Ranking the different types of fresh-kill by Echoheart and Flashpaw

Echoheart and Flashpaw rate some common types of fresh kill in Warriors

Hello everyone, this is Echoheart and Flashpaw here! So in this article we’re going to rank the different types of fresh-kill. There are many different types of prey that the cats eat, but we’re going to just be looking at mice, squirrels, rabbits, fish and frogs.
There are three components to look at: how tasty each piece of fresh-kill is, how easy it is to catch, and how many cats it can feed. Each type of prey will be given a score out of 3 for each component so we can compare them.

First up, mice! According to Graystripe, ‘you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted mouse’. And when Firestar first tasted it in Into the Wild, he described it as ‘juicy and tender, and sang with the flavours of the forest’. From the looks of it, mice are delicious! I don’t think anything bad has been said about the flavour, although obviously RiverClan cats would rather eat fish. So we can give it an easy 3/3 for taste.
How easy is it to catch? Well, when stalking a mouse, you have to be light on your paws. (Because a mouse can feel your pawsteps before it hears or smells you.) Catching mice is one of the first thing a ThunderClan apprentice learns. I would say it’s pretty difficult, because you have to be very quiet and hold the right position, but once you get the hang of it seems pretty effortless. The cats (at least from ThunderClan) catch more mice than any other fresh-kill, right? So I give it a 2/3 for difficulty.
Finally, how many cats can a mouse feed? According to Tyrrantstorm’s article about the fresh-kill pile, a cat at its healthiest will eat about 8 mice a day (if their diet is only mice). So a mouse can’t even feed one cat! In Into the Wild, again, Firestar was going to give two mice to Yellowfang for a single meal. So I don’t think mice are very filling, and so deserve a 1/3. Final score for mice: 6/9.

Next are squirrels! The taste is described to be chewy and furry. Tigerstar/claw once complained that he would be picking fur out of his teeth all day after eating a squirrel. I think we all hate having things stuck in our teeth! And in Tigerheart’s Shadow, when Hollowkit and Spirekit were first eating squirrel, Spirekit frowned and said that it was all furry. Hollowkit countered and said that she liked the fur because it was chewy. Squirrels are also sometimes described as rubbery. Doesn’t sound very appetising, so 1/3.
Are they easy to catch? Well, squirrels are often found up in trees. SkyClan cats can do this with ease, but other Clans would struggle. They are super fast and you need to be careful not to fall out of the tree. I would give this a 1/3.
According to Tyrantstorm, one to two squirrels can feed a cat in a day, so we’ll give that a 3/3. Overall, squirrels get a 5/9.