The scourge of the earth......CATS!

That's fine until a neighbors cat ("a pet" left to roam) decides the dirt around my foundation or my front door is a spot to spray its urine and mark its territory. Then it really doesn't matter what someone else thinks...

still inconsiderate

I really don't mind cats. Have known some pretty cool ones. Notheless, if I'm hunting in the woods and I see a cat he's gone. They've put a real hurt on the songbird population around my place. Coyotes think they are tasty too. Score one for coyotes.

A healthy ecosystem will have plenty of predators that will eat cats--owls, hawks, cougars and coyotes. Hawks, bobcats, weasels, yada yada all prey on songbirds. Jim was right to bring up loss of habitat. I live in a forest area with lots of cats, both pets and feral. Plenty of songbirds, plenty of quail, plenty of predators, plenty of habitat everyone needs. Human influence is never given it's proper due(paving, clearing land, pesticide use).

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THE BEGINNING IS NEAR
5-star double-rated astronavagatrix earth girl

If ya want your cat healty keep it home

I've personally seen a bunch of stray cats wipe out the quail population on one farmstead. An older lady had them and they just kept breeding. The area around the place was once full of quail, pheasant and songbirds but when the cats showed up the population simply evaporated. When the old woman left and people went in and start shooting all the feral cats and she wasn't dragging more in in a couple of years the population recovered.

If I see a cat on my property it is dead. No questions asked. Now I love cats, I have them myself but they stay in the outbuildings they are there to keep free of vermin. They are not allowed to run loose. Cats running loose are a menace and a plague. Anyone like these people who are members of so called "rescue" orgs that catch them and then turn them loose again or feed the things should be taken out and horsewhipped.

Cats don't belong running around loose destroying the local wildlife. Pet or no pet they deserve a quick death if they're caught out where they shouldn't be.

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Respect The Cactus!

I agree. I have 2 neutered male barn cats. I feed them WELL. They kill a lot of mice, moles and voles. An occassional chipmunk or red squirell has been stepped on in the feed room to accompanying screams and shudders. Very rarely I will find a dead bird. My feeders are crowded with birds.

Still find an occassional mouse in the chicken feed bin, so cute with the big eyes trembling with fear. I let them go.

It is so worth it not to be overrun with rodents.

That explains a lot...

Quint, you're not describing a couple or three barn cats here---you are talking about a (close your ears, Oggie!) cattery!

Of course the bird population tanked!

Around here, the coyotes and foxes keep the cats in balance.

I guess the new diet left them with too little energy to hunt

I am not sure why this thread is divisive between cat lovers and cat haters.

We have 2 cats, and they are indoor only cats, although we started letting the 14 year old Siamese out in the garden when I am working to hang out and lay in the sun. But just like the dogs, when I go in, he goes in. I love my cats.

We also have a large feral cat population in the area. I have lost chickens to them. I lost a dog when a feral cat ran across the driveway (it had been sniffing around the garbage), I let the dogs out without realizing the cat was there and they chased it down the driveway and across the road, where one got hit. I was ready to get out my 16 gauge and make myself a cat coat for a few weeks.

I lost a brand new mailbox when a feral cat ran across the road in front of an SUV and the woman took out my mailbox rather than the cat. (Thank God it wasn't one of my kids coming home from school). They shred my garbage bags if left overnight outside a can. They crap in my flowerbeds.
I picked one up which was sitting in the road, at death's door, and gave it at least one night of company and warmth before it died of what I assume were puncture wounds from another Tom. The ---- thing sat in my arms and purred the whole time. NOt all feral cats really like the wild life outside I guess.

There are three men in the area who feed these feral cats. One in town and one on each side of us. Two of them told me to my face that they only feed them, they do not own them, and one actually said the road cuts down the numbers enough so there is not overcrowding. I told them both the LAW said you feed em, they are yours. Period. SO get your cats fixed already!

It is not that cats are bad, it is that people are idiots about not seeing the damage cats can do to property, to other animals, and to other cats. These are not natural inhabitants to this ecosystem, it was not designed over thousands of years to handle cats. Also, people do not help when they artificially boost the populations by feeding these cats. They would all be better served by not feeding them, and instead spending the money to trap and s/n then release. These cats spread disease more than they inhibit disease, so getting them vaccinated would be a bonus to the catch and release policy.

I care about feral cats because I like cats, AND I like birds and other wildlife, AND I like people and farm animals.

An article in the paper said quail and other game birds are declining on account of lack of habitat.my cats catch rats in the barn.bluebird

http://www.geocities.com/lorisgarden/UglyTheCat.html

the post about the dying cat brought this back to me.

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Gord in Ontario

Okay I will. I was enlightened enough by the "I like Al Gore" and I have an Al Gore bumper sticker" to take everything in that post with a block of salt.

Anywhere there are free ranging cats they are slaughtering birds and small animals. Cotton isn't grown everywhere, sorry that one just doesn't wash.

Of course I guess if Al hadn't "invented the internet" we would all be doing something else right now. I noticed Jim didn't mention A.G'.s huge, extravagant, 4 times the average energy consumption mansion either.

My outside cats are to well fed to have to hunt birds! We have feeders and they will lay around being entertained by the birds until they fall asleep!

One large tom fell off a large log on the ground while watching the birdies. Did nothing for it's dignity.

I think this could be a key. Fat and happy can counter the quest for evil. Fat cats are just to big to jump on babies' cribs and there just isn't room to store the souls they might suck from unwitting or weak people or animals. And if you so come across the rare evil fat cat, you can usually outrun it.

The only worry is to not get them too happy. They they begin that incessant purring. But, you might notice that groups of cats rarely purr together. That's mainly because they fear the power of the synchronized vibrations that it might create. They haven't mastered it yet and, because of that, have little control of what might happen.

And this is where their quest to silence song birds comes in. The sharp, high burst of most birds' songs disrupts the rhythm patterns of the synchronized purr. Until cats are able to remove this uncontrolled variable they will never be able to implement their Purring Unseats Strong Souls (PUSS) strategy.

So keep your cats fat, happy and indoors; buy some bird feed; and save the world.

YES! YES! YES! You are so right...

I'm just cruel and heartless. I "fix" my cats with a bullet. I'm not gonna spend $40 bucks on a cat - I spend enough on food for them. They keep the place pretty well vermin free, so I feed them to stay around. If one ends up pregnant, I see what happens and "thin the herd" as necessary. I only keep 5-7 cats around at any time. Matter of fact I got two (momma and a 3 month old) that need to go right now. When the pregnant one has them (any day now), they will have to go, too.

Scrounger, I find that totally disgusting and irresponsible.

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

I agree. We as humans have a God Given responsibility to manage our land, and that includes the populations as humanely as possible. Spaying one female cat per year could reduce the cat population by hundreds per year over time, and no cat would have to be shot. Seems a small price to pay.

Of course, I do realize that some people just do not place the same importance on cats as others. My uncle has the same attitude, and so all the aunts steal his barn cats and find them homes when he is not looking. I know many people who would not blink an eye at shooting a racoon who was stealing chickens who would cry foul at a cat being shot.

Of course, said cats are a service to the barn, and in my opinion since they are working FOR you it would be nice to return the favor by humanely managing their populations.

Song birds only live 18 months to begin with and as one of the other posters mentioned, their absence is probably due more to loss of habitat in their migratory paths than any damage a kitty could do.

donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)