Feral cats _Evolution_ by Stephen Baxter

wrote:

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 13:20:29 -0500, "CaptCook" wrote:



I have been told several times that feral cats are such a problem in
the Dakotas that they are supposed to be destroyed if some specified
distance from a building. They have caused great destruction in
Hawaii according to conservationists. There is no danger of cats
becoming endangered. And no excuse for allowing them outside. That
being said, my pet of preference is a cat.



Ahem. There is "allowing them outside" and "allowing them outside".
Cats can be allowed to experience the great outdoors in various ways
short of opening the door and allowing them to roam freely. For
example, my two have a patio with cat-proof fencing that they go out
in for lazy weekend afternoons, and they are both trained to harness
for walks outside when we are all feeling more adventuresome.




In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers. Essentially
a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle. So you can take
kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even set paw to ground.

Brenda



--
---------
Brenda W. Clough
http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/

Recent short fiction: PARADOX, Autumn 2003
http://home.nyc.rr.com/paradoxmag//index.html

Upcoming short fiction in FIRST HEROES (TOR, May '04)
http://members.aol.com/wenamun/firstheroes.html

wrote:

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 13:20:29 -0500, "CaptCook" wrote:



I have been told several times that feral cats are such a problem in
the Dakotas that they are supposed to be destroyed if some specified
distance from a building. They have caused great destruction in
Hawaii according to conservationists. There is no danger of cats
becoming endangered. And no excuse for allowing them outside. That
being said, my pet of preference is a cat.



Ahem. There is "allowing them outside" and "allowing them outside".
Cats can be allowed to experience the great outdoors in various ways
short of opening the door and allowing them to roam freely. For
example, my two have a patio with cat-proof fencing that they go out
in for lazy weekend afternoons, and they are both trained to harness
for walks outside when we are all feeling more adventuresome.




In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers. Essentially
a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle. So you can take
kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even set paw to ground.

Brenda



--
---------
Brenda W. Clough
http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/

Recent short fiction: PARADOX, Autumn 2003
http://home.nyc.rr.com/paradoxmag//index.html

Upcoming short fiction in FIRST HEROES (TOR, May '04)
http://members.aol.com/wenamun/firstheroes.html

In article ,
Brenda W. Clough wrote:

In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers. Essentially
a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle. So you can take
kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even set paw to ground.

That is probably the only way you'd get some of our cats to
traverse six feet.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California

In article ,
Brenda W. Clough wrote:

In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers. Essentially
a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle. So you can take
kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even set paw to ground.

That is probably the only way you'd get some of our cats to
traverse six feet.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California

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On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 21:39:56 -0400, "Brenda W. Clough"
wrote:


In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers.
Essentially a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle.
So you can take kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even
set paw to ground.


Some cats might enjoy this, but I suspect that most of them would be
saying "Me Out! Me Out! Me Out Nowwwww!" until you got back to the
house.

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--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

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Hash: SHA1

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 21:39:56 -0400, "Brenda W. Clough"
wrote:


In the larger pet catalogues they're selling cat strollers.
Essentially a cat cage, mounted on wheels with a stroller handle.
So you can take kitty for an airing, and he doesn't have to even
set paw to ground.


Some cats might enjoy this, but I suspect that most of them would be
saying "Me Out! Me Out! Me Out Nowwwww!" until you got back to the
house.

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Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use http://www.pgp.com

iQA/AwUBQHikxTMYPge5L34aEQKK5wCfUNZgc5ffvzqMOo8RzPs162 LA08YAn3yf
BCrBIRdVW/FaLIP4L1hqf0P7
=0iGP
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

itty (Sherry ) wrote in message ...

Krista, if that happened here, every Bubba with a 12-gauge would march on the
Capitol hollering "Overpopulation!" and have an open season on them declared.
My dad is a rancher, and he is amazingly tolerant of coyotes/bobcats. If a
newborn calf gets killed, he just shrugs and says, "You have to expect to lose
a few." He never lets the coyote-hunters on his land.
Back to the Bubba-hunters, there's a restaurant here that has 2 stuffed bobcats
on the counter as "trophies." I ate there once and marched my butt to the
manager and told him I thought dead cats as decor was disgusting. DH was quite
embarrassed.
It's such a no-win. Bobcats are such magnificent creatures and you have to
respectt them just for survivinng on their own. But they can be so dangerous,
too, when they start coming into populated areas and getting so bold.

Sherry


Heh. Rural south Georgia swarms with Bubbas too, who don't need no
stinkin' seasons and wouldn't see what the Capitol would have to do
with anything. The thing is, though these animals are killed too
often, deer and squirrels are waaaay easier to hunt, so the damage is
not as bad as it could be.

There is still quite a bit of wild land here, and I like knowing that
there are these critters in the woods. In 50 years, though, who knows
how much we will have expanded our neighborhoods into theirs. :-(

------
Krista

itty (Sherry ) wrote in message ...

Krista, if that happened here, every Bubba with a 12-gauge would march on the
Capitol hollering "Overpopulation!" and have an open season on them declared.
My dad is a rancher, and he is amazingly tolerant of coyotes/bobcats. If a
newborn calf gets killed, he just shrugs and says, "You have to expect to lose
a few." He never lets the coyote-hunters on his land.
Back to the Bubba-hunters, there's a restaurant here that has 2 stuffed bobcats
on the counter as "trophies." I ate there once and marched my butt to the
manager and told him I thought dead cats as decor was disgusting. DH was quite
embarrassed.
It's such a no-win. Bobcats are such magnificent creatures and you have to
respectt them just for survivinng on their own. But they can be so dangerous,
too, when they start coming into populated areas and getting so bold.

Sherry


Heh. Rural south Georgia swarms with Bubbas too, who don't need no
stinkin' seasons and wouldn't see what the Capitol would have to do
with anything. The thing is, though these animals are killed too
often, deer and squirrels are waaaay easier to hunt, so the damage is
not as bad as it could be.

There is still quite a bit of wild land here, and I like knowing that
there are these critters in the woods. In 50 years, though, who knows
how much we will have expanded our neighborhoods into theirs. :-(

------
Krista

OK, I once had a cat that would walk with me in the evenings. Other
than with me it did not go out. I guess I overreact when I see the
neighborhood cats gathered around the bird feeders and climbing the
lilacs where the nests are. Anybody here from Wyoming?

OK, I once had a cat that would walk with me in the evenings. Other
than with me it did not go out. I guess I overreact when I see the
neighborhood cats gathered around the bird feeders and climbing the
lilacs where the nests are. Anybody here from Wyoming?