Chili Ron Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Howdy, I just read in the trib that the gummint in Austrailia and new Zealand is going to get rid of two million cats. Seems the cats are wiping out the wild birds and that don't work. So bye bye kitties. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Yeah, they do that periodically. The gummint does it because there aren't enough Chinese restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 House cats and feral cats are two different species. House cats are warm and cuddly. Feral cats are an environmental nightmare. Left unchecked and with few natural predators, they can wipe out entire species of birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasty Newt # 7365 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 My cat is of the warm and cuddly persuasion, and has a bum foot and a bell around his neck. But he is still tough on the local birdie population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Even house cats that are allowed outdoors can be damaging to bird populations in a local area. One of the reasons ours stay strictly indoors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 There was a study done in England soem years ago that studied the effect of the local cats on the bird population. It was mind blowing. These were mostly domestic cats in a village not feral cats. This is one reason not to let your cat roam at large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Pony Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Its the nature of any cat to stalk/hunt/kill prey and you cant breed it out of them. The impact on songbird numbers world wide have been directly impacted by the increase of domestic cats in housholds that dont keep them inside or in enclosed "catios". Feel bad about it but the feral cat is an introduced species and like just about every other one the outcome is usually way different then what was believed at the outset. Fish or fowl, pigs, goats, rabbits etc I dont think we have the smarts to fill a niche that ma nature has left empty for a wicked pissah long time. This coming from a total cat guy with three indoor ONLY cats who is being watched right now by my buddy Rebel the orange Maine coon, I think, who could take down anything two or three times his size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Howdy: I Like Cats - with green peppers and onions grilled. Yumm-ooo. STL Suomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. I. Tarpicker, SASS #998 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 One of the biggest problems with the increase in feral cats is the city people who bring a pregnant female out to ranch country and turn her loose. The kittens which survive simply add to the increase of the problem. I could offer solutions, but its hardly worth it as too many people refuse to spay or neuter their house cats. About all they create is, sadly, targets. And i've had more than a few really neat pet cats over the years. Well, fed, healthy, loving and fixed. GIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 One of the biggest problems with the increase in feral cats is the city people who bring a pregnant female out to ranch country and turn her loose. The kittens which survive simply add to the increase of the problem. I could offer solutions, but its hardly worth it as too many people refuse to spay or neuter their house cats. About all they create is, sadly, targets. And i've had more than a few really neat pet cats over the years. Well, fed, healthy, loving and fixed. GIT We live in the country and for some reason people, if you can call them that, like to dump their unwanted animals along the road that we live on. From pregnant pot bellied pigs to emu's to sick dogs and cats we've had them all. If we can catch them before the coyotes, bobcats or mountain lions get them we take them to a rescue facility if they have room if not they go to the pound. Cats not only deplete the bird population but lizards populations suffer from cats also as they hunt them for sport, I've never seen a cat eat a lizard. I did have a cat once that would eat snakes if it caught them usually all there would be left to pick up is the rattle and the head. It's a cruel fate these animals are up against once they get abandoned. I watched one day as three coyotes caught a stray dog in the citrus grove across the street from my house and killed it, it wasn't much of a fight. Getting animal control to take any action on stray cats is nearly impossible out here and nearly impossible to get them to do anything about the stray dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 We had 2 cats for years. The closest they got to outside was a screened porch. Birds used to taunt them mercilessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calico Mary Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 our Boo is strictly an indoor cat.....and was fixed when she was a kitten....ifn' me and Buick kin be that smart taint no reason fer any body else not ta be..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Dan Dawkins Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I'm a tiger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 our Boo is strictly an indoor cat.....and was fixed when she was a kitten....ifn' me and Buick kin be that smart taint no reason fer any body else not ta be..... One would think. But alas, a sense of responsibility is not something widely possessed these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 In my book people that dump animals are ranked right there with rapists and child molesters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorelei Longshot, SASS #44256 Life Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Let's place the blame for feral cats where it belongs -- on irresponsible people that don't spay or neuter their animals and/or dump unwanted animals on other people. Trap, neuter, release has proven effective when dealing with feral cat populations, but requires caring people to DO SOMETHING. Fortunately, Laz and I are the kind of people that caught feral kittens, had them spayed or neutered, and found them homes 40 years ago. In fact, we spayed or neutered 18 cats in two years before TNR was the in thing to do. That was from 2 mother cats that took us two years to finally catch and spay. Today all of our cats are rescued cats that live inside 100% of the time. All