Posted on 04/07/2008 6:05:51 AM PDT by Aristotelian
Every spring, as birds flock back to Long Island [N.Y.] in droves, Eileen Schwinn wonders whether this will be the season the cats get the last remaining pair of piping plover at Mount Sinai's Cedar Beach.
Schwinn, president of the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society, is racked with emotion over what she says is a "dramatic decrease" in species such as plover, bobwhites and ovenbirds threatened by the claws of stray cats.
But Cedar Beach's 30 or so feral cats have a powerful ally in a smorgasbord of animal rights groups, some of whom say Long Island's strays - estimated to be in the tens of thousands Islandwide, according to one rescue group - have as much right to the beach as birds.
The controversy in Mount Sinai reflects a battle playing out from Atlantic Beach in western Nassau County to Sammy's Beach on the South Fork - birders and cat lovers at loggerheads over what to do about feral cats believed to be preying on bird species as common as the tern and as rare as the ground-nesting piping plover.
Local government agencies charged with resolving the disputes often find themselves caught between flying fur and feathers.
"It's a very sensitive issue; it's a nationwide problem,"
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Bickering environmentalists. What a lovely sight.
Call me insensitive, but I don't see it as a problem. It's Nature.
They need to release a mating pair of coyotes to go after the feral cats. Here in Johnson County, in fact, in the richest township, Leawood, KS, the coyotes are snatching fluffy from his back yard as a tasty appetizer.
I know a 3 year old who understands nature better than these idiots and she loves cats and birds.
The birds are a native species.
The cats are not.
Seems like a no-brainer to me. Target practice, anyone?
Yeah, but why are “native” species entitled to permanently inhabit an environment? Change is a reality in nature; if the cats are able to survive by eating fowl, then what does it matter if they kill off the birds?
By the way, I have no real problem with what you said—I’m just being argumentative.
“No-brainer”, indeed.
The birds are a native species.
The cats are not.
The cats are evil.
The birds are not.
We’ve bred dogs to all sizes, teacup to titanic, but we never tried to produce Doberman-sized housecats. That’s because Doberman-sized housecats would try to kill us.
Populated area. Too much potential for collateral damage. I suggest a crossbow or a high tech slingshot. My black lab will chase down the cripples.
Oh, c’mon, what’s your lab going to do? Lick ‘em to death? LOL
Ain't that that truth!
LOL! My cats romp all over my lab like she's a piece of furniture.
Careful there. Humans aren't native species to that area either. You might want to re-think that.
They have half of Fire Island fenced off for the dang piping plover nests.
Bumper sticker: So many cats, so few recipes.
No, man. He is a steely-eyed cat killer. He’s killed at least 5 that have strayed into the fenced yard from the crazy cat lady’s next door. She’s been warned.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.