Cat hunt anyone?

[al2n]

Cat hunt approval sought (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149659,00.html)

Imagine what the taxidermy guy will think when you bring him one of these.

[kd5rpo]

When I saw your title, I thought you were talking about bob cats or mountain lions which can have a population problem in limited areas.

I suppose if you set up a trap in the back yard you could have Chinese food every week http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[K8YS]

Quote[/b] (KL1RO @ Mar. 07 2005,19:18)]Cat hunt approval sought (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149659,00.html)

Imagine what the taxidermy guy will think when you bring him one of these.
whats the big deal??

The farm where I used to rabbit hunt had a standing rule, if you saw a cat around the barn, leave it alone, if you find one in the field, it is a bad cat, and the farmer does not want it contaminating his other cats.

[KB2AK]

One sick individual--probably thinks he is a sportsman??
I have never seen that cats were a danger to wild birds in this rural area. I and my neighbors feed birds in the winter and we all have cats, plus there are what could be called feral cats around--never see them decimate birds at the feeders.
Dogs, however, have been a danger----always some dog bites serious to minor, occur each year.
There is more to this moron and the whole story than meets the eye.

[kd5kfl]

My large, moody, weird ex-con neighbor has at least 20 cats. There are always a handful of kittens.

I have a convertible and a motorcyle. I swear cats can pick locks, they are constantly in the convertible.

I have muddy cat paw prints on the front side of the motorsickle windshield.

They gather on my back porch and try to fight their way in past the Red Wings. I have to open my door a crack, pause, and punt.

In my hardly humble opinion, possessing a pet that doesn't respond to its own name is pointless. 20 - that's pathological.

[K7JBQ]

Nothing new about this.

"House cats," gone feral, raise hell with wild bird populations everywhere. Particularly field birds like pheasants.

In the old days, hunters just used to shoot them. Nobody asked permission.

I've got 3 cats. They stay in the house and on the balcony. And they still "hunt."

73,
Bill

[KA9VQF]

When my dad was young he helped a fellow down the road do his milking. Money was always scarce so this fellow would pay my dad in milk, vegetables, and from time to time .22 shells.

Now in these days it was common to have large wood piles. Well at my dads place they were ranked and stacked neatly or his dad would have something you didn’t want to hear to say about it.

Cats were common and mostly welcome in the winter because they kept the mouse population down. Since the cats were absolutely not allowed inside the house they populated the wood pile.

In the spring it was common for everyone in the area to kill off the excess population of cats. That is where the .22 shells came in. The pelts didn’t bring much money but the fur buyers did buy them. Though my dad never admitted it I’m guessing they ate plenty of cats during this time. I know they ate most of the other things they skinned for fur.

[KC0KBH]

Quote[/b] (kd5kfl @ Mar. 07 2005,11:40)]My large, moody, weird ex-con neighbor has at least 20 cats. There are always a handful of kittens.

I have a convertible and a motorcyle. I swear cats can pick locks, they are constantly in the convertible.

I have muddy cat paw prints on the front side of the motorsickle windshield.

They gather on my back porch and try to fight their way in past the Red Wings. I have to open my door a crack, pause, and punt.

In my hardly humble opinion, possessing a pet that doesn't respond to its own name is pointless. 20 - that's pathological.
I yell "Kitty" (what we call the cat around here) and he comes runnng, along with the dog! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KC0NBW]

has anyone noticed a recent shortage of birds in their area ?

i sure haven't ! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

birds are natural prey for far more critters than just cats !

[W5HTW]

I have indoor (only) cats and outdoor (only) cats. The indoor ones are just good company. My friends.

The outdoors ones, though, (actually they live in the garage, in their three-bedroom, heated condo on a work bench- oh, did I mention "spoiled?") serve an excellent purpose. They kill snakes. Several years ago we had a bad rattlesnake problem here. Then a stray cat showed up. The problem tapered off. Now I have three garage cats and haven't seen a rattler in at least four years, at least not around my property. Plenty of them around, but not within the 'roaming range' of my barn cats.

