Posted on 10/28/2018 9:37:50 AM PDT by hiho hiho
This was used in one of my stat classes to show the difference between causation and correlation.
A higher percent of older women in neighborhoods correlated with fewer songbirds. Old ladies didn’t kill songbirds, but they had increased cat ownership over the general population, and the cats were the cause.
Never had a cat until the past year. Since Jack came in the house, I haven’t seen a scorpion since. For some reason over the past few years, we’ve seen huge rise of those evil critters. He’s quite the hunter, so I think I’ll keep him around. I don’t even mind the feral guy that comes in the evenings to browse around the yard.
yep...
My 15-month old precious pussycat I adopted when she was about 7 weeks old is still trying to kill me.
Yes we have cats
They have all been “Dekittified” through the years
They are very effective at rodent control
Around here outdoor cats are prey as much as predators. Coyotes, foxes, fisher cats, and larger wild cats regularly dine on outdoor domestic cats.
Feral cats are very efficient hunters and can be self-sufficient. Feral dogs will kill small animals they can catch but more often are scroungers, dependent on carrion and human garbage.
Yes, I despise those too... Good riddance! Some areas of Phoenix are inundated with roof rats...thankfully I’m not in that rat race...
We used to have tons of whippoorwills. I haven’t heard one in a decade or so around here. I wonder if it’s all the cats, one lady down the road used to feed a ton of them. Whippoorwills nest right on the ground.
Freegards
Those kill numbers of course grossly exaggerated—as are most advocacy stats.
It is true that birds have pretty much been vacated from suburban America—but that is the doing of Homo Sapiens, the much more destructive invasive species.
Bingo!
Cats have souls far beyond their size, etc.—beyond, as well, their canine cousins.
I’ve said it before - in the suburban areas where I’ve lived, the biggest killers of songbirds have been other birds - especially crows.
Correlation is not causation. Older folks in the neighborhoods also suggest, for example, older suburbs closer to the urban ring.
(Data also only as good as its gathering...)
Hmm - have one of those invasive species sleeping on couch next to me
Should I be scared ……??
Now we know what killed off the dinosaurs.
So, what’s the problem? Fewer “songbirds” crapping all over the place and fewer mice and rats spreading disease works for me. Cats have been in north america since at least the 1700s as sailors kept them on boats to stop the spread of diseases like the Black Death. Were it not for cats finally killing the rat carriers that spread it, the bubonic plague would have wiped out all of humanity. Give the smooth killer in your backyard another scratch between the ears today and say thank you for saving all of our lives.
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