Feral cats _Evolution_ by Stephen Baxter

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" dumped this in
on 10 Apr 2004:

As man encroaches more and more upon their territory, the wild critters
become bolder (if survival means a change of diet from their natural
prey, they'll adapt).

I shudder to think what the area I live in would be like if we had coyote,
cougar, etc. Housing is becoming such a shortage that every piece of land
is being bought up and houses built with as many in that small space as
they can fit. Practically no lots at all; you'd probably get a good look
from your window into your neighbors window. As a result of this, the deer
are really having a hard time and it isn't unusual to see many right out in
the open at any given time of the day. One of the [many!] things that
bothers me about so many homes being built in places that used to be wooded
lots is that each of those homeowners is going to have a lawn (ok, a small
one). They're going to want it to look nice. More over-use of fertalizers
and other chemicals where there used to be wildlife and a natural blanket
of moss, leaves and composing tree branches. Yeesh, I didn't mean to turn
that into a rant. :-|

--
Cheryl

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" dumped this in
on 10 Apr 2004:

As man encroaches more and more upon their territory, the wild critters
become bolder (if survival means a change of diet from their natural
prey, they'll adapt).

I shudder to think what the area I live in would be like if we had coyote,
cougar, etc. Housing is becoming such a shortage that every piece of land
is being bought up and houses built with as many in that small space as
they can fit. Practically no lots at all; you'd probably get a good look
from your window into your neighbors window. As a result of this, the deer
are really having a hard time and it isn't unusual to see many right out in
the open at any given time of the day. One of the [many!] things that
bothers me about so many homes being built in places that used to be wooded
lots is that each of those homeowners is going to have a lawn (ok, a small
one). They're going to want it to look nice. More over-use of fertalizers
and other chemicals where there used to be wildlife and a natural blanket
of moss, leaves and composing tree branches. Yeesh, I didn't mean to turn
that into a rant. :-|

--
Cheryl

"Karen Chuplis" 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.
I'm from SD and never heard that. I've never even seen that many.
Odd.

Thanks for the response. I will correct my stance. On a hike near
Rapid City several years ago the guide mentioned plinking at ferals as
a duty.
My owner, Cat, will not take live food. Her predecessor, Damit, found
a way to open the finch cage.

"Karen Chuplis" 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.
I'm from SD and never heard that. I've never even seen that many.
Odd.

Thanks for the response. I will correct my stance. On a hike near
Rapid City several years ago the guide mentioned plinking at ferals as
a duty.
My owner, Cat, will not take live food. Her predecessor, Damit, found
a way to open the finch cage.

in article , CaptCook at wrote on
4/10/04 3:56 PM:

"Karen Chuplis" 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.
I'm from SD and never heard that. I've never even seen that many.
Odd.

Thanks for the response. I will correct my stance. On a hike near
Rapid City several years ago the guide mentioned plinking at ferals as
a duty.
My owner, Cat, will not take live food. Her predecessor, Damit, found
a way to open the finch cage.


That's really odd. I'm from Rapid and truly, I have never heard of a feral
problem. Sounds like your guide maybe just did not like cats.

Karen

in article , CaptCook at wrote on
4/10/04 3:56 PM:

"Karen Chuplis" 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.
I'm from SD and never heard that. I've never even seen that many.
Odd.

Thanks for the response. I will correct my stance. On a hike near
Rapid City several years ago the guide mentioned plinking at ferals as
a duty.
My owner, Cat, will not take live food. Her predecessor, Damit, found
a way to open the finch cage.


That's really odd. I'm from Rapid and truly, I have never heard of a feral
problem. Sounds like your guide maybe just did not like cats.

Karen

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. Yes,
there is still some risk to the cat, especially from such things as
hawks, coyotes, and dogs, but I figure with a human near by it makes
the risk tolerable.

There are shades of gray to this... it's not strictly cats do anything
they please or cat never sticks his nose past the door.

Rebecca

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. Yes,
there is still some risk to the cat, especially from such things as
hawks, coyotes, and dogs, but I figure with a human near by it makes
the risk tolerable.

There are shades of gray to this... it's not strictly cats do anything
they please or cat never sticks his nose past the door.

Rebecca

In article , wrote:

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. Yes,
there is still some risk to the cat, especially from such things as
hawks, coyotes, and dogs, but I figure with a human near by it makes
the risk tolerable.

There are shades of gray to this... it's not strictly cats do anything
they please or cat never sticks his nose past the door.

If that works for you, fine. I couldn't rig our back yard in
that fashion (particularly since it's a rented house). Our cats
are trained to wear harnesses, but they won't go for walks on
them; they'll either sit-down-strike and have to be dragged or
carried, or they'll do their best to drag the human into an
interesting bush or such (so long as we outweigh them, this
doesn't work).

Other than when we take one to an SCA event, our cats never stick
their noses past the door without great hubbub ensuing. The last
time this happened was a couple months ago: Louhi for some reason
saw a briefly open front door and made a mad dash through it,
ending up under the parked car. We grabbed flashlights and
surrounded the car, coaxing and chivvying and swearing. After
about five minutes she made a break for it, straight *up* the
stairs to the front door, where she sat meowing pitifully to be
let back in.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California

In article , wrote:

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. Yes,
there is still some risk to the cat, especially from such things as
hawks, coyotes, and dogs, but I figure with a human near by it makes
the risk tolerable.

There are shades of gray to this... it's not strictly cats do anything
they please or cat never sticks his nose past the door.

If that works for you, fine. I couldn't rig our back yard in
that fashion (particularly since it's a rented house). Our cats
are trained to wear harnesses, but they won't go for walks on
them; they'll either sit-down-strike and have to be dragged or
carried, or they'll do their best to drag the human into an
interesting bush or such (so long as we outweigh them, this
doesn't work).

Other than when we take one to an SCA event, our cats never stick
their noses past the door without great hubbub ensuing. The last
time this happened was a couple months ago: Louhi for some reason
saw a briefly open front door and made a mad dash through it,
ending up under the parked car. We grabbed flashlights and
surrounded the car, coaxing and chivvying and swearing. After
about five minutes she made a break for it, straight *up* the
stairs to the front door, where she sat meowing pitifully to be
let back in.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California