Posted on 07/13/2011 9:08:14 AM PDT by smokingfrog
According to this Mother Jones article, cats kill birds -- many of which are vital to the ecosystem -- at an alarming rate. Wind tunnels have nothing on Kitty.
Also, feral cats are disease-toting menaces -- and their population has tripled over the last four decades. Efforts to staunch the numbers with trap-neuter-return aren't enough.
(They do not, however, suck the breath out of new babies. At least give them that.)
Seems harsh, yes? I am not a cat lover. In fact, I'm a card-carrying not-cat lover, though I've owned cats -- if you can actually own a cat. I once wrote about my disgust that my house had acquired two cats at the same time, but I've never stopped and thought about their impact on the environment (just as I haven't stopped to think about a horse's impact, or a gerbil's).
But you can read more here or here.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.courant.com ...
God may not be too happy with them either.
Lesbians are bird killers? I think not.
Every time I see one of these pseudo-scientific articles about how domestic cats are killing the environment by eating all the birds and rodents, I generally reply by posting a photo of a bobcat with a bird in its mouth.
I’m just too lazy to do it this time. Fact of the matter is that domestic cats have simply taken over the ecological niche of bobcats in the urban areas. If it wasn’t Puss that was eating the little birdies and micies, it would be Robert Cat.
Hi smokingfrong!
That blog is in a newspaper that is in my homestate. What was Ms. Campbell SMOKING at the time!?
Also with Slings and Arrows not being able to do much in the way of PINGING, I did ask to take over on a temp basis for the kitty pings.
Attach windmills onto their back sides for a double threat...
Hear hear!! Feral cats should be hunted and killed with .22 caliber rifles. People who feed feral cats should be shot in the ass with a b.b. gun. I hate the assumed moral superiority of people who wreck the environment with non native species.
"I know a guy, who knows a guy" that recommends .22 air rifles which are legal to shoot in your backyard in just about everywhere in the US.
If you love cats, keep them in your home where they are safe.
Dexter, the cat?
Cats have been in the US since AT Least 1000 ad when the Viking ships of Leif Ericsson brought Norwegian Forest cats which evolved into Maine Coons after being left behind. That makes them a lot more of a “native’ species than you, bucko.
Most domestic birds and rodents are prey species, meaning their survival strategy is to make as many of themselves as possible so as to ensure few survive predation to make another generation.
Given the decline of their natural predators such as raptors, owls,foxes, coyotes, bobcats, wolverines etc, the domestic cat is actually filling a needed ecological niche by controlling those populations
That’s true. I heard the Norks had a bad rat problem. Why? They ate all the frickin cats.
Cat was fine until she started bringing in her trophies alive. The day she deposited a live snake to the living room (snake, meet cast iron skillet) was the last of her outside hunting days. The smaller dog now takes care of anything that moves in the yard. Just a few nights ago, she was playing catch with a freshly killed coon.
The story is from Mother Jones.
I could have posted the Mother Jones article, but did not want to give their website any hits.
Her precious wind farms have a FAR more devastating effect on birds then cats ever will.
Feral cat sh*t contains parasites that wash down the storm drains and out to the beach. They kill rare native species of birds and the cat sh*t parasites kill otters. Native species like bobcats are ok. Have you ever had a feral cat moaning outside your window at night?
Not only are feral cats a pest, feral pigs, and feral horses (flame away) should be eradicated. There was one fish farm in Arkansas that allowed non native Chinese carp to escape. Now about 10 years later they are taking over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and are headed for the great lakes.
A cat can start breeding as early 4 months in age, and they may have 2 to 3 broods a year with 3-5 kittens in each brood. Start with a male and female kitten and you could produce hundreds of feral cats within a couple of years. You’ve got to get those critters fixed.
Pigeons used to be a real menace in our neighborhood. Then we started letting our cats out.
My barn kitty routinely brings her “trophies” to the front step to show them off before dining. Mice, voles, a rat every once in a while, but no birds. They must be too much work. The two house kitties keep the place free of mice. Works for me.
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