Monday Cat Blogging

Cats are natural born killers:

While public attention has focused on wind turbines as a menace to birds, a new study shows that a far greater threat may be posed by a more familiar antagonist: the pet house cat.

...

The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to 500 million birds are killed each year by cats — about half by pets and half by feral felines. “I hope we can now stop minimizing and trivializing the impacts that outdoor cats have on the environment and start addressing the serious problem of cat predation,” said Darin Schroeder, the group’s vice president for conservation advocacy.

By contrast, 440,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, although that number is expected to exceed one million by 2030 as the number of wind farms grows to meet increased demand.

Hmm.  If our nation has endured and (dare we say it?) prospered in spite of 500 million birds annually meeting their unmaker in untimely fashion, maybe it is time we trivialized the bird deaths caused by wind farms.  The bird people aren't daft on this topic:

The American Bird Conservancy generally supports the development of wind energy, but it argues that wind farms should be “bird smart” — for example, positioned so that they do not interfere with major migration paths or disturb breeding grounds, with their power lines buried to prevent collisions.

 

Comments

[Stephanie]

I'm hoping the fishing line does the trick. The condos in Florida use it too keep the seagulls away from the sunbathers at the pools. We'll see soon enough.

It's not like I spend the bucks onthe koi that I used to have that the cat down the street pilfered. Learned that lesson fast. I go to Petco and get the 'feeder' fish that they sell for 10 cents each and buy about 30 of em and whatever survives - Bonus!

I select the prettier ones, too, and they grow really fast. Last summer's (before the owl) we had 17 of em about 5 1/2 inches long. Yellows, blacks, orange and whites, orange black and whites, and whites - not bad for a 3 dollar investment. The pond store wants about $15 each for 5-7 inch goldfish.

[Chubby]

Mark

I found this at the impeccable source Wikipedia:

Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms "dove" and "pigeon." This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Young doves and pigeons are called "squabs."................
According to the Tanakh, doves are kosher, and they are the only birds that may be used for a korban. Other kosher birds may be eaten, but not brought as a korban

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon

[Mark Folkestad]

At my beloved lake home, that I sold last July, one of the joys was watching loons, mergansers, ospreys, kingfishers, egrets, terns and herons catch fish. The shore was sixty feet from my front door, and no one had a fish pond. We knew all too well the risk. Even our minnows would sometimes be stolen by mink and raccoons. Good luck to those of you who are struggling to maintain the fish in your fish ponds.

[Chubby]

This is interesting from the same Wikipedia article:

Military

The pigeon has contributed to both World War I and II, notably by the Australian, French, German, American, and UK forces. 32 Pigeons have been decorated with the Dickin Medal for war contributions, including Commando, G.I. Joe, Paddy, and William of Orange.

A grand ceremony was held in Buckingham Palace to commemorate a platoon of pigeons that braved the battlefields of Normandy to deliver vital plans to Allied forces on the fringes of germany. Three of the actual birds that received the medals are on show in the London Military Museum so that well wishers can pay their respects.

[Henry]

I don't have goldfish, lots of bluegill, bass, perch and at least 1 big catfish. They breed so fast my big challenge is keeping enough oxygen in the water. Having birds or nieces or friends granddaughters thin them out is helpful. I get puddle ducks (mallard & teal) in the spring, but they won't nest in the pond -- too many racoon & fox nearby, and lots of feral cats.

[Mark Folkestad]

Chubby, see my comment about which species were involved in the Biblical mentions. Shall we also fall down in reverence to every species related to the domestic sheep, because lambs were sacrificed (without blemish, of course) and because Christ was called the Lamb of God, because He served in place of us as the ultimate sacrifice? Must I never consider hunting the aoudad or desert bighorn or chamois or mountain goat?

[Mark Folkestad]

Or, Chubby, must I eschew, rather than chew, delicious lamb chops or leg of lamb roasts? Simply because Christ is the Lamb of God?

[Boatbuilder]

No problem, Chubby. People who take out their own shortcomings on their animals are beneath contempt.
And I don't think that cat was all that impressed with me, either.

[Mark Folkestad]

Boatbuilder, I have never encountered a cat who was impressed by a human.

[daddy]

"Boatbuilder, I have never encountered a cat who was impressed by a human."

That's Mark Twain worthy!

[Chubby]

((Shall we also fall down in reverence to every species related to the domestic sheep, because lambs were sacrificed (without blemish, of course) and because Christ was called the Lamb of God, because He served in place of us as the ultimate sacrifice? Must I never consider hunting the aoudad or desert bighorn or chamois or mountain goat))

Hyperbole cuts both ways. No we don't have to fall down in reverence, but nor do we have to mischaracterize an animal that belongs to a Biblically clean animal family as "vermin."

First time trying to insert an image here ...

[Ignatz]

--Ignatz, from what I am reading rock pigeons are indiginous to south and west Europe so in cities in those locations, they would not be "feral"?--

Hey, any critters that spend their lives crapping on Euroweenies can't be all bad, feral or not, right?

[Chubby]

((Or, Chubby, must I eschew, rather than chew, delicious lamb chops or leg of lamb roasts? Simply because Christ is the Lamb of God?))

What does that have to do with the discussion? More to the point, I'm sure unblemished lambs of various types and colors and sizes were acceptable as sacrifices. Same for calves and bullocks. And same for doves and sparrows.

[Mark Folkestad]

Chubby, pigeons are vectors (carriers) for human diseases, including histoplasmosis. They also do an estimated billion dollars a year in damage to urban buildings, due to the corrosive nature of their droppings where the populations are high. Enough of the clean business, please.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Learned that lesson fast. I go to Petco and get the 'feeder' fish that they sell for 10 cents each and buy about 30 of em and whatever survives - Bonus!

