Cats keep eating snakes in the yard.... - Page 4

totheend · 09-21-12, 05:00 PM

Okay, that made me LOL!

Skumbo · 09-25-12, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

Indoor cats I have no problem with. Cats that enter my property without collars are fair game to any dogs I may have at the time, and/or a well-aimed rock, pinecone or stick. One of these days I am going to invest in a pellet gun (need one for the squirrels anyway).

I concur that unleashed cats allowed to roam the outdoors are a real problem with native wildlife. They prey upon small critters, including my beloved fence lizard colony that calls my yard home. They compete with similar-sized critters for food. I also frown upon them coming in my yard and leaving their poop in my tortoise pens. I don't know if there any pathogens to be transmitted from a cat to a tortoise, but I really don't want to find out either.

I like cats, and have had them as pets in the past. But dear God, keep them FIXED and keep them INDOORS.

If I was in your position I'd invest in more than a pellet gun...

exwizard · 09-25-12, 02:59 PM

Mods please delete this post and the next

exwizard · 09-25-12, 03:05 PM

Sorry misplaced post

StudentoReptile · 09-25-12, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skumbo

If I was in your position I'd invest in more than a pellet gun...

To be honesty, since I live in a residential area, I'm not sure what I can get away with when it comes to using firearms as pest control.

Skumbo · 09-25-12, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

To be honesty, since I live in a residential area, I'm not sure what I can get away with when it comes to using firearms as pest control.

Flamethrower?

shuga · 09-29-12, 07:41 PM

After reading this thread, I had to add my own story about outdoor cats. I live in an apartment complex that has 268 apts. In 1998, a change in ownership of our property prompted a change in the no pet policy and alot of our neighbors went out and got cute little kittens. Which grew up to be bored cats who drove their owners crazy to go outside or became a burden/hassle. Within a year or so we had about 80 cats/kittens roaming the property. Most of them stray from being born outside.

About half these cats/kittens ended up feral and most were ill/injured/malnourished. I cant even describe the urine smell. They raided dumpsters and dragged any wrappers/trash with a food smell or taste and left it all over the place. And then the skunks started coming closer to the apts. attracted by the trash and then skunks actually made dens under the apts. in the crawlspaces.

We had a pair of fisher cats that lived about a mile away actually start using this place as a hunting ground. And they are cruel, vicious predators. The screaming of the fishers as they hunted and the horrible sound of cats/kittens being "played" with as they were killed is very difficult to explain to your child who gets woken up almost nightly.

The fisher cats/cars/disease/poison eventually diminished the feline numbers. There is still a small population of feral cats around.The skunks are still a big issue.I see 6 different skunks on a nightly basis. My dog was sprayed in the face/mouth from an 8 in distance by a skunk that came up on my steps suddenly as we opened the door. She became very sick and almost died.

I have a strictly indoor cat, she's 13yrs old and was one of the first "stray" kittens from all this. I found her at a few weeks old and took her in. None of those original outdoor cats are still alive. I know this because I was involved with a pet committee that we set up in 1999 to try to deal with the outdoor cat issue.
Outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats can definitely have an impact, and being outside can have an impact on them as well.

Philmul · 09-30-12, 07:32 AM

[QUOTE=BarelyBreathing;767464]How do you know she was eighteen if you didn't know how old she was when you got her?

He probably had her 18 year so she was at least 18

StudentoReptile · 10-01-12, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skumbo

Flamethrower?

I wish! Hows that saying go again, Flame throwers were invented because somewhere, at some point in history, someone thought to themselves, "Ya know, I'd like to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just too far away to do it."

LOL...on a similar note, I have a friend who used to keep and breed bloodhounds. These dogs were avid cat-destroyers. Once, he' was washing the car, and saw a stray cat walking atop his tall, privacy fence. For fun, he pushed it into the dog yard. The cat didn't even reach the ground. One of his hounds just jumped up and grabbed it, like an alligator chomping a chicken on a rope.

Skumbo · 10-01-12, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuga

After reading this thread, I had to add my own story about outdoor cats. I live in an apartment complex that has 268 apts. In 1998, a change in ownership of our property prompted a change in the no pet policy and alot of our neighbors went out and got cute little kittens. Which grew up to be bored cats who drove their owners crazy to go outside or became a burden/hassle. Within a year or so we had about 80 cats/kittens roaming the property. Most of them stray from being born outside.