Prior to that, we had some very close calls, especially my wife, as she is blonde, and forgets to look at the ground. My cats very definitely earn their keep.

Of course, one year we had six roadrunners nesting in the yard, but they moved on the following year. I never saw them catch anything but mice and lizards, though I know they are supposed to catch rattlesnakes. I had rather depend on the cats.

Ed

[w2wtf]

I have two cats, both go from inside to outside as they please, I have guns too, shoot my cats (or any of my pets) and we just may have a firearm "accident" involving you or your precious dog. My cats aren't only pets, they keep down the grey squirrell population, and I value them (the cats) more than I value most people. (and yes they answer to thier names) People are going to use this to kill others harmless pets just because thier redneck inbreeding genetically makes them hate cats for no reason. Hunting for food is one thing, this idea is just sick. This idea is for white trash inbreeding redneck terracotta toothed wanna-be hunters that can only get a shot off at the neighbors cat..

[KG4CGC]

Quote[/b] (KB2AK @ Mar. 07 2005,19:39)]One sick individual--probably thinks he is a sportsman??
I have never seen that cats were a danger to wild birds in this rural area. #I and my neighbors feed birds in the winter and we all have cats, plus there are what could be called feral cats around--never see them decimate birds at the feeders.
Dogs, however, have been a danger----always some dog bites serious to minor, occur each year.
There is more to this moron and the whole story than meets the eye.
Yes there is more to this moron I'm sure. Probably something like his neighbor has a cat and he doesn't like the cat to walk in his yard. Pretty stupid considering that we've always had problems with dogs running around the neighborhood and getting into trash and leaving their droppings in your path. I've never had a problem with a neighbors cat or a feral cat in the yard. They come into the yard but it is not a problem.
Just some idiot raised to believe that cats are supposed to be killed for sport. Most of these people will tell you they hate cats and that they also hate people who have cats.

[K8PJS]

Ya know, when I first read the title of this thread I thought it was gonna be a Janet Rhino/Teresa (Ketchup lady) Kerry thing. Boy was I wrong. Leave da cats alone me thinks. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[kb2vxa]

Hi cat lovers,

That guy is obviously a bird lover / cat hater. He has no idea of what it's like living in a rural area where mice abound. I did at one point and nobody would think about killing the feral cats, they eat mice so fewer come in the house in winter.

Birds have many predators, felis domesticus is but one of them. Did you ever see an eagle snag a pigeon? I have and wish there were more of them and fewer of those disease ridden flying garbage cans!

As for the one with the puddy prints on the bike, you're not a biker or you would know that "red wings" aren't birds. (;->)

73 de Warren ex honorary member Rahway (NJ) Chapter Pagans MC and KB2VXA

[WB2RJR]

Perhaps someone could explain why your cat, or dog for that matter, has a right to be on my property.

No license should be required to eliminate pests from your own property.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/news/rbnews/2004/013004nor.htm

WB2RJR

[W7DJM]

I have a huge big problem when I hear people who want to go around killing cats.

I don't know what it's like in YOUR part of the country, but here in the Pacific Northwest, there are not Big Bands of Feral Felines roving the countryside, pillaging the bird population. #

They may very well be eating mice, rats, other furry little rodents, and believe it or not, not a few insects. #My big white "Harvey" cat, before he died, loved to eat those big brown "miller" bugs.

On the other hand I certainly support rigid spade/neutering programs to keep wild cats from becoming a problem.

Next time you take aim, remember this:

That "wild cat" you are shooting may just be your a loved pet of your children, the old lady next door, ---figuratively or literally, it may belong to someone, and be a meaningful part of their life.

Was it REALLY doing any harm?

[al2n]

For the record I love cats.

My ham shack companions, Popcorn and Girly Face, take pleasure in sitting on my keyboard while I am typing. Our other cat, Trouble, loves to watch TV.

