If anyone needs me, I'll be in the angry dome!

[Gerald McGrew]

Why are you the arbiter of what lives and what dies?

Believe me, if the shelters out here would take cats, I would trap 'em and drop 'em off there (where they would likely be euthanized). In the absence of that, I'm left with a choice between having a fairly sizable feral cat population on my property (and living with their impacts), or doing what I can to reduce it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Why are you the arbiter of what lives and what dies?

Believe me, if the shelters out here would take cats, I would trap 'em and drop 'em off there (where they would likely be euthanized). In the absence of that, I'm left with a choice between having a fairly sizable feral cat population on my property (and living with their impacts), or doing what I can to reduce it.

But you won't reduce it. You're just opening up niches for other ferals to move into. Population pressure will sustain that cycle. On the other hand, if you allow a colony to develop and have enough catpower to hold its turf you will actually have few cats in your area.

As an example I site an event recorded in an otherwise undistinguished book, The Arming of America. A certain town in Virginia had a squirrel problem. They hired three expert shots who, with the aid of reloading teams, killed 5,000 squirrels in three days. The next year the city fathers decided not to waste money on that again. Squirrel population had returned to "normal" for the area.

[Gerald McGrew]

But you won't reduce it. You're just opening up niches for other ferals to move into.

Other feral species, or other feral cats?

Population pressure will sustain that cycle. On the other hand, if you allow a colony to develop and have enough catpower to hold its turf you will actually have few cats in your area.

No, it doesn't work that way. Predator-prey populations left to "self regulate" go through boom-bust cycles. I'm not willing to sit through years of hardly any songbirds and hundreds of feral cats pissing under my porch, on my truck, etc. As it stands now, there are very few feral cats in my area, and that's directly due to my (and my neighbors') efforts. We set out traps and have very long periods where we don't get anything. Once someone dumps a cat or a bunch of cats, we know almost immediately.

As an example I site an event recorded in an otherwise undistinguished book, The Arming of America. A certain town in Virginia had a squirrel problem. They hired three expert shots who, with the aid of reloading teams, killed 5,000 squirrels in three days. The next year the city fathers decided not to waste money on that again. Squirrel population had returned to "normal" for the area.

There are also examples of feral animal removal programs that are fairly successful. Sure, in most cases you're not going to completely eliminate the population, but consistent, targeted efforts can significantly suppress the population.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Listen, my studies can whip your studies with one foreleg tied behind their back!

[Gerald McGrew]

Not if I shoot them first! [/Seth]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Not if I shoot them first! [/Seth]

True. But I beg you to look at cases where humans have tried to "manage" the wildlife in an area. Or you can read The Sand County Almanac, by Seton.

[Woodbutcher]

The problem is the people who drop cats off. I would target them as well.

[HomerJay]

This should be an interesting discussion...

I live in a rural area just outside of town. To get go my place, you have to drive through a short tunnel, down a gravel road, and through some woods. This means our area is a very popular location for drop-offs of all sorts, including unwanted cats. Our local animal shelters have stopped accepting stray cats, so we can't take them there. I will not neuter and release them because of the damage they do to songbirds and other wildlife. And we simply cannot adopt them due to their sheer number.

So I shoot them.

Of course I take every precaution to make sure they're truly strays (no collars or tags, and I ask around to all the neighbors first to make sure it's not theirs). Still, it's not something I enjoy, but given the millions of stray cats in this country and the toll they take on wildlife, I feel it's something I have to do.

Why are you the arbiter of what lives and what dies?

He's the one with the gun?

[Gerald McGrew]

Not if I shoot them first! [/Seth]

True. But I beg you to look at cases where humans have tried to "manage" the wildlife in an area. Or you can read The Sand County Almanac, by Seton.

Well, not to go too deep into this, but that's kinda what I do for a living.

[JimC]

The problem is the people who drop cats off. I would target them as well.

They, and folk who don't lock up their pet cats at night, and those who don't get their cats neutered...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

ledge.JPG (60.64 KiB) Viewed 661 times

[Sean Hayden]

Dog owners are far worse.

[Warren Dew]

Spoilered for a reason.

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

I understand that cat got his revenge, though.

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

[FBM]

I guess it's up to me to mention that A Sand County Almanac was written by Aldo Leopold.

And a helluva good book, too. Studied it in undergrad. Recommended reading.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I guess it's up to me to mention that A Sand County Almanac was written by Aldo Leopold.

And a helluva good book, too. Studied it in undergrad. Recommended reading.

"The Wolf That Changed America" is available on PBS.com. Very moving and important story. (And not just because it shows wolves trick-fucking humans.)