The Hunter... Or Why I Have to Lock Up the Spiders

[Chris LXXIX]

I have a no free range animal rule in effect at my house. If it's not in a tank/cage/tote/ enclosure it needs to be outside.

Ah ah, like the Italian farmers of once. All animals outside :-s

 

[Vanessa]

Getting my cat was the best decision in my life. He helped me overcome my severe depression last year.

I'm glad that he was able to help you and that you are feeling better. Living with depression is horrible and often misunderstood and dismissed by many. My boys have helped me through a lot as well and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

 

[cold blood]

That is not good for the native wildlife.

seriously, cats running wild are indescribably destructive to any and all native wildlife...especially birds.

http://www.wildlifemanagementinstit...-than-thought&catid=34:ONB+Articles&Itemid=54

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/29/cats-wild-birds-mammals-study/1873871/

And people worry about invasive reptiles effecting the natural fauna....lmao.....cats running wild and free become about the most destructive "invasive" we could imagine....but no one bats an eye, cause we (as a society) love cats.....which baffles me, because so much attention is paid to stray dogs (which are notoriously unsuccessful hunters in the wild) yet leaving your cat to freely roam is practically an accepted practice.

 

[cold blood]

@darkness975
Cats are predators. Period

One thing is, you can't let them outside because you live, who knows... in N.Y or in another gargantua sized city, maybe at the 20th floor. That's understandable.

But I live in a sweet 80.000 people, middle aged town, and here it's normal. Here it's different. I live in pure downtown, just not even 50 meters from the Cathedral, yet it's like living in the country. Cats here storms the streets, for playing and predate. That's their nature.

Dude, cats run just as free in NYC...and cause just as much wildlife damage.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Wildlife damage killing rats and pidgeons? Seriously?

What I find laughable is trying to soften that behaviour, if you ask me. Their fine art, ancient predatory skills are amazing.

 

[cold blood]

Wildlife damage killing rats and pidgeons? Seriously?

What I find laughable is trying to soften that behaviour, if you ask me. Their fine art, ancient predatory skills are amazing.

If you think its just rats and pigeons your fooling yourself. Do you honestly think a cat is checking the species of bird or mammal before it pounces??

 

[cold blood]

Their fine art, ancient predatory skills are amazing.

Exactly!!! So don't drop them into a place that they're not native to and just let them go...to me this is just basic logic.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

If you think its just rats and pigeons your fooling yourself. Do you honestly think a cat is checking the species of bird or mammal before it pounces??

Yeah, we doesn't have here in the city such much diversity, man. I view the prey of mines, they bring me the corpse, and "Sherlock" ID said: pidgeons. Normal pidgeons.

I haven't said that they wouldn't attack other animals save for those. I've said that they hunt, kill, and bring me those. Only. So far

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Exactly!!! So don't drop them into a place that they're not native to and just let them go...to me this is just basic logic.

Not native? And which exactly is a "right" native place for a cat, for you? Confined in a sort of four walls "golden" jail? That's laughable for me, nature gave them predatory skill, I just follow those rules.

Predators should predate.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Plus, I have in my farmhouse four bats. I spot those at dawn everyday. In Summer (now) my cats loves to sleep in the quiet dark of that same building. Why they don't hunt those, then, if they are the ultimate evil wandering menace?

Those folks aren't "scientists", but cats haters, I tell you :-s

 

[Aaron94]

Not native? And which exactly is a "right" native place for a cat, for you? Confined in a sort of four walls "golden" jail? That's laughable for me, nature gave them predatory skill, I just follow those rules.

Predators should predate.

Did nature bred millions of cats and dogs as pets? Should we all follow these rules and let them hunt in the wild?

 

[cold blood]

Not native? And which exactly is a "right" native place for a cat, for you? Confined in a sort of four walls "golden" jail? That's laughable for me, nature gave them predatory skill, I just follow those rules.

Predators should predate.

Wild cats and domestic cats are two different things...wild cats live in certain areas, their home range...or the "right place"...your town is not one of them and neither is your cat...therefore they are not adding to the natural balance, but rather disrupting that natural balance.

My dog lives in a house...is that a "golden jail"...millions of cats across the world live long happy, healthy lives within people's homes.

If you don't think cats should be confined to houses, your argument should actually be against the domestication of the cat. How is it completely accepted for dogs to be required to be confined or controlled, but with cats its just people trying to rationalize why their pet should be allowed to kill wildlife at will and run free. Its nature for my dog to try to kill your cat, but I cannot let that happen, period...by your rational I should be allowed to take my dog cat hunting, because its in their nature...lol....afterall, predators should predate according to you. My dog likes cats though, as part of training and domestication is over coming those instincts.

Domestic cats don't just live in certain areas like native species, domestic cats are highly adaptable and just as at home in a gigantic city as they are in the deepest woods....either way they have the same goal...to hunt and breed (two things they excel at)....the biggest part part of domestication (and basic training) is the control of instincts.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Did nature bred millions of cats and dogs as pets? Should we all follow these rules and let them hunt in the wild?

