cats and crows
 

The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult for a cat
to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind of
information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I should also
mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill crows
easily?

rona

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"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We had
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The dead crows should be tested for West Nile Virus!

in article , vancats at
wrote on 5/17/05 5:33AM:

The dead crows should be tested for West Nile Virus!

No kidding. And why would wild cats kill them and leave them? And if these
cats have been around a long while, why they suddenly be killing the crows.
Sorry, but those things are about as big as a cat and why would they attack
crows when there is surelyother easier prey around. Sounds like someone is
just looking for a reason.

Rona Y. wrote:
The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners
and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by
someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are
also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people
are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just
dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these
large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members
are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped
and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize
them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult
for a cat
to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind
of
information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I
should also
mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill
crows
easily?

rona

I don't think the cats are killing those crows. Crows are hard to kill,
not only because of their size, but they're very smart. I also don't
think stray cats would just kill them for sport--the bodies would show
some damage, and there would be feathers all over the place. Sounds
like somebody just doesn't like the cats and they're playing the blame
game.
The real kicker is, who in the WORLD would want crows on a campus?
They're nasty and will run off the songbirds.

Sherry

"Rona Y." wrote in message
...
The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize
them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult for a
cat
to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind of
information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I should
also
mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill crows
easily?


The crows I've seen could probably seriously injure a cat.
They are big and aggressive and loud, not the kind of bird
a cat generally picks on. And yes, of course they would
have eaten them if they had killed them and they were hungry.

The crows are predators of cats, not vice-versa. And dead crows should be
waving a HUGE red flag in somebody's face about West Nile Virus, which is
quite serious. Here in Maryland we actually have a task force in the health
department that will come to pick up dead crows and test them.

Cats are normally the way "plagues" are held in check. There is some
serious theorizing that the reason the European plagues took off the way
they did was because people killed the cats--they were superstitious then
(gee, I think your coworkers are superstitious too!) and thought cats were
the implements of witches and the devil. Thus vermin, and the plague,
multiplied.

If it were me I'd go whole hog to educate these ignoramuses, (a SCHOOL, you
say?????) and also I'd immediately call the health department about the
crows.

"Rona Y." wrote in message
...
The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize
them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult for a
cat to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind
of information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I should
also mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill crows
easily?

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
had people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy
to go back. We call them Canadians."
---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004

You are describing the symptoms of West Nile Virus in the crows.

Your local health department likely wants those crows for testing. Here
is a Center for Disease Control (CDC) link to find out who to call:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/west...ity_states.htm

In a crow/cat fight, the crow will usually win by the by and if the cat
did take one down, it would eat it.

Mike


"Rona Y." wrote:

The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult for a cat
to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind of
information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I should also
mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill crows
easily?

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We had
people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy to go
back. We call them Canadians."
---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004

"Rona Y." wrote:

The school at which I work has a few cats on campus--none have owners and
only one that I know of has been TNRed. The TNR cat is fed by someone on
campus (not daily, but often) but I do not know if the other cats are also
fed. Recently, a number of crows have been found dead, and people are
blaming the cats. These crows are quite large, and not eaten, just dead.
It seems to me that if hungry stray cats were able to kill these large
crows, they also would have eaten them. However, other staff members are
insisting that the cats are at fault, and that they should be trapped and
turned over to animal control (which will, without a doubt, euthanize them).

I guess what I'm hoping is to hear that it would be very difficult for a cat
to kill a crow. I need to save these cats, and passing on this kind of
information is pretty much the only way I can help these cats (I should also
mention that I'm in Japan, so no animal shelters, no humane society,
nothing--I've already investigated possible options, and there is no
organization out there who can take these cats). So, can cats kill crows
easily?

In a battle between a cat and a crow, I'd bet on the crow! Is there
West Nile virus in Japan? We lost some crows to it a few years ago.

Even if it were the cats killing a few crows, someone needs to be
reminded of how predators improve the overall quality of a population by
culling out the old and infirm.

Priscilla

Priscilla H. Ballou wrote:

In a battle between a cat and a crow, I'd bet on the crow! Is there
West Nile virus in Japan? We lost some crows to it a few years ago.

Even if it were the cats killing a few crows, someone needs to be
reminded of how predators improve the overall quality of a population
by culling out the old and infirm.

Priscilla

No West Nile here, as of yet (or so they say). There was a woman whom they
thought might have the virus (two years ago), but it was thought that she
contracted in while visiting the Eastern US.

One thing that really ****es me off...just last week it was mentioned that
there were too many crows on campus and that students were complaining about
them. The implication was that the crows would have to be killed. But now
that the crows are dying, they're blaming the cats and want to get rid of
them!!! This is one thing I just hate about Japan...

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
had people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the
energy to go back. We call them Canadians." ---Grover Norquist in
Newsweek, November 22, 2004

Karen wrote:
in article ,

No kidding. And why would wild cats kill them and leave them? And if
these cats have been around a long while, why they suddenly be
killing the crows. Sorry, but those things are about as big as a cat
and why would they attack crows when there is surelyother easier prey
around. Sounds like someone is just looking for a reason.

Oh, they most definitely are looking for a reason. They've been trying to
get rid of these cats for a long time, but those who are interested in
animal protection (there are so very few of them--this is Japan, after all)
have managed to stave off the cat haters. I'm really worried that they'll
use this now. As a non-Japanese, my clout here is almost nil. However, I'm
hoping to convince some of the more rational people that the cats are not at
fault. This could be a difficult battle!

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
had people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the
energy to go back. We call them Canadians." ---Grover Norquist in
Newsweek, November 22, 2004