I happened upon this article in my small town newspaper. " Cats need to play --and prey". Evidently the American Association of Feline Practitioners and International Society of Feline Medicine issued guidelines enumerating the five pillars of a healthy feline enviroment. The article discusses Pillar 3. It "is to play and engage in predatory behavoir." The article even goes on to say : "A great way to encourage predatory play is to provide your cat with toys expressly designed for that. Common options include....or mice that he can chase and catch." Pretty sound advice letting a mouse loose in your house.
Upon reading that article it made me think about the feral cat and that i have not heard a bobwhite quail in years at my rural residence. That would sound like a non issue unless I mentioned that Aldo Leopold in his book "Game Management" said I live in the exact heart of bobwhite country via his research. I see feral cats often when I am deer hunting and trapping. A Wisconsin DNR study states: "free feral roaming domestic cats killed millions of small mammals, song , and game birds. Estimates range from a minimum of 47 million up to 139 million songbirds are killed each year. Free roaming feral domestic cats are not a native species in Wisconsin." Therefore I would say they must be an invasive species that must be dealt with. Like the Asian carp in the Illinois river bottoms.
I discover the Humane Society of the United States claims there are 70 million feral and stray cats roaming the streets. In the same article on www.animalplanet.com it coincidentally lists the 5 most deadly diseases to cats for some odd reason. I read "Feline Leukaemia " to my satisfaction. If it were to come into the contact with the male of the species it could take up to 2 weeks for that cat to die. All the while spreading the disease to the males it would scrap with, and the females it wanted to breed with and her offspring. The startling development I uncovered was that the Norway rat is also susceptible to "Feline Leukaemia ". What would happen if a mad scientist or evil genius were to develope the correct strain and release it in the iron forest of the big city? A well fed dumster cat will just play with its rat toy and infect it at the same time. The disease is incurable, but yet a pet kitty can be fully vaccinated and be immune from the carnage. I would name it the "Pegasus Agent" since the dual biological agent would come in on the fly.
Why would the aforementioned website state the number of stray cats along with the 5 deadliest diseases if it weren't some sort of hint? Being cross eyed maybe I read between the line wrong. I have shared this idea with the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine to see if just the theory could be marketable even though the odds of it ever happening are slim to none. One just never knows though the idea of cats and rats with just one "Pegasus Agent" doesn't seem fair to something mother nature can not control.
In Illinois Chapter 510 Animal Control Act 72/80 gives veterinarians civil and criminal immunity if they euthanize an animal in good faith. The Animal Control Act at section 5/2.11b. "Feral cat means a cat that (i) is born in the wild or is the offspring of an owned or feral cat and is not socialised, (ii) is formally owned cat that has been abandoned and is no longer socialized, or (iii) lives on a farm."
I just thought to publish my idea on Bowsite.com. Also, I put the idea out there to be tried and judged in the court of public opinion. No, I am not packing the deadly "Feline leukaemia " shot. I am no where near being bio-chemist. I am just spit balling an idea with a group of nature enthusiasts as crazy as the idea may seem. With respect Jason Cohee
I started hunting in the 1960's in New Jersey. We had wild quail all over the place, as well as feral cats (my buddy's dog even caught and killed a few). Why were we able to have BOTH then, but not now? You're missing part of the equation.
It’s a hard life for a barn cat and they usually don’t live long around here.
I would not support a program that intentionally diseases these animals.
Matt
So Illinois folks can freely kill farm cats, as if I didn't already know that state was jacked up.
Watch out farmers PETA and ICON are coming for your cats. It will be your hunting rights next....
Hope he's ok. :)
STUPID IDEA
HA/KS's Link
The mammalian toll is even higher, concluded researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ranging from 6.9 billion to 20.7 billion annually."
He's neutered, but still a bad ass. He doesn't tolerate any other male cats (or most females) on his 3 acres of chosen turf. He's always brought me the critters he catches, and rarely is it a bird. Mice and rats fear his name, and he's even managed to take out two good sized weasels. Lots of 'coons around the place, but Scruff won't tolerate them being on HIS porch. He must have them buffaloed, 'cause when he growls and charges, they run. Still healthy at 13, he weighs in at a hair over 19 lbs.
Worked to socialize several other feral cats over the years, some of which went to good homes, and others I ended up putting down as they were just too wild. It's really all about trust, and that takes time and patience.
And yeah, cats eat birds..it's a major part of their diet when living wild. Haven't noticed any shortage of birds around here.