Cats are predators. Dogs aren't. Dogs are loyal warriors, but they need a master, and, to an extent, training. Cats, no. Mother teach babies the basics of hunting.

I found laughable those concerns about cats. Question should be, why then "we" wanted to take predators at our homes, in the first place? They are predators, they remain predators... just like a lion, or a tiger. Only the size differ. No one, mentally sane, would question a lion hunting and killing a gazelle, but all of a sudden, if a cat hunt and kill a pidgeon, is bad, lol.

 

[cold blood]

Cats are predators. Dogs aren't.

You know you're dead wrong, right?

Like I said, training and domestication are all about controlling those instincts....dogs have the same instincts to hunt and kill, we just put in the effort to control those instincts because we get in trouble if we don't.

I'd give anything for access to the facepalm icon. You still think its just pigeons, eh.

 

[Trenor]

I probrably shouldn't get into this thread derail but here goes nothing.

Cats are predators. Dogs aren't. Dogs are loyal warriors, but they need a master, and, to an extent, training. Cats, no. Mother teach babies the basics of hunting.

Dogs are every bit the predator that cats are. I have seen a Pit bull bring down a deer in a way that would put any cat/lion to shame. When we moved out to the home farm when I was one there were packs of wild dogs (50 to 100 per pack) roaming that would take out any livestock you didn't watch closely. These were not wolves or coyotes but mixed breed dogs that had been thrown out (when owners didn't want to care for them anymore or their dog had unwanted puppies) and allowed to go wild. Animal control would not even come out. My Dad was granted permission via a wildlife permit to hunt them down out of concern for our safety.

No one, mentally sane, would question a lion hunting and killing a gazelle, but all of a sudden, if a cat hunt and kill a pidgeon, is bad, lol.

We also don't breed lions and the turn them loose all over every country in the world like we do cats. If we did I'm sure that would also cause a big issue as well.

Anytime you introduce a predator into an ecosystem which has no natural predators in that same system it will unbalance that ecosystem. If left unchecked it will destroy that ecosystem.

 

[EulersK]

 

[shining]

Ccaaaaaattttsssss!!!!!!!
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/felis-catus.285181/#post-2499877

 

[shining]

I probrably shouldn't get into this thread derail but here goes nothing.


Dogs are every bit the predator that cats are. I have seen a Pit bull bring down a deer in a way that would put any cat/lion to shame. When we moved out to the home farm when I was one there were packs of wild dogs (50 to 100 per pack) roaming that would take out any livestock you didn't watch closely. These were not wolves or coyotes but mixed breed dogs that had been thrown out (when owners didn't want to care for them anymore or there dog had unwanted puppies) and allowed to go wild. Animal control would not even come out. My Dad was granted permission via a wildlife permit to hunt them down out of concern for our safety.


We also don't breed lions and the turn them loose all over every country in the world like we do cats. If we did I'm sure that would also cause a big issue as well.

Anytime you introduce a predator into an ecosystem which has no natural predators in that same system it will unbalance that ecosystem. If left unchecked it will destroy that ecosystem.

I agree with everything you said except...
Put any cat to shame? I highly doubt that. As brutal as it may have been that dog is way smaller than a lion and only has a mouth for it's mode of attack. Maybe in that instant it was on par at best. Dogs can be brutal too.

 

[cold blood]

I agree with everything you said except...
Put any cat to shame? I highly doubt that. As brutal as it may have been that dog is way smaller than a lion and only has a mouth for it's mode of attack.

Which is what makes it all the more impressive, no? 1/4 the size, yet pulling off the same exact job....imagine if the dog was the size of the lion.

I used to walk with a guy who has a big Siberian husky....one day out in the woods the dog ran off after a deer...a full grown doe...in the heat of summer that lone dog tracked that deer miles and took it down and began to consume the deer. This is a good dog, but he's not allowed to run free any longer because of this....why...because the owner could be ticketed for many different things, from dog at large, to hunting out of season, to illegal hunting methods to the destruction of wildlife.....yet cats get a free pass? They destroy the base of the food chain...which effects more than just the critters the kitty cat kills every day.

 

[Trenor]

I agree with everything you said except...
Put any cat to shame? I highly doubt that. As brutal as it may have been that dog is way smaller than a lion and only has a mouth for it's mode of attack.

Ok, let me say it this way. Pound for pound it dispatched that full grown deer with as much elegance and any wild kingdom lion/gazelle take down video I have ever seen. No need for claws, it hit with it's full weight and the deer never got up. It was just as clean as any lion and no more savage then any other animal take down. Dogs don't howl or snarl when they hunt in the wild. They are just as stealthy as any other predator. They do this when in captivity because they are posturing and warning. They have no need to posture or warn prey in the wild.

The point is they can be every bit the predator that any cat could be. We just don't let them because no one is worried about a feral cat killing/dragging off your kid. While a big wild dog/pack could do real harm to a small child or an adult for that matter.