House cats are an "invasive species"

[melensdad]

I strongly believe that house cats should be spayed/neutered and kept inside.

I like cats.

But when I moved out to our rural property 24 years ago I found out that regular house cats are a plague on nature. I never understood that fact until I saw it first hand. KEEP YOUR CAT INSIDE, if it is a "barn cat" then make sure it is spayed/neutered.

House cats kill 1 BILLION birds per year. They have caused the extinction of 33 bird species in the US alone.

Interesting article address this issue and now states what I have believed to be true for the past couple of decades. If I recall correctly, the State of Wisconsin was encouraging the shooting of wild cats by hunters during deer season a few years ago because the formerly domesticated, but now wild, cats decimated the song bird population.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cats-invasive-species-in-your-backyard-cbsn-originals/

 

[eldirector]

Agreed. And we have always had cats.

Even in our 'hood, the feral cats are a real problem. Go after our chickens, ****/**** all over the place, and harass our indoor cat. We have neighbors that like to put food out for them, which doesn't help one bit. They complain when a cat "disappears", but just shrug their shoulders when a stray damages someone's property.

Thankfully, we have a healthy coyote population. Tends to help control the strays.

 

[femurphy77]

Been sayin' it for years. . . . .

 

[churchmouse]

Man I truly hate Ferrell cats. For all the reasons stated. I can not have a sand box for the kids. They can be aggressive. They drop litters like crazy.
We live trap them when possible and eliminate them when we have to.

I saw a raptor perched up on the swing set. Some kind of hawk. Beautiful bird. He was tracking a cat. Good bird.

We have had cats. They were always spayed/neutered. If they became problems they were taken elsewhere or put down. We do not have any pets anymore.

Cats are cool enough when domesticated. They suck when the G-daughters step in their and Pi$$ or get chased in the back yard by a territorial Tom.

 

[rkwhyte2]

Out here in BFE we eliminate any feral cat we see. They truly are a pest.

 

[VUPDblue]

We sit and type sometimes behind a warehouse off of 56th and Guion. I watched, not too long ago, a good sized Coopers Hawk munching away on an orange tabby up in a dead ash tree.

Man I truly hate Ferrell cats. For all the reasons stated. I can not have a sand box for the kids. They can be aggressive. They drop litters like crazy.
We live trap them when possible and eliminate them when we have to.

I saw a raptor perched up on the swing set. Some kind of hawk. Beautiful bird. He was tracking a cat. Good bird.

We have had cats. They were always spayed/neutered. If they became problems they were taken elsewhere or put down. We do not have any pets anymore.

Cats are cool enough when domesticated. They suck when the G-daughters step in their and Pi$$ or get chased in the back yard by a territorial Tom.

 

[Trigger Time]

My dad always shot stray cats growing up. I adopted one and he was my best buddy. Chased dogs too.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

We had outside cats and they were “fixed”. I’m sure they got the occasional bird but most of the time they brought up voles, mice, and the occasional mole. I wish they’d concentrate on the moles.

 

[mmpsteve]

I imagine they're not good for the quail and young turkey population either. This thread is about truly ferral (wild) cats, but my Dad in rural Alabama has a problem with people dropping off their unwanted cats and dogs on his corner of the county road. Poor animals are scared and starving and sometimes aggressive. We have to put them down without prejudice, and off to the 'boneyard', where the buzzards do their thing. A real shame, but it can't be helped, as the nearest animal shelter is an hour away, and they charge you for bringing in an animal; plus the danger of capturing some of these poor animals. We're talking 20-30 animals a year; just sad; people can be so ****ty sometimes. 22 magnum is our weapon of choice normally, and we try to be merciful. Some people may find it heartless, but when a big angry starving pitbull shows up on your porch, you really don't have a choice.

 

[NKBJ]

Over kill being a good thing, my stray bullets used to be a 7-08 with splatter loads, medium weight flat nose hollow points intended for a 7-30 Waters.
Never needed them cats, just mangy starving dogs.