Gov.Rick Perry let the Fund for Animals State Director write our new animal cruelty laws. FUBAR
Feral cats are just that. Feral. They are vermin and I can't for the life of me understand this fascination with vermin. I'm tired of the damn things. Tired of cat shit in my yard and landscaping, tired of sitting on my deck and getting hit with a wiff of a dead critter, only to drag out five dead rabbits from under the deck. Tired of my tires being pissed on, tired of the soft top on my son's Jeep being used as a scratching post.
Here's the thing...the CCL's take the vermin in for TNR, everybody else gets to deal with the problems they create. As far as I am concerned you take an animal in for vet care, pay for the care, you become the defacto owner and should be charged with abandonment. I have yet to see a TNR colony be reduced in size. The CCL's keep adding to it. We don't tolerate with dogs, why do we tolerate it with cats? Try getting a township or local municipality to ban TNR programs. Talk about bat shit crazy people coming out of the woodwork to save the cats.
I have two cats. They stay inside, where they belong.
20.7 Billion Mammals + 3.7 Billion birds is 25.4 Billion animals killed by cats.
75 Million pet cats in the US. I will double that to 150 million to include feral cats as total population of cats in US. That is equal to 169 animals per year per cat, or <1 animal every 2 days.
The overwhelming majority of cat's prey being mice, moles, voles and other small vermin and considering the fecundity of those critters, I don't see the issue.
Then you are either not looking or listening.
Feral cats = vermin. You wouldn't tolerate a colony of feral dogs. Why should the rest of us have to deal with colonies of feral cats? You like 'em, you want 'em. Take 'em and keep 'em on YOUR property. I don't want them on mine.
You do realize I never said a thing about shooting cats. Just said I'm tired of the problems created by the feral cat colonies perpetuated by folks like you. Folks are getting real tired of it and hopefully we can start to take legal action, including charging those that drop TNR animals off with abandonment.
Which species of birds?
I’m willing to sacrifice a few birds to have a mice and rat free barn and garage.
BTW, our 2 house cats were born in our barn. Their mom dropped them in one of our window wells when they were weening age. They’re 13 years old now, and have been 2 of the best pets we’ve had.
Matt
Keep em in the house.
Name them please or it will go down as CF BULL SHIT
Strange you would say something like this, we've found its the complete opposite. Here in TX it involved a well known Bird Watcher/Photographer and an animal shelter on Galveston Island. The shelter was dumping cats on the west end of the island instead of putting them down. The bird watcher was shooting the cats with a .22lr for devastating the bird population on the island and the damage being done to endangered species of birds as they readied themselves on the island for their long annual migration to S America.
The bird watcher was arrested and charged with felony animal murder, the animal murder chargers were dropped when it was proven the cats were not owned by someone as required by law, they were feral cats. Bird watcher was convicted of unlawful discharge of a firearm and animal shelter was cited for animal neglect. Gov Rick Perry then let the Fund For Animals amend state law, that they had written the year before, to include feral cats in animal murder(cruelty) cases. Hunters were not involved!
In Texas you can't shoot feral cats for crapping in your yard, scratching the paint on your truck, or eating song birds, but you can if they are, or about to do, harm to livestock(poultry).
That's real cute. 'Cept the problems I listed above are real. Not just in my neighborhood but statewide. We do not tolerate a colony of feral dogs. There would be hell to pay if someone trapped a dog, took it in for care, then returned it to the "colony" or pack. Why is acceptable with cats? Why should everyone else have to put up with the problems caused by the CCL's (and CCM) and their obsession with cats and maintaining TNR colonies. And I say maintain because the colonies are never reduced in size. They just keep adding more to their "pet" project.
Fine. Keep it in your yard. We don't tolerate free roaming dogs shitting in everyone's yard. Nor would we tolerate a free roaming dog digging holes, leaving carcasses under the deck, destroying soft tops, leaving scratches on paint as it climbs on whichever vehicle it pleases.
Cat hater? Hardly. Here's Lucy and Gus with one of their two favorite people, my son. I'm the other.
Matt
TNR is quite popular in suburban areas like south central Pennsylvania. The cats will congregate in an area where there is food. Which is never a problem as the CCL's make sure they have food. It can be in a small wooded area that borders the development, it can be a run down property in an urban area. Once they start feeding the cats others show up, they take them in for shots, spay/neuter and then release them back at the colony. Regardless of what TNR advocates tell you, the colonies never reduce in size. And everybody else gets to deal with the issues of stray/feral cats. This isn't one or two barn cats. This can be upwards of one to two dozen cats.
We don't tolerate packs of feral dogs, why this fascination with feral cats is beyond me.
It must be an eastern thing. I’ve never heard of TNR, nor their practices. It’s just not a problem around here.
Matt
There's one where a cat woman collects them and releases and feeds them in an old abandon barn next to my watering hole...
