A neighbor bought/got two Barn Cats to control the mice, rats and ground squirrels around his home.
Within a couple of weeks, one of the barn cats disappeared. They found what was left of it, fur, paws and skull about 100 yards away. It probably got in the territory of coyotes, bob cats or our rumored mountain lion.
The survivor is a chunk and stays in its new owner’s yard and patrols the 4 yards next to it at night, including ours.
We see it coming home in the early morning and heading out at dusk. It wants nothing to do with any humans. We leave an old baking pan filled with water to keep it in our area for part of the night.
It is the type of cat which is a good neighbor with our family.
A rancher buddy of mine would love to be able to keep barn cats, but every time he gets one it doesn’t last longer than a few weeks before a predator takes it.
That’s why we try to get them inside at night. Thankfully, a human is usually up at night to check for stragglers.