Bulletin!!! Feral cats - Re: OT - Re: [at-l] Glad this guy is not a hiker - gunstory

[ellen at clinic.net (ellen)]

A car just ran over one of "my" eight -- leaving just seven "problems" left. I've sort of lost track, but I think it is not a descendent of one of my original kittens, but one a summer person dropped by the side of my semi rural road some weeks ago knowing that I tended to feed such critters. A wonderful act of charity -- or something -- on their part.

The question now is what to do with the body. Shall I put it in my compost and thus letting it finally help feed me in return for all those 18 pound bags of cat food I've bought? I've done that when little kittens have died or been killed. But this is a pretty big creature. Since the bald eagles took up residence across the cove I've sometimes dumped road kills on the marsh so the eagles will have a small additional food source for their babies.

That's what I did when the possom was killed last spring, for instance. But is this a proper end for cat that had been befriended as a cute kitten by a summer visitor and then dumped on the highway, when they realized the hassle of a cat in a city apartment?

A 1960s friend used to raise lambs each summer, which of course became pets for his three kids. His message to his kids was simple. "We are going to give them a  wonderful six months of life, then they are going to return the favor by providing us with nourishing food next winter."

Weary 

 

> ------------Original Message------------
> From: "Shane Steinkamp" <shane@theplacewithnoname.com>
> To: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Date: Sat, Sep-11-2004 1:38 PM
> Subject: RE: Feral cats - Re: OT - Re: [at-l] Glad this guy is not a hiker - gunstory
> 
> >   Killing cats has been done since guns were invented and it has
> > not made a dent in feral cat populations.  When cats are killed
> > or otherwise removed from an area, others will move in to fill
> > the void.  If there were cats in an area to begin with, that
> > means there is sufficient food and shelter to sustain them in
> > some sort of numbers.  As long as the food source and shelter
> > remains, you will always see cats there.  Killing them is a
> > band-aid at best, adn soon more cats will be there and the cycle
> > of killing never ends.  This is hardly a solution or anything
> > resembling "humane."
> 
> When Paul and I moved into the house we bought together in Ponchatoula, 
> we
> were three miles down the end of a dirt road.  The property was 
> infested
> with ferral cats.  The previous owners would buy large bags of food, 
> cut
> them open and leave them out.  Paul and I quit feeding them, and they
> quickly decimated the natural widlife in the area.  This was 
> unacceptable,
> so we started feeding them again.  Paul caught a few and took them and 
> had
> them fixed, but there was no way we could afford to fix that many or 
> even
> know if we got them all.  On the limited funds we had, we weren't going 
> to
> be able to feed them all that long either.
> 
> One Saturday Paul caught the four that were fixed and put them on the 
> porch.
> Over the next two weeks, I solved the cat infestation and there has 
> been no
> recurrence after eleven years or so.
> 
> This was certainly more 'humane' in my opinion in regards to the native
> wildlife, which bounced back nicely, and to the cats themselves - 
> several of
> whom needed veterinary care that Paul and I could not afford.
> 
> The deer do still eat the fruit trees, though...
> 
> To me, feral cats are just critters that don't belong.  I'm no more 
> inclined
> to accommodate them than I am to accommodate kudzu.  Being cute isn't a 
> pass
> in my book.  Ask the Australians about their rabbit problem...
> 
> I recon I'll be flamed to hell and back now, but that's that.  All this
> reminds me that I need to check the rat traps in my garage.
> 
> Shane
> 
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