I grew up in farm country and cats were seen as a valuable asset to have around. Helped to keep the rats and mice out of the barn. I did, however shoot my share of wild cats as they tried to kill our phesants. The wild ones also spread distemper and other diseases to the domestic cats- not good.

[w2wtf]

I have one of those shack companions too, his name is Thor, he was born a wild cat and is now tame as a kitten.(well to me he is) He's now about 27lbs and looks to have something other than just domestic feline bred in there.(hence the size of the cat his big head big paws thick striped coat and short tail) I found him while at college, I was living out in the sticks and he used come in the back yard and I'd feed him a little bit, over time he came closer and closer and eventually let me pet him. Once for about three days I didn't see him and he showed up on the 4th day on the back porch literally about to die with a bad respratory infection and two .22 short wounds to his hind leg. After the other half convinced me to help him I took him to the vet, the vet denied treatment since he looked to be other than domestic feline. (and he wouldn't let the vet touch him) So I took him home did some research, found some antibiotics at the farm supply store, fixed the infection then managed to get some animal sedatives off a friend who's wife shows cats and gives them to hers for the long car rides. Knocked him out (took more than we thought) removed one of the .22's (superficial but looked painful) the other was a stright through wound, cleaned him and patched him up and she put him in the guest bed. Since then he has no disire to leave.(other than to go out to use the can) Since then we found a vet who would nuter him and give him his shots and he's been the best pet I've ever had. He's 10x smarter than my dog....

[K0RGR]

I've never been a 'cat people' though I did have one a few years ago that was OK. Unfortunately, he seemed to hate my wife, so at the first opportunity, he was eliminated from the domicile.

But, I did read an article about this particular situation. The person advocating this is a fireman from LaCrosse. Claims he finds fresh cat tracks around his bird feeder every morning.

The article RJR posted had much different statistics than those quoted in the newspaper article by the college professor who did the study for the state. He estimated that free roaming cats kill somewhere between 17 and 200-something million birds a year. That seems like a pretty big SWAG to me, doesn't it to you? (SWAG = Silly Wild-Arsed Guess) They quoted him as guessing there are up to 60 free-roaming cats per square mile in Southeast Wisconsin. Did that include Milwaukee and its suburbs?

"Honey, get me the shootin' iron - it's sittin' there next my cheese-head hat - God I love the Packers...that danged neighbor cat is creepin' up on the bird feeder again... I can hear it ... here, hold my beer..."

[ai4ep]

Had a cat ,,he caught chipmonks , mostly to play with till they died...then one day we found a dead squirrel at the back door. The cat was showing off what he could do, and to prove his worth in the area.

We always had to watch out where we put our feet as we came out the back door for a few years, there would be either a dead mouse, dead chipmonk or the squirrel laying within 2 feet of the back door.

Then one day the cat died...it sure wasnt from food poisoning, problably old age.

We miss that cat. But dont want another..it was a boy, did nt have to worry about a bunch of kittens to dig out of the fanbelts when you crank the car up.

I saw a " dennis the menace " cartoon once... showed Dennis & Joey with cats in their hands/arms. Dennis was a tellin Joey that " his dad had told him, that, you could tell boy cats from girl cats by picking them up and looking at the bottoms of their feet ".

hee hee



I thought by the title of this thread that it might refer to another type of "cat ", but now I remember this is a " g " rated forum. :blush:

[N0KLT]

Personally, I feel that any bird which can fly, has a beak and some sort of talons or claws on its feet that gets killed by a cat is a good candidate for removal from the gene pool and probably has improved the gene pool by leaving it. If that rediculous number of birds killed by cats quoted is accurate, then the cats are doing the world a great favor by controlling the bird population. I seriously doubt the accuracy of the number but can you imagine how many birds we would have in the country if that number is true and the cats stopped culling the bird population. Based on the number of starlings and sparrow and *&^%$ pigeons we have here locally, we need more cats not to start shooting the ones we have.

