are there any Savannah owners on the forums here living in CT? If so what has been DEP's dispensation towards the cat as a breed. Savannah is my first choice, by far. Bengal would be a Good second cat i believe. The owners who turned me to the savannah's were both bengal owners.
Thanks for reading my dissertation on my mental frailties.
~Aaron