have been neutered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I have a neighbor, 'bout a half mile away, who does not neuter anything. There is always a stray tom around. I adopted and neutered three of them. They lived the rest of their lives as indoor cats. I have one to bury now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Sarge Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I couldn't stand cats until I found an abandoned kitten last fall. I bottle fed it and it slept inside my flannel shirt pocket while I sat in the recliner. I was having a great deal of mobility issues and was feeling pretty low. Seems like it was placed in my life for a purpose. Little stinker didn't make it, but it got me out of my shell and I learned cats can be pretty special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 If you stimulate them as kittens, throw a string, roll a ball, their brains won't turn to mush and they will play a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Dan Dawkins Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My wife throws balls of yarn at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Lizard Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My wife throws balls of yarn at me. Sounds like she has you well trained... TL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowCatcher Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Let's place the blame for feral cats where it belongs -- on irresponsible people that don't spay or neuter their animals and/or dump unwanted animals on other people. Trap, neuter, release has proven effective when dealing with feral cat populations, but requires caring people to DO SOMETHING. Fortunately, Laz and I are the kind of people that caught feral kittens, had them spayed or neutered, and found them homes 40 years ago. In fact, we spayed or neutered 18 cats in two years before TNR was the in thing to do. That was from 2 mother cats that took us two years to finally catch and spay. Today all of our cats are rescued cats that live inside 100% of the time. All have been neutered. When we bought our property it included feral cats that were breeding like rabbits. It took a year of trapping and of working with a few vets who would sterilize these critters to get this under control. We've had around 10 on the property and the areas around us, and the population stabilized once everyone was neutered, which was a blessing to us and to the cats themselves. Leaving them in the area, free to roam, but fixed, meant that they weren't stressed for food or survival. That also kept a lid on the population growth, a welcome aspect as well. AFAIK all the cats within sight on any given day are neutered, but we always keep an eye out for something a townie has dumped, or some local has abandoned . . . . SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 House cats and feral cats are two different species. House cats are warm and cuddly. Feral cats are an environmental nightmare. Left unchecked and with few natural predators, they can wipe out entire species of birds. When you let your warm and cuddly house cat outside he becomes a raging predator and will kill for fun, wiping out ground nesting birds, lizards and small game animals as well as rodents. A neutered house cat is as much a predator as a whole one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ...maybe Chinese restaurants have been doing right. GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grass Range #51406 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Cats belong in the barn to take care of the mice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasty Newt # 7365 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My cat was a stray. Strays around here usually have feline distemper, but he didn't, so we got him neutered, got him his shots and a microchip, and had his injuries repaired. Then we set about training him to be an inside cat. He trained us instead, clawing up the furniture and peeing on the carpet until we gave up. When it comes to decimating the bird population, you ain't seen decimation until you've had a roadrunner in your yard. We had one move in, and thought it was kind of cool, but started seeing a lot of misc bird body parts and broken eggs, and pretty soon we had no birds in our yard at all. We ran off the roadrunner and they came back. They can co-exist with the cat, but not the roadrunner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My former neighbor had a tom cat that was allowed to roam free in the neighborhood. Another neighbor tried to adopt the cat by bringing it inside and then taking it to the vet to be neutered, even though it was wearing a collar.. Former neighbor got the cat back. In the years the cat ran loose, I saw squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk and lizard populations plummet. Even the hawks that had nested in the area were rarely seen after a few years of this. The neighbor has been gone now for 2 years. Lizard populations are returning, squirrels are starting to come back, and the rabbits are also recovering- even the hawks are back. I was shocked that a single animal could wreak such havoc (other than man) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My former neighbor had a tom cat that was allowed to roam free in the neighborhood. Another neighbor tried to adopt the cat by bringing it inside and then taking it to the vet to be neutered, even though it was wearing a collar.. Former neighbor got the cat back. In the years the cat ran loose, I saw squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk and lizard populations plummet. Even the hawks that had nested in the area were rarely seen after a few years of this. The neighbor has been gone now for 2 years. Lizard populations are returning, squirrels are starting to come back, and the rabbits are also recovering- even the hawks are back. I was shocked that a single animal could wreak such havoc (other than man) IMHO, a feral cat eats very little of what it kills. Most of its kills are for fun or sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rancocas Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I like dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litl Red Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 CCI CB Longs are very quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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