About half these cats/kittens ended up feral and most were ill/injured/malnourished. I cant even describe the urine smell. They raided dumpsters and dragged any wrappers/trash with a food smell or taste and left it all over the place. And then the skunks started coming closer to the apts. attracted by the trash and then skunks actually made dens under the apts. in the crawlspaces.

We had a pair of fisher cats that lived about a mile away actually start using this place as a hunting ground. And they are cruel, vicious predators. The screaming of the fishers as they hunted and the horrible sound of cats/kittens being "played" with as they were killed is very difficult to explain to your child who gets woken up almost nightly.

The fisher cats/cars/disease/poison eventually diminished the feline numbers. There is still a small population of feral cats around.The skunks are still a big issue.I see 6 different skunks on a nightly basis. My dog was sprayed in the face/mouth from an 8 in distance by a skunk that came up on my steps suddenly as we opened the door. She became very sick and almost died.

I have a strictly indoor cat, she's 13yrs old and was one of the first "stray" kittens from all this. I found her at a few weeks old and took her in. None of those original outdoor cats are still alive. I know this because I was involved with a pet committee that we set up in 1999 to try to deal with the outdoor cat issue.
Outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats can definitely have an impact, and being outside can have an impact on them as well.

I've been to Springfield a few times, and I can honestly say, I noticed a ton of cats there roaming around and didnt think too much of it.

I'd like to add in a fantastic story about people who don't keep control of their cats, and the wonderful land that is northern New Hampshire.

When I first moved into my first apartment building at the ripe age of 19, our neighbors across the road had probably 8 or 9 cats. They were always making noise, and there was a distinct "too many cats" smell from that side of the road. I have bad cat allergies, and when I went for a run, I can honestly say, I was affected.

Now, winter came around, and I figured the cats would be inside, but no, they kept them all outside in the yard. They told me they were "trained" to stay in the yard, and they had moved up from NY the recently and "have had no problem with any other neighbors until you moved in." I jokingly told her "You'll be lucky to have one cat left by the end of the winter with that attitude."

Now, I wish I still had the local newspaper for this, but It's buried deep somewhere in a box. But sometime around January, the beginning of the next term at school, I went out for a run at 5 am like I usually do, before anyone else is awake. I remembered the cats being particularly loud the night before, and I hadn't slept very well. I figured out why they were so loud - 7 cats tried to fight off a bear.

Yeah, a bear. A little (well, for a bear) black bear rummaged into this persons yard because they had left out a bunch of garbage, and bears are notorious dumpster divers up in NH. The cats, being fenced in scattered a small yard, as much as they could. One side of the fence was smashed in, and that's all I had noticed at the time. The next day I got the paper and saw "Four cats killed in yard by bear scavenging local trash" and I KNEW whose it was. Based on the lack of dead cats laying around - I'm assuming he popped a few in his mouth before leaving...

One more reason not to leave cats outside - Bears. Freakin' Bears.

"Delicious Kitty Meats!"

Philmul · 10-02-12, 04:45 AM

One more reason not to leave cats outside - Bears. Freakin' Bears.

"Delicious Kitty Meats!"[/QUOTE]

Don't that problem here thankfully the biggest threat to my cats and rabbits is the big foxes we have. But that's nothing my catapult won't solve. Lol

Lankyrob · 10-02-12, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philmul

One more reason not to leave cats outside - Bears. Freakin' Bears.

"Delicious Kitty Meats!"

Don't that problem here thankfully the biggest threat to my cats and rabbits is the big foxes we have. But that's nothing my catapult won't solve. Lol[/quote]

I have watched my two gang up on a fox and chase it out of our garden

Wish i had pics but it was during the middle of the night and i couldnt be bothered to go get my camera.

Skumbo · 10-02-12, 01:07 PM

RandyRhoads · 10-02-12, 02:13 PM

Prepare to meet your maker at the hands of my cat launcher!!!

....nobody messes with Adam Wee....

Ahahahahaha

Skumbo · 10-02-12, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Prepare to meet your maker at the hands of my cat launcher!!!

....nobody messes with Adam Wee....

Ahahahahaha

I especially love that scene because my name is Paul and when hes like
"Paul isnt a cat name.. its a persons name!" i lost it