Where we live now, we have one half-wild cat that lives in our barn. Our neighbor feeds them and has 2 or 3 half-wild cats all the time. Funnily enough, on my neighbors little 1 acre lot, he has a little brushy corner that ALWAYS has quail in it. We commonly hear them on summer evenings. Doves and pigeons roost around our barn. Songbirds in the yard. Always some birds around my wife's bird feeder.
We all know what to do if they get out of hand, but having a cat or two, especially around a barn or farm, is pretty much necessary around here unless you want mice in your house.
I'm sorry for those of you who are affected by this sad practice, but I don't think intentionally infecting these animals with a horrible disease is a humane or practical solution. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. SSS.
Matt
They don't intentionally create the colonies, but they maintain by feeding and bringing additional cats to add. As much as I dislike feral cats and pretty much those that are allowed to roam, I would never ever advocate infecting them with something like feline leukemia. Saw that spread thru the farm where my sister in law lived. Was horrible.
Do some research on TNR and you would be surprised by the number of local groups that advocate maintaining these colonies.
I don't doubt there is a lunatic fringe out there who participate in TNR. I just don't think it's as big of a problem as some of you suggest. I know it's not in my neck of the woods. Around here, coyotes would make short work of a colony of feral cats.
Things would have to be completely out of control for me to shoot a feral cat. I once arrowed a bobcat, and immediately regretted the decision afterwards. The howl/scream it made while dying was one of the most horrible sounds I've ever heard. If that makes me soft, or a cat-lover, so be it. I won't do it again.
Matt
"I just don't think it's as big of a problem as some of you suggest."
I'm not talking a couple of barn cats. And just because it's not in your neck of the woods doesn't mean folks are blowing it out of proportion. A month ago, I had to pull off some decking to remove five rabbit carcasses. My son's 2004 Wrangler has pulls in the top along with evenly spaced scratches on the hood and fender flares as they jump up and down off of it. My wifes 2018 Wrangler Unlimited has scratches as well. My landscaping is a litter box. We don't have a healthy coyote population to keep the cats under control.
These issues are commonplace wherever these colonies are maintained. Again, we wouldn't tolerate or feed a pack of feral dogs, why are cats elevated to such lofty positions?
Your anecdotal evidence is no more, or less, representative of the whole than mine is. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard of feral cat colonies and TNR.
From what you say, it's clear you have a feral cat problem around your place. I certainly sympathize with you. I'm just saying, I think your situation isn't very common thru-out the country. Perhaps you should consider getting a pit bull or some equally nasty animal to take care of the cats. Or, take matters into your own hands and solve the problem.
Matt
So, since you've never heard of cat colonies or TNR my evidence is anecdotal? Like I said do some research. Lower Paxton township has been fighting the CCL's since 2012. And the situation is a lot more common than in your little corner of Colorado. It's an issue in southeast PA, not just around my place.
As far as a pit bulls, they rank right above feral cats. 'Sides, I'm not a fan of letting my dog run loose. My preference would be a GSP, however they are not recommended if you are a cat owner.
I live in a development. Taking matters into ones own hands is sure fire way to end up in cuffs and as much as I despise feral and stray cats, SSS is not something I want to do.
Sorry to belabor the point, but there is a vast difference between several barn cats and the CCL's maintaining colonies of dozens of cats here in suburbia.
Let's get to the real issue,and it is not feral cats.
It's US
HUMAN activity is the biggest threat to wildlife worldwide
So it's time to shoot your neighbor. LOL !
Like any critter, they're just trying to survive in a tough world, and therefore are feeders of opportunity. Hard to work with, yes, but socialize one (even if it's just to you) and you'll have the best, most loyal cat you've ever had.
Not doubtful at all. Quite real. Typical, since it's not in your area or never heard of it, it doesn't or can't exist. Feel free to google TNR programs. Trap-Neuter(spay)-Release. The cats are trapped, taken in for vet care, shots, fixed, then released back into the "colony". JHC people, you think I'm making this crap up. Freakin' google it.
Not living in a city is likely the reason I've never seen a colony. Out here in the woods there's a lot of country for a cat to roam. I might see 4-6 feral cats a year wandering through our area, most of which are toms on the hunt for wimmens. With the number of bald eagles, coyotes, bobcat and cougar in our area, no doubt they walk in the forest with their heads on a swivel.
Both of our evidence is anecdotal. Just because I don't have colonies of cats around me doesn't mean they don't exist. Just because you do have them doesn't mean they are common everywhere. That's all I was saying.
If I were you, I'd call your local news stations and explain your situation. Certainly some reporter would run with the story. That may motivate authorities to do something about it. One thing is certain, complaining about your feral cat problem on the CF isn't going to accomplish anything.
Matt