 

[hopper68]

If you are dealing with a stray or feral problem just practice 3S. Nothing good will come of posting pics on FB, instagram, or in a tweet.

 

[Leadeye]

Don't see many in the GSF, lots of things higher on the food chain around here.

 

[littletommy]

I would much rather deal with a possum or coon in my live traps than a pissed off feral cat. I usually relocate the wildlife, but thanks to the crazy cat lady down the road, cats get no mercy here. We have two indoor cats, which I like having around for mouse control, but these dopes that leave food out for stray cats aren’t doing anything any favors.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I imagine they're not good for the quail and young turkey population either. This thread is about truly ferral (wild) cats, but my Dad in rural Alabama has a problem with people dropping off their unwanted cats and dogs on his corner of the county road. Poor animals are scared and starving and sometimes aggressive. We have to put them down without prejudice, and off to the 'boneyard', where the buzzards do their thing. A real shame, but it can't be helped, as the nearest animal shelter is an hour away, and they charge you for bringing in an animal; plus the danger of capturing some of these poor animals. We're talking 20-30 animals a year; just sad; people can be so ****ty sometimes. 22 magnum is our weapon of choice normally, and we try to be merciful. Some people may find it heartless, but when a big angry starving pitbull shows up on your porch, you really don't have a choice.

Your dad has a lot of sorry people near by to put that kind of pressure on him. That's just...sorry.

 

[femurphy77]

We sit and type sometimes behind a warehouse off of 56th and Guion. I watched, not too long ago, a good sized Coopers Hawk munching away on an orange tabby up in a dead ash tree.

Now that's a good kitty!

 

[Clay Pigeon]

I would much rather deal with a possum or coon in my live traps than a pissed off feral cat. I usually relocate the wildlife, but thanks to the crazy cat lady down the road, cats get no mercy here. We have two indoor cats, which I like having around for mouse control, but these dopes that leave food out for stray cats aren’t doing anything any favors.

I have a crazy cat man across the street from me, he collar's his cats but he let's them roam free in the neighborhood. I have the never unset trap behind a wood pile, I tend to get a cat, coon or possom at least once a month. The cat man can't figure out where his gaggle of cats keeps going. Some get relocated to Anderson, if they act stupid they end up in the trash can or the White River as crayfish food. I have no tolerance for people that don't keep there pets on their property.

 

[Tanfodude]

Ours kills spiders and act like it's a dog.

 

[melensdad]

We had a crazy cat family down the road about 1/2 of a mile away. They had porch cats. None of them were 'fixed' and their pair of cats became a dozen then more. The roamed the woods, killed all the woodcock in the area, killed pheasants, killed all sorts of song birds. Coyotes and bullets eliminated the vast majority of the problem after the family moved out. Apparently they replenished the cats that were 'missing' with new cats so, while they lived there, they kept the population up despite control efforts.

Glad they are all gone. We occasionally see a stray cat in the area now, thankfully not too often.

Keep a house cat if you want. I have no problem with that. But keep it in the house.

 

[Gabriel]

We sit and type sometimes behind a warehouse off of 56th and Guion. I watched, not too long ago, a good sized Coopers Hawk munching away on an orange tabby up in a dead ash tree.

I work midnights in a city and it is amazing how many stray cats there are. I see tons of them sitting on top of cars at night. I assume it is an easy way to avoid the coyotes and fox, which we also have a lot of (likely due to the large amount of cats).

I live out in the county in the woods and hardly ever see any cats on my property at all.

 

[VUPDblue]

I work in inner-city Indy and I'm constantly amazed at how many Fox there are. Some reds are as big as decent sized dogs!

I work midnights in a city and it is amazing how many stray cats there are. I see tons of them sitting on top of cars at night. I assume it is an easy way to avoid the coyotes and fox, which we also have a lot of (likely due to the large amount of cats).

I live out in the county in the woods and hardly ever see any cats on my property at all.