The War on Feral Cats

[Phaseolus]

Don’t even get me going about feral horses...

 

[rjthehunter]

Don’t even get me going about feral horses...

Those SOBs eating all the grass

 

[BrentD]

Those SOBs eating all the grass

If it wasn't the horses, it would just be more cattle or sheep.

 

[rjthehunter]

If it wasn't the horses, it would just be more cattle or sheep.

And as I've learned (https://www.themeateater.com/conser...ghorn-stronghold-why-does-this-keep-happening) those sheep are bad for our bighorn sheep.

 

[Irrelevant]

If it wasn't the horses, it would just be more cattle or sheep.

I hope this was a joke.

 

[TXLonghorn]

Holy smoke! I cant believe an Owl tried to take a cat that size...good on your buddy there to win the engagement.

Owl was struck with a hernia and had to let it go I'm sure.

 

[Bigjay73]

I hope this was a joke.

That would require a sense of humor

 

[Dunning Kruger]

I work on small mammals (ie, rodents), so you might guess, I'm not a real fan of feral, wild, or free-ranging cats. Really cats are probably not very important to most game species. Where they really hurt is with with nongame wildlife, especially rodents. I could go on a long time about that, but that's pretty far afield for a hunting forum.

However, without getting too much into the verbiage of the differences between those three categories of cats, I will say that really only one is a major problem with an exception. Free-ranging kitties that go home to bowls of Friskies in the kitchen or barn are the problem. The other two groups are really just another predator. No worse or better than any other really. Their numbers will ebb and flow with the abundances of prey (again, mostly small rodents, some small birds, and a few other things from time to time).

But when they have Friskies to fall back on they don't' starve when the game gets low, they don't have reduced litter survival, they don't suffer. Predators that do not suffer during shortages of prey are a real problem.

The exceptions are those feral and wild cats that are maintained during shortages (and other times) by the stereotypical little ol' lady who goes out and puts bowls of Friskies in the bush. Those cats will not starve before the last of their prey are killed. That is a big problem.

If you know of any of these "cat colony" people you might alert authorities. They are generally doing this illegally (feeding cats like that is illegal in some places, or they are often trespassing). However, authorities are often reluctant to do more than politely ask for a "cease and desist" which never works.

Guess im one of these "cat colony people" you are so against. Had quite a few feral / barn cats at one point that i would feed just enough to keep them around. All gone now due to my outrageous lion / yote / bob / wolf etc etc issues. I know feral cats kill birds. But if you got a big woodshed with several years worth of firewood, and a barn packed with alfalfa, youll have packrats. Id rather have feral cats than packrats. Not a big fan of pocket gophers or whistlepigs either. So if the cats kill some tweety birds or quail in the proccess of keeping the packrats and gophers down, so be it. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omlette.

 

[Tradewind]

There is a huge difference between feral and a pet. I don't think to many people advocate taking out someone's cared for pet. At least I hope not...

Some areas get over run. Then it's even a problem for our pets. I've paid several hundred dollars in vet bills when my poor cat gets his butt kicked. Too bad he's not a better fighter.

mine also

 

[CPAjeff]

I grew up in a little farming town about an hour away from a major city. Without fail, people from the city would buy a kitten, thinking it would stay a kitten forever, and then tire of said kitten once it became a cat. Our little community, and the surrounding area, became the dumping grounds for these cats... The impact these cats had on the local pheasant population was immense.

Then, along came the wondrous 17 HMR ... ditch tiger hunts became an after school ritual! The pheasants slowly made a comeback.

All-in-all I feel pretty satisfied about the conservation efforts of those after school hunts!

 

[Dunning Kruger]

I grew up in a little farming town about an hour away from a major city. Without fail, people from the city would buy a kitten, thinking it would stay a kitten forever, and then tire of said kitten once it became a cat. Our little community, and the surrounding area, became the dumping grounds for these cats... The impact these cats had on the local pheasant population was immense.

Then, along came the wondrous 17 HMR ... ditch tiger hunts became an after school ritual! The pheasants slowly made a comeback.

All-in-all I feel pretty satisfied about the conservation efforts of those after school hunts!

Gotta play devils advocate just to rustle some jimmies. Cats killing pheasant is just one invasive species killing another invasive species. Neither belong on this continent, right? Ill see myself out now.

 

[Tradewind]

Gotta play devils advocate just to rustle some jimmies. Cats killing pheasant is just one invasive species killing another invasive species. Neither belong on this continent, right? Ill see myself out now.

Pheasants have their own support system - Pheasants forever...along with the SSGS (snooty sixteen gauge society)

 

[TheJason]

Pheasants have their own support system - Pheasants forever...along with the SSGS (snooty sixteen gauge society)

I much prefer chukars for my invasive exotics, and sharps tails and sage grouse for natives.

 

[CPAjeff]

Gotta play devils advocate just to rustle some jimmies. Cats killing pheasant is just one invasive species killing another invasive species. Neither belong on this continent, right? Ill see myself out now.

Rustle some jimmies ... I like that phrase! I turned to the source of all truth and knowledge - Wikipedia - for the definition of an invasive species:

An invasive species is most often a non-native species that spreads from a point of introduction to become naturalized and negatively alters its new environment.

I’ve never heard anyone speaking about the negative impact pheasants have. However, I’ve said some choice words while hunting pheasants when my shooting was subpar that day.

 

[Baticus]

I have only come across a handful of feral cats, at least ones I have noticed anyways. It is an opportunistic "hunt" to say the least, same with badgers, coyotes, wolves, etc. You see them, you shoot them.

I witnessed on many occasions, packs of wild dogs chasing deer though. All while hunting near a somewhat local native reserve. Only once did two of them wander off the reserve and chase some does less than a hundred yards below me. Needless to say those two aren't chasing any deer now.

 

[MTGomer]

This lady lets her cat out to kill wild animals and she’s mad someone shot it with a crossbow.
Cat people are something else. How do you get the idea it’s totally okay for your animal to roam around killing shit all the time?

 

[MTLabrador]

This lady lets her cat out to kill wild animals and she’s mad someone shot it with a crossbow.
Cat people are something else. How do you get the idea it’s totally okay for your animal to roam around killing shit all the time?

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No judo point, what is this, amateur hour?

 

[DouglasR]

This morning on the way to work I flushed a white and black calico out of the ditch and into the road in front of me.
It really wasn’t even close but I still got a little emotional because I can’t even.

 

[DouglasR]

I can’t imagine leaving your cat out all night because that’s when yotes are out and I can’t even.

 

[MTGomer]

There’s always flyers around my neighborhood about missing/lost/stolen kitties.

If the people posting them would go for a walk under the transmission corridor, they would see the kitty remnants from the red tail hawk missiles that come off the 230kv towers like a bolt of lightning.