Mommy dearest!

[Shiva]

And now that we have nowhere else to go, away from it all on this world, what do we do? Down to the sea? Or up to Mars and the moon, along with our housecats, dogs, snakes, lizards, orchids and who knows what else? (please no mealies or mosquitoes.) I can see myself in a condo on the moon looking at our beautiful earth. It would all seem so clean and ordered from up there.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

NO MORE WIRE HANGERS! NO MORE WIRE HANGERS! :rollhappy:

Ah, feral cats. Got truck loads of them here as well. The go unregulated since there are no laws about their control in Japan. Also, if you have an infestation (and some areas are truly infested) you are not allowed to bother them in anyway, in fact there are cat protection societies to monitor feral cat/human interactions. If you find a new litter in your area you are allowed to humanely collect them and bring them to the town office. You will have to sign a document which will go on record. Then they will be euthanized.

The sad part is this isn't an animal problem, it is as usual a human problem, as in we created it and promote it. As this world is "developed" more and more with endless human structures dominating landscapes (notably roads), it become less and less habitable by all living things - especially small animals. Time will tell where this trend is headed...

 

[NYEric]

Where Michael-Shiva lives I would be surprised to see how cats survive outdoors in the Winter. Deep snow every year, although now that we're set on melting our icecaps I'm not sure how that will continue!

 

[Dido]

Nice ones, I would need another one, but you are a little bit to far for me.

There are cats who can survive this cold, we have a native wild cat here in germany it is very rare, but I heard some living around my place where i am located.

You have a big Cat which lives in Russia too, they are happy with this temp. :evil:

Some people call it Tiger, others the biggest cat in the worldoke:

 

[Shiva]

They are real tough hombres. The father of these kittens had to fight epic battles to keep the female to himself. A couple or morning, I saw him outside soaking up the sun and licking his blood matted fur. A beautiful golden cat by the way. I also saw one of his challengers with the tip of his tail bitten off.
As for winter, There used to be one living behind the house under a little shelter, his tail wrapped around him. He would sleep through nights of -30°C, then get up in the morning and make his round.
As you say in the US, freedom isn't free!

 

[Erythrone]

They are so cute, Michel!!!

I am with you, Ohio-Guy. That is why my cats were kept indoor. I am concern about birds destruction, although cats are not the only culprits.

well, if Shiva doesn't live near forests and shrubs, I don't think the cats will destroyed a lot of songbirds... Many farmlands just don't have the right habitat for a lot or species...

Even where forests are more important today than 10 or 20 ago, like in the Eastern Townships, population of many birds is declining. I just read a new study a few weeks ago. The biologist who wrote the paper just don't know why so many species are declining here. Some are recovering, like the Pileated Woodpecker. For Canada Warbler, we know that the problem is the desctuction of winter habitat. We also know that many species needs dead wood- but since Pileated Woodpecker is back I don't think it is a real problem. But for many other species, we just don't know.

 

[Shiva]

Dead wood attract insects; insects attract birds. If you remove the deadwood or burnt wood so as not to ''let it go to waste'', you upset the balance and birds don't find anough food to eat. I have a section in my back yard where I trow all the old branches and scrap wood (untreated) so that insects will thrive and the birds will come, and they do come.

 

[biothanasis]

Lovely kittens!!

Nice discussion too!!

 

[Clark]

Flies and ticks are not a worry?
Problem with the feral cats in my neighborhood.

The hummer that was floating around here 2 years ago, I'm blaming one of the cats...

 

[Shiva]

The hummer that was floating around here 2 years ago, I'm blaming one of the cats...

Time to find a lawyer for the suspect!

 

[cnycharles]

I think that the reason that there are so many coyotes in upstate ny and other areas is that they found the feral and other cats and are doing quite well. Cats don't seem to recognize the 'danger' and are a quick meal if they don't move it... cats can clean out populations of chipmunks if allowed since they are also fairly brave, but then they and the red squirrels aren't getting into people's greenhouses and destroying thousands of dollars worth of plants/orchids.

We have had different invaders at our greenhouses at work, and the cats in the neighborhood can't do anything about them - woodchucks, raccoons and skunks! The first and last have been trapped in different ranges, while one raccoon was caught underneath a black plastic crate and encouraged to walk towards the door we were pushing the crate along towards, and then the crate was lifted up allowing the masked invader to amble towards his or her home . some of the woodchucks weren't so lucky... apparently the native burmese population thinks that woodchuck is quite a delicacy