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Pastimes : Off Topic - Anything Goes -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: High Grader who wrote (5447)9/25/2016 11:24:22 PM
From: Stock Puppy  Respond to of 6846
 

Evil invasive species:

motherjones.com





Need to introduce more dogs, IMVHO.

Now as to birds,


Article:

Apocalypse Meow Quantifying annual bird kills isn't easy, but US researchers have made some educated guesses.

BIRDS KILLED* CAUSE
1 billion Cats
970 million Flying into buildings
174 million Flying into power lines
80 million Vehicle collisions
72 million Pesticides
5 million Flying into communication towers
440,000 Flying into wind turbines


I had a bird like that once.

Flew into everything.

Windows, mirrors, cabinets, cacti...

I know where the inspiration of cartoon characters came from -

SPLAT! Into window or mirror and slide vertically down, I swear.

So cats are responsible for almost as many bird deaths as birds are for killing themselves flying into things (don't they look where they're going?)

Obviously more dogs are needed.

Oh wait - dogs get along with cats. Hmmmm.

Oh I know - we need more raptors.

But then again, besides cats, raptors also carry off those annoying little yappy dogs that old rich ladies like and give regular normal dogs a bad name.

Okay, maybe raptors are a good idea. :-)



To: High Grader who wrote (5447)9/26/2016 9:59:43 AM
From: SI Ron (Crazy Music Man)1 Recommendation

Recommended By
Investor Clouseau

  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 6846
 
The numbers are higher than that:

The Biggest Threat to U.S. Wildlife? Cats
newsfeed.time.com

Snip:
researchers found that house cats were responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 7 and 20 billion mammals each year.

I heard on the radio that they will be killing wild cats to combat this situation. The death of these birds and some driven close to extinction is not acceptable.

People who let their cat outside should be charged. IN my opinion.

Killer Kitties: Study Proves They’re Not as Innocent As They Look
newsfeed.time.com



To: High Grader who wrote (5447)9/26/2016 11:19:18 PM
From: HerbVic3 Recommendations

Recommended By
Cogito Ergo Sum
Stock Puppy
Zen Dollar Round

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 6846
 
Looks to me like a double edge sword. The person stated that they had started feeding the feral cat out of sympathy. If they had not, then the feral cat would continue to depend on predation for meals. By feeding the cat, it probably started getting lazy and laid around his or her house waiting for the next meal of kibble or canned wet cat food made from slaughter house scraps.

Also, countering the bird death rate from predation by cats is an unnatural habit by many people of keeping bird feeders stocked year round. This creates an abundant local food supply, which drives the bird population up in two ways. More food makes healthier birds with more time to nest, reproduce and feed young. Healthier birds are more disease resistant. It also concentrates populations in closer proximity, which increases the possibility of disease transfer.

Point is, quoting national statistics makes an unnatural situation sound alarming, but the reality is much more complicated that a single statistic can portray.

While cats are "not invented here" when found in Nature, they are natural animals with very natural needs for sustenance. And, that's the way Nature works. It is by nature the law of survival of the fittest. We may not like what one species does to another, but policing it is expensive and time consuming.