As far as domestic aka house cats being great hunters, I envy anyone who has a cat that will hunt. We have had cats for something close to 37 yrs and in that time only one of them has shown any inclination to hunt. Granted the last 3 cats we have had counting the current 2 are never out of the house but they show no inclination to hunt anything other than a food dish. The first cat we had I can't say was much of a hunter though he did on a few occasions bring back something to the house when he was done roaming the area. The first time he did it, I let him back in the house without checking him first and noticed as he whizzed down the basement steps that he had something in his mouth. I followed him down the steps and saw him stop in the middle of the floor, lay down and spit a mouse out of his mouth. I was about to give him H for eating something like that in the house, when the mouse jumped up and tried to run away. The cat pinned him with a paw and raked the mouse back toward the center of the cat's paws. This went on for a few minutes until cat tired of the game and got up and sauntered off. The mouse of course, looked around and scampered under a shelf in the basement. I immediatedly headed for the hardware store for mouse traps. After that I always check the bloody cat for contraband before letting him in the house. A few weeks later I saw a leg sticking out of the cats mouth when he wanted in and tapped him sharply on the nose. The cat opened his mouth and out jumped a baby toad which hopped of at high speed while I nabbed the cat and tossed him inside the house. And that was the BEST hunter of any cat I have ever been the serving staff for.

[kd5kfl]

My neighbor neither names his cats, nor calls them.

He does talk to them. Particularly, the one with the pink and lavendar collar. " I wuv oo, widdle ookum-snookums". Makes me want to launch my lunch.

When they mark "their" territory ( I don't recall any cat making any payments on my vehicles ) the stench lasts forever. When it rains, the stench comes back.

You cat fans are welcome to your theories about those of us who don't care for them. But "spray" stinks, and keeping 20 cats indicates one or more mental problems ( Which have been documented by a court appointed psychiatrist ).

[W5HTW]

Quote[/b] (N0KLT @ Mar. 08 2005,16:24)]Personally, I feel that any bird which can fly, has a beak and some sort of talons or claws on its feet that gets killed by a cat is a good candidate for removal from the gene pool and probably has improved the gene pool by leaving it. If that rediculous number of birds killed by cats quoted is accurate, then the cats are doing the world a great favor by controlling the bird population. I seriously doubt the accuracy of the number but can you imagine how many birds we would have in the country if that number is true and the cats stopped culling the bird population. Based on the number of starlings and sparrow and *&^%$ pigeons we have here locally, we need more cats not to start shooting the ones we have.

As far as domestic aka house cats being great hunters, I envy anyone who has a cat that will hunt. We have had cats for something close to 37 yrs and in that time only one of them has shown any inclination to hunt. Granted the last 3 cats we have had counting the current 2 are never out of the house but they show no inclination to hunt anything other than a food dish. The first cat we had I can't say was much of a hunter though he did on a few occasions bring back something to the house when he was done roaming the area. The first time he did it, I let him back in the house without checking him first and noticed as he whizzed down the basement steps that he had something in his mouth. I followed him down the steps and saw him stop in the middle of the floor, lay down and spit a mouse out of his mouth. I was about to give him H for eating something like that in the house, when the mouse jumped up and tried to run away. The cat pinned him with a paw and raked the mouse back toward the center of the cat's paws. This went on for a few minutes until cat tired of the game and got up and sauntered off. The mouse of course, looked around and scampered under a shelf in the basement. I immediatedly headed for the hardware store for mouse traps. After that I always check the bloody cat for contraband before letting him in the house. A few weeks later I saw a leg sticking out of the cats mouth when he wanted in and tapped him sharply on the nose. The cat opened his mouth and out jumped a baby toad which hopped of at high speed while I nabbed the cat and tossed him inside the house. And that was the BEST hunter of any cat I have ever been the serving staff for.
One of my cats, who used to be an indoor-outdoor cat but is now indoor only (for his own protection and health) used to bring lots of "things to swap for food." One day just as the wife and I were leaving for work and opened the door, he popped in with a totally live rabbit. He dropped it and headed for his food dish, in typical swapping mode. We spent 15 minutes chasing down the rabbit, which hid behind the refrigerator.

