Domestic cats and wildlife...

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  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Never let facts and evidence get in the way of a good rant...

    Being the OP can you repeat the link to the study as I'm not sure what is being referred to... Sorry to be thick!

    The BBC Horizon covers most part, with luck it's still on iplayer.

    Seem to be a fair variability ie some cats did a lot of hunting while others didn't. Our 3 cats in SW london hardly catch much at all, my folks dog in the Breacon Beacons catches far more than the 3 cats with ease, normally a rabbit/squirrel that lingered in the garden too long. mind you does mean that my folks bird table is free from cats...
  • Pituophis
    Pituophis Posts: 1,025
    The best way to help our native wildlife would be to have a massive cull on the human population, bringing the numbers back down to a few 100,000 again.
    Bring back the wolf, the bear, the beaver, lynx , wild cat and cattle etc., and get rid of the rabbit, rats, mink, most species of deer and a whole host of other introduced alien species along with old puss and everything will get back to normal again :roll:
  • SpainSte
    SpainSte Posts: 181
    Mikey23 wrote:
    Never let facts and evidence get in the way of a good rant...

    Being the OP can you repeat the link to the study as I'm not sure what is being referred to... Sorry to be thick!


    http://books.google.es/books/about/Cat_ ... edir_esc=y
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    Animals kill other animals.
    Animals kill plants
    Animals kill fungi
    Plants kill plants
    Plants kill animals
    Plants kill fungi?
    Fungi kill fungi?
    Fungi kill plants
    Fungi kill animals

    So, in short. Living things kill other living things (you could add viruses and bacteria into that list too if you wanted)
    You see a cat kill a bird. You get upset. Understandable but not really rational.
    Are you a vegitarian? If not, why not? It's as valid a question as asking why people keep cats. More valid I would say.

    Yes, cats kill creatures they don't eat. Does that make them evil? I'd say no. It makes them cats.
    I personally don't like the idea of keeping pets. It's basically inter-species slavery, regardless whether we're convinced it's a mutually beneficial loving relationship, etc.
    I was in my parents house a few weeks ago when a heron landed on the wall of their back garden. We watched it looking at the pond and then it jumped down and quickly snapped 5 frogs out of the water one after another. My parents want the frogs, they eat the slugs. Are the frogs evil for eating the slugs? Was the heron evil for eating the frogs? Are my parents evil for having a pond that encouraged the frogs that got eaten by the heron? Sure my parents weren't happy and they put a net over the pond for a week or so in case he came back for more. But one can hardly blame the heron.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,258
    Ai_1 wrote:
    Animals kill other animals.
    Animals kill plants
    Animals kill fungi
    Plants kill plants
    Plants kill animals
    Plants kill fungi?
    Fungi kill fungi?
    Fungi kill plants
    Fungi kill animals

    So, in short. Living things kill other living things (you could add viruses and bacteria into that list too if you wanted)
    You see a cat kill a bird. You get upset. Understandable but not really rational.
    Are you a vegitarian? If not, why not? It's as valid a question as asking why people keep cats. More valid I would say.

    Yes, cats kill creatures they don't eat. Does that make them evil? I'd say no. It makes them cats.
    I personally don't like the idea of keeping pets. It's basically inter-species slavery, regardless whether we're convinced it's a mutually beneficial loving relationship, etc.
    I was in my parents house a few weeks ago when a heron landed on the wall of their back garden. We watched it looking at the pond and then it jumped down and quickly snapped 5 frogs out of the water one after another. My parents want the frogs, they eat the slugs. Are the frogs evil for eating the slugs? Was the heron evil for eating the frogs? Are my parents evil for having a pond that encouraged the frogs that got eaten by the heron? Sure my parents weren't happy and they put a net over the pond for a week or so in case he came back for more. But one can hardly blame the heron.

    Are you ok A_1 ? Don't quite know what your saying.

    There are too many cats in the UK. Sure, all things kill other things. Well, sort of. Cow's eat grass.

    Nature has a great way of balancing things out. Humans have a great way of unbalancing nature. Humans are responsible for allowing too many cats to roam the land/breed/go out at night.
    Your argument is deeply flawed.

    http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1337&cookieConsent=A
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!

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