'Cat Army' Unleashed Against Rat Menace in China

The Times of India ^ | Aug 20, 2011 | Saibal Dasgupta

[nickcarraway]

Authorities have raised a "cat army" to tackle rodents destroying crops and pastureland around it in western China. They have also been using tons of poisonous repellents to combat the menace.

Pest control officials in Xinjiang province's Bole city said they have caught 150 stray cats to tackle rats. The desperate measure comes in the wake of estimates that the rodents have hit 5.4 million hectares of farm and pastureland in the province.

The feline hunters have proved their worth as the number of rats and rat holes have come down drastically. The provincial government is considering the use of the strategy in other places of the region as well.

Overgrazing and killing of predators like foxes is seen as a major cause behind the menace. Pest control and forest officials have tried their best to make the stray cats, captured from places far from Bole city, comfortable in their new surroundings.

They have built pens for cats near water resources, Chinese media quoted forest worker Li Hua as saying. "In winter, when the minimum temperature drops to minus 30 degrees Celsius, they will stay in local herders' homes (who) will get government subsidies in return," said Li.

[gonzo]

Ah so - Chinee take out too ................................ FRegards

[fortheDeclaration]

Vietnamese Cats-VC!

[MacMattico]

I asked someone from China if they really ate cat. His response was that when you’re starving, you’ll eat anything, but that cat was the last choice. It didn’t taste very good. Dog, on the other hand, was pretty good in comparison. :(

[tal hajus]

Rabbit’s good eating! Used to help my grandad skin them.

[patriot08]

‘Never trust people who hate cats’
Irish proverb

[Daffynition]

I hate dry cat.

[Daffynition]

Not gonna happen, unless they institute a draft in Cina.

[Sea Parrot]

Not sure if you are jesting, (LOL) or serious. (to each their own) Started hunting bunnys and tree rats with a slingshot. Ten years old got my first .22 rifle and a 16 ga. shotgun when twelve, put many a meal on the table with them. I make no excuses for hunting, wife and I raised our kids the same way, and they our grandkids. Youngest daughter's first elk at 15 years old. A Saturday morning muzzleloader take in Wyoming, 1978. Granddaughter's first antelope at 13 years old.

[rawhide]

Cute and funny!

[driftdiver]

Yeah but when the rats are gone you have to get something to control the cats.

[Locomotive Breath]

The more things change...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_Campaign

The Great sparrow campaign (Chinese: 打麻雀运动; pinyin: Dǎ Máquè Yùndòng) also known as the Kill a sparrow campaign (Chinese: 消灭麻雀运动; pinyin: Xiāomiè Máquè Yùndòng), and officially, the Four Pests campaign was one of the first actions taken in the Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962. The four pests to be eliminated were rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows.[1] The extermination of the latter upset the ecological balance, and enabled crop-eating insects to proliferate.

[kaylar]

Cats aren't ratters, cats are mousers . Dogs are ratters-RAT terriers were bred for the purpose, and I can vouch for a dachshund's sheer and utter astonished delight at the opportunity to tackle a rat.("Long tailed badger! Long tailed badger! Yay!!!") A cat will rarely go after a rat that is more than 6 months old-it happens, but they really aren't bred for it as are certain dog breeds.

[libstripper]

“Dog, on the other hand, was pretty good in comparison.”

OH, NO!! You’ve just traumatized both of my dogs, one of whom is a 6 month old Gret Dane puppy, who gained six pounds in he last tne days.

[dhs12345]

Apparently, rats are a good food source. At least according to Bizarre Foods.

[Spktyr]

[Spktyr]

[txhurl]

Flashback! I was so there.

[diamond6]

I’ve owned bunnies all my life as pets. Its hard for me to imagine somone hunting and skinning them. It makes me sad.

[Sea Parrot]

Don’t ever name anything you may have to eat.