We started doing this too, after losing hundreds of dollars worth of Koi. Our pet store sells them by the dozen and I went and bought 3 dozen, trying to pick the ones with more interesting colors. I got those 3 dozen for less than one small neon Koi would cost.

[Stephanie]

Yep, Sara and I've found that the koi are less equipped to handle the cold in the winter. It's a real shame to see a 40 dollar fish go fins up because the pond got too cold for them to handle - 10 cent fish, meh. I do miss them because of the cute names we give them (Spot, Stripe, Blackie), but I'd miss the $40 more.

[Chubby]

((Enough of the clean business, please.))

You should know by now that I am using the word "clean" in a Biblical sense, aka what is edible and what may be sacrificed, not in terms of animal hygiene. Cats and dogs don't smell so great either when it comes down to it.

[DrJ]

We do the same. While we have occasional problems with egrets, hawks and owls, the primary goldfish sushi lovers here are raccoons. We're giving the fish more places to hide this year, but last year the raccoons got them all.

The only upside is that we have found that discharging a fire extinguisher anywhere near a raccoon scares the piss out of them.

[PD]

Enough of the clean business, please.

Yeah. Let's get to the pigeon birth certificate discussion.

[harrjf]

All cats are gray in the dark - Benjamin Franklin

If you have Koi, make sure your pond has an overhang for the fish to hide under from predators. My neighbors have Koi and their pond freezes over but they have a submersible heater that allows the fish to survive the WI winter.

[PD]

The only upside is that we have found that discharging a fire extinguisher anywhere near a raccoon scares the piss out of them.

I'll have to remember that. I know that tossing a brick doesn't do much. After it bounces off the raccoon's back, the varmint just waddles away slowly. Perhaps it was loaded down with whatever it had eaten from the garbage can.

[Mark Folkestad]

Chubby, you went on the warpath when I mentioned that many people used a certain term that touched a raw nerve with you. Please, let us end this.

[DrJ]

PD, when I sprayed the 'coons last, we did not see them for three months. They came back of course. Sadly our fire extinguisher had lost its charge.

There seems to be something about a billowing white cloud jetting in their direction that is very discomfiting to a raccoon. Oh joy!

[Mark Folkestad]

DrJ, it's time for you to watch reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and make notes of Granny's recipes, especially for raccoon. Dining on the critter regularly will ease the problems. I once snacked on some cold raccoon cooked by the wife of a friend of my cousin. That Filipina didn't know how to cook it so she just used her old family recipe for dog.

[DrJ]

MF,

*grin*

I'll have to see if there is a local recipe for 'coon. If I get 'em, she'll surely cook 'em.

I've never seen such pure hatred in the eyes of a woman as she has for raccoons. But then maybe I've lead a sheltered life.

[Ignatz]

The racism on this thread is appalling. (not to mention the anthropophagy)

[Dave (in MA)]

Speaking of cats, birds and propellers, we keep our parrotlet's cage hanging from the ceiling fan to keep her out of the cats' reach.

[Mark Folkestad]

I had to scratch my head briefly, but it dawned on me what you were alluding to. That is precisely why I normally called the bandit-masked scavenger a raccoon, to avoid such banter. Similarly, I gave up the phrase "posing a query", because there was a widespread tendency of people to kid me about filming gay pornography. Anyway, you remain my friend, Ignatz.

[DrJ]

Oops. 'coon == raccoon, and nothing else. The apostrophe does matter.

[Mark Folkestad]

Actually, an apostrophe is not needed. The critter was a coon before racists borrowed the term. The great dog breed is the Walker Coon Hound, not the Walker 'Coon Hound. All the baby-boomer boys had coonskin caps, not 'coonskin caps. I also resent having to watch when and where I call a digging implement a spade. I don't like the jokes that play on such things and I don't like the political correctness run amok about them.

[Ignatz]

--I don't like the political correctness run amok about them.--

It is always best to be niggardly with the use of the term coon.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Yep, Sara and I've found that the koi are less equipped to handle the cold in the winter. It's a real shame to see a 40 dollar fish go fins up because the pond got too cold for them to handle - 10 cent fish, meh. I do miss them because of the cute names we give them (Spot, Stripe, Blackie), but I'd miss the $40 more.

We don't have to worry about the cold so much. I did come out to find a whole pond of belly up Koi one day and had no idea what happened. Then we discovered the pump had shut off. It was 115 degrees that day and they could not survive without the pump circulating the water.

We learned that during brownouts, our pump shuts down and doesn't restart itself when the brownout is over. Now we check it regularly, but that day, no one had been out there and for all I know the pump had been out for more than a day. The gold fish are much heartier and don't seem as affected by the heat.

[PD]

we keep our parrotlet's cage hanging from the ceiling fan

Wow, doesn't that make her dizzy?

[Mark Folkestad]

Ignatz, I loved the fact that the D.C. lead-bottom who lost his job over using the term niggardly correctly was a leftist hack. Not even enough balls to defend himself when he had done no wrong.

[Ignatz]

--Not even enough balls to defend himself when he had done no wrong.--

The C in PC actually stands for castrated.

[BR]

Here's one bird-friendly cat: Gull with Guts.

Hilarious, everybody -- especially MarkO's Mao, Mao, Mao!

[Extraneus]

MarkO's been on a serious roll lately.

[hit and run]

MarkO is just that smart and he speaks the truth.