Posted on 09/21/2016 5:53:13 AM PDT by C19fan
It is not a suggestion that is likely to go down well with millions of cat lovers. An American academic has recommended that all stray felines should be eradicated unless they can be found a home, because of the huge numbers of birds they kill.
Not only that, but Dr Peter Marra, the director of the Smithsonian migratory bird centre in Washington, says all domestic cats should be kept indoors or on a lead to stop the “devastating impact” they have on wildlife.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
My apologies for the giant-sized pic, back to the sandbox..
While I detest the idea of a cat being in my house, and walking on my kitchen counters after scratching in his own toilet, there is a need for cats particularly on farms. I have a rancher friend who practically bags for people to bring him stray cats to live in his barn and defend his hay supplies from rodents.
Those cats suffer a high mortality rate due to foxes and other predators.
That’s so sad. When cats get old, everything sure changes. He’s 21? That’s amazing. You must be good “parents”.
I’ll admit that we got lucky with our strays because they pretty much coexist in peace in spite of their pathetic histories. Sometimes we watch “My Cat From Hell” and can’t believe what some people endure.
It’s ok for these huge wind turbines to kill birds by the millions, but not ok for one species to survive by eating another. Cats don’t kill many eagles and other birds of prey, but the useless wind mills do.
You beat me too it. No Cats = lots of rats = plague.
But hey! Once all the humans are dead the migratory birds might come back.
This area used to have tons of Whip-poor-wills, but they are all gone. Haven’t heard one in years and years. They nest on the forest floor, so I think replacement whip-poor-wills released into the wild would just be more prey for the cats if the cats population isn’t decreased. I think the feral cats and owned cats that are allowed to roam killed them all off.
Freegards
“While I detest the idea of a cat being in my house, and walking on my kitchen counters after scratching in his own toilet...”
Many people either don’t think of that or evidently don’t mind it. I try to avoid eating food prepared by people who allow their indoor cats on the kitchen counters. Yeah, consuming a little bit of Fluffy’s $hit probably won’t kill me, but the thought of it is an appetite killer.
“I have a rancher friend who practically bags for people to bring him stray cats to live in his barn and defend his hay supplies from rodents.”
I had one neighbor (a very ‘old-school’ type rancher) who liked having cats outside in his barn. He’d put out some food for them to keep them around, but eventually their population would start to explode, and I’d start seeing cats everywhere. Then, over the course of about a week, I’d hear what sounded like a small war going on over at his place, and the cat population went back to somewhat ‘normal’.
In contrast, I currently have a neighbor about a quarter mile away who also likes to keep cats around their barn. They too put out food to keep the cats near the barn. However, they do NOT spay or neuter any of the cats, nor do they do anything to keep the population in check. It’s a real problem for myself and other nearby neighbors who like to put out bird seed to feed and enjoy watching the local bird population, which includes quail and doves, both ground nesting birds. The feral cats start parking themselves next to the bird feeders, thinking such as some sort of all you can eat buffet. Then the male cats start marking out their territory, so for not even being a cat owner, areas around my house, inside my shop, and the inside of my vehicles smell like cat piss. That’s the point when I start reducing their population, which is something I’d rather not have to deal with. There’s plenty of foxes, owls, and coyotes around, but they never can seem to keep up with the reproduction rate of fertile barn cats.
“It’s ok for these huge wind turbines to kill birds by the millions”
No, it’s not ok. The libtards and the gang-green’s are in a real conundrum regarding this. They want their ‘green’ energy and they want their birds too, but so far, nobody has figured out a good way to protect the birds from the turbines.
Sure there is a good way to save the birds. Stop the turbines. Seems like places that have thousands of them all over the place are paying much more for their power.
Excellent idea!
I say we should humanly put down all stray academics.
We had an outdoor cat. The only one in the neighborhood.
We would have neighbors that complained that he "walked through their yard". Now mind you he did not do anything but walk though their yard but they complained about it.
Finally we began to restrict him to our yard.
Next year the neighbors began to complain about the moles in their yard.
We looked out at our mole free garden and yard and suggested dryly that they might want to get a cat.
My rancher buddy will also put out a small amount of food in an attempt to keep the feral cats around the barn, but the higher predators always seem to keep the upper hand where he’s at. The cats just don’t seem to last very long.
Parroting another liberal meme, I see.
Nope.
DNR’s across the US seem to feel the same way.
I’m not sure why this cat has been so resilient...but now we’re paranoid about changing anything. For example, we thought about giving him geriatric food, but worried changing his food might kill him, etc. And now I’m not sure he could find his way back to the house, so he only goes out with supervision.
Because there are so MANY natural predators being starved out by the cats.
No, wait. Bobcats? No. Weasels? No. Snakes? Not so much. Cats are filling a niche vacated by overly killed/displaced predators. Get over it and yourself.
Get over myself?
I like song birds too....they, whoever “they” are, estimate that every cat kills 50 birds every year...
Then during breeding season the birds clean the bugs out of the neighborhood to feed the babies. We have a crow that puts dried up bird carcasses in the bird bath to soften them up so she can eat them or feed them to her young.
It’s all a cycle.
As I told a friend not long ago, I do not go to the pound to get pet cats. I just take whatever shows up in my yard. I'm not picky.
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