A house divided?

[urbpan]

Animal lovers and Environmentalists are usually thought to be the same people. Realizing that certain animals, through the acts of humans, have themselves become environmental problems, complicates the matter.

Perhaps no issue polarizes animal lovers and environmentalists like free-roaming and feral cats. While I was on vacation, I read this

Comments

[calypso72]

As you know, I'm an animal lover, a cat owner and an environmentalist. I'd never have an outdoor cat.

[perspicuity]

not having an outdoor cat is probably the right answer...

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[perspicuity]

soon, cities will be overwhelmed by starlings and rats? :)

while this is probably one of the funniest things i've seen, well, i can't say i approve of it. good idea, but wrong way to do it...

besides, the area is now getting various actual wild cats back... like the lynxes. the bobcats apparently have settled in nicely. with luck: mountain lions :)

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[wirrrn]

That's precisely why all my cats have been neutered, bell-collared and kept in at night; they will kill any wildlife they can get their claws on. Although I don't mind quite as much when it's a non-native bird :)

[yummykit]

at the park i used to work at, the university has been doing song sparrow studies for years (something like 20 years now). i remember them telling me something ridiculous, like 100% of the dead song sparrows they find died from a cat. it was kind of crazy....and the cats clearly go for the song sparrows, who are easily accessible down on the ground (where as invasives like starlings are not as accessible).

i am not against cats, but outdoor cats...yeah. i definitely think it's environmentally unfriendly.

[urbpan]

The first song sparrow I ever identified was one that my cat killed (my last outdoor cat, 1996 or thereabouts). He also killed the only greensnake I've ever seen.

[callipygian80]

This is an interesting read. I haven't seen any feral cats in my neighborhood, but there are definitely a lot more outdoor cats than the similar neighborhood we came from. So many that I'm actually pretty annoyed: for the wildlife, for my gardens, and for what I suspect was the source of fleas on our 100% indoor cat. Grrr...