The same buddy brought us other things, including an unharmed bird, which he promptly let loose as he headed toward his dish. I think this is a "cat thing." They pay for their food - your care - by bringing home the goodies. They donate to me a rabbit, ferret, or snake, and expect me to donate to them store-bought cat food. We have chased mice, snakes, ferrets, birds, rabbits, squirrels, and even lizards, around the living room floor, while old Kitty-Buddy sampled the food in his dish.

As to birds and cats, the birds literally have the upper hand. Cats don't fly. Birds do. Some birds, though, chase cats. Mockingbirds are noted for that, (and when it makes me mad enough, I go knock down their nests) and my cats have come slinking, rapidly, across the yard, heading for sanctuary in their barn, with two or three nasty birds swirling overhead.

Some are more serious. Hawks get many small cats. (My cats, at 18 pounds, are too hefty for hawks. Owls, though, are a bit more courageous, and I had one that sits on a utility pole in my yard and has attempted on at least three occasions I know about to grab one of my cats. The cat got too close to the house for the owl to fly, and I threw rocks at the owl. I'm not a very good rock tosser, so both owl and cat escaped anything other than embarrassment. Haven't seen that owl in a while. Kitty-Buddy brought me a bat one night, but fortunately we were outdoors. He dropped it at my feet, and it took off, surprising me, my wife and the cat.

I agree about animals on other peoples' property. I don't want their dogs OR their cats on my property, and I will do all I can to run them off. My barn cats are kept, honestly, very fat and lazy, grossly overfed, and they seldom wander outside my fence. In fact, they seldom wander more than 50 feet from the barn, even during peak cat-roaming "wee small hours." Most of the time they lie around in the barn, as they really do have a very comfortable (and safe) life, out of reach of coyotes and owls. They are aggressive toward visiting cats, so they do guard duty for me. And they are hefty enough to be nasty about it. Well, two of the three are. The third is, though now two years old, still babied and protected by one of the other two (we neutered all of them, but that one, well, I'm beginning to wonder about him, if he may have a bit too much San Francisco in him.)

On top of all this, I also love dogs! MY dogs, not yours. Though I don't have one at the moment, that could happen at any time. I have one-third acre fenced, with dog house with covered, attached patio. Last dog died of old age, so maybe it's time to get another.

For now, though, my cats are my friends. I treat them like friends, I am the human responsible for their health, security, and shelter, and I take that responsibility very seriously.

As any pet owner should.

Ed

By the way, on another off-the-cuff figure, birds are a wee dab more than plentiful, and most likely outnumber cats by several hundred million, in the USA alone. About the only thing more plentiful than birds may be ants.

[K8YS]

here is one lucky cat... ALMOST become a sail cat.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=436247&nid=104 (http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=436247&nid=104)
cat on a tin roof (http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=436247&nid=104)

[n2nh]

You can say what you want, but letting cats and dogs roam at will is irresponsible in the least and a good way to get sued if someone gets bit or scratched. I've had dogs and cats, presently owned by a cat now and I'd never let them out by themselves. If a stray cat came near mine, I'd do what I had to, to protect her. Even more so when I owned a dog. If you do value your pets, then letting them roam free is a bad way of demonstrating that. Especially in a city.

[KC9ECI]

This guy is local to me. Personally, I think he's come up with about the dumbest idea I've ever heard of. Some people however are taking things a bit too far. There is an article in today's paper that says he's getting death threats.

Quote[/b] ]One call made while Smith was working at the La Crosse Fire Department suggested "it should be ... open season on firefighters," according to police reports.

In another, a woman told Smith she had heard that if the Wisconsin Legislature approved his plan, "they will hunt Smith down and kill him," police said.Cat hunt sponsor getting death threats By DAN SPRINGER / La Crosse Tribune (http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/03/10/news/02cat.txt)