[ReignOfError]

I used to have a roommate who left out cat food for neighborhood strays. I finally talked him into stopping that practice after the one pre-dawn morning I went out to the porch and almost stepped on a possum who’d come to the buffet.

I’m tempted to plant a flower bed with catnip. I’d like the neighborhood strays to keep the squirrels at bay, but I don’t want to attract them with food, because I want them hungry.

[CholeraJoe]

In Louisiana, both possums and raccoons raided the outdoor cat dish. I never knew a raccoon could scream until my wife's dog grabbed it one night.

Global, another problem using dogs to kill rats is that most rats can climb. One night in Louisiana, the dogs started raising a ruckus and I turned on the light in the courtyard and saw 5 rats lined up like Rockettes about 5 feet up a brick wall. That's when the pellet rifle came out.