Feral cats

[Hamilton Reef]

This feral cat topic could have been placed over on the sound off forum, but the protection of the nongame wildlife is really the objective of this thread.

The city of Muskegon just passed a cat licensing and control ordinance last month after very heated debates. Muskegon had a severe neighborhood stray cat problem and had to resort to hiring a trapper with limited success. During the debate I could not locate the following report. Better late than never I'll pass this site on. If the feral cat topic comes up in your community, you can have this report at hand.

Cats and Wildlife - A Conservation Dilemma
By John S. Coleman, Stanley A. Temple, and Scott R. Craven

http://wildlife.wisc.edu/extension/catfly3.htm

[Ladykiller]

just shoot em too. they make great target practice

[Hamilton Reef]

This site came to me on another forum. I've never seen it before, so in fairness I'll pass it on for the fun of it.

Alley Cat Allies - The National Feral Cat Resource

http://www.alleycat.org/

[Sarge]

I'm with Ladykiller in principle, if they are truely wild and don't have a home to return to, they need to be eliminated and a chunk of lead to a vital is one of the most humane ways. Of course you could catch em, neuter them and let them go to continue their lives until they die of old age, but that seems as extreme as shooting. Keeping them alive, though, brings on more cost and problems. They are not endangered and they are a pest and they do wreak havoc on anything they can catch. Some of which are endangered species.

I have one qualm about this, and don't know how to have my cake and eat it too. That is, that I am good friends with a few cat people and I personally like cats. I know of lots of cats that are not a problem, even though they roam outside. They are mousers and gopher killers and thats fine with me. Maybe the licensing is the answer because while they are out, they look like any stray cat and I'd hate for some zealous world saver to take out a friends pet. You can tell me all about keeping your cat at home and I don't fully disagree, but they are still someone's pet and don't fit the catagory of Feral, or even the starving hunter that is a domestic stray. Unlike the coyote, even feral cats don't kill for sport, they kill to eat. House and barn cats tend to take out little varmints to get praise from their owner, and may hunt even with a partially full belly. They lack the desperation to take on anything larger than a chipmunk though, and they aren't endangered either. I'd rather have a cat kill one than have it living in my walls or attic.

So I sit the fence. Not fully astride, more like side-saddle, leaning toward being rid of the non-pet cats and adding more control to the pets. I don't believe that they should all be tethered though. Some live their entire life indoors and I don't have a problem with that. I also don't have a problem with pets running free, if they always come home, especially in the country.

Having said all that I realize that I opened the door for the radicals from both sides to spew their poison. That's ok. I won't take offense. Mostly because I'm not a pet owner, and therefore don't have anything but my opinion to defend. Since I have a right to my opinion, I won't be wasting time defending it.

[Hamilton Reef]

I can agree with Sarge. This year I've only got rid of three cats. Last year I eliminated 12 cats, 11 with a havahart live traps and one with a great long shot off the house deck using a 22. The havahart traps allow me to identify one neighbor's cat to keep 'Rosie' out of trouble. So far Rosie asn't come over to my property. I take feed and care for Rosie when the neighbors are on trips.

What surprised me the most was that I did not know 9 of the 12 cats were in the area and how big and mean they were. They were all nocturnal. The best part was the immediate dramatic increase in rabbits, grouse, and songbirds the following year after the cats were removed. I would hate to think how 12 cats could have multiplied to seeing no small wildlife at all.

The lesson learned for me was to set the havahart traps out periodically as routine maintenance just to keep track of the cats that I don't know are in the area. My father-in-inlaw barrowed my traps last year and his kitty had a white stripe. Whew!

[trapstercarl]

well I think cats should have to be on a leash the same as a dog.
They are the worst predator to small game I don't think a coyote comes anywhere close.If you want a abundant small game populations either live trap ferals and shoot them or just shoot them. carl

[Askel]

I just love when the neighbors cat comes over all the time and does it's business in the flower garden. Have live trapped several and take them right down to the shelter and dump them in the overnight pens. That's where the neighbors find their kitties and pay their fines. It works. They don't like getting hit in the pocket.
Years ago my Grandfather lived down the tracks in the ole U.P. from a woman who farmed by herself for years until she had a stroke . Well I had gone down to her place to pick her up and take her to town for her monthly groceries and there she lay in the kitchen. Been there for 3 days. She died a few days after that ( she was one tough gal, 80 +). Anyway she had quite a minagerie of cats (60) to be exact. Well gramps said he wasn't going to stand for a bunch of ferals running around and killing the grouse, rabbits etc. Went up with lots of .22 and shotgun shells. Saved some of the kittens for some other farmers we new that wanted them for mousing. Some said cruel, I say humane. No animal shelters, no rabies, no distemper, no starvation etc. etc. etc.

[Hamilton Reef]

This is just an update on the progress Muskegon is making conerning the control of cats.


MUSKEGON CHRONICLE
City gets set to enforce cat ordinance
Friday, January 11, 2002

A Muskegon County animal control officer would help the city of Muskegon enforce its new cat licensing ordinance, under an agreement approved by the Muskegon City Commission.

A "memorandum of understanding" calls for the city to pay Muskegon County $24,800 a year for the officer, who would work in the city on a part-time basis, plus $1,000 as a one-time licensing startup fee.

The agreement is scheduled to go before the county board of commissioners Feb. 5.

The city also has been negotiating agreements with the Humane Society and the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals for their help in administering the new cat control ordinance, which is expected to take effect in April.

The new rules will require cat owners to license their pets, and limit each household to no more than three adult dogs and four adult cats. Like dogs, cats would be prohibited from running at large.

The city's new animal control officer would be responsible for making sure both dogs and cats were properly licensed; helping police with vicious animal complaints; working with city staff or residents in trapping or collecting animals; and in rounding up stray cats and delivering them to shelters.

The county would provide temporary housing for cats until they can be transported to other shelters. Where necessary, the county would euthanize badly injured or dangerous cats.

The city commission passed the new cat control ordinance in November after hearing complaints of an overpopulation of cats living wild in the city, and the possibility of spreading disease.

[Hamilton Reef]

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I actually had my first male bluebird perched on top of the garage weathervane chirping away. The bluebird of happiness looking down on my trap holding a big black female feral cat. Today there is one less cat to harass my bluebird houses in the yard.

[ESOX]

That's great Hamilton Reef, I think I've seen two Bluebirds in the last ten years!

[Bumble]

I have a cat problem in my neighborhood. My neighbor feeds and provides water to them as his pets but they run wild.
They only respond to him. We have a barn type garage where most of the cats live. They are having new litters often. They "pee" all around the outside of the house and the smell can be unbearable in the summer (remember how hot it was this past summer). I called animal control and they told me that cats are "free roaming animals" and they couldn't help me out. I weed some out now and then but they just keep reproducing.


Antifreeze isn't just for automobiles

[Liv4Huntin']

Bumble -- welcome to the site!

We live in the country and people (we know who some of them are!) are always dumping off cats and dogs here) that need to be 'taken care of'. However........

poisoning is a very inhumane way of taking care of your problem. Besides, other critters could also get some of the antifreeze and also die or get sick..... like a neighbor dog, or your own, if you have one. I don't know if a hawk or owl got one of the poisoned cats if they would also die...... may be something to think about, though.

Have you thought about investing in a live trap? That's what we use and it allows you to be selective. Do you shoot the cats also?

No 'bleeding heart' here, just someone concerned about the bigger picture.......

Oh... maybe you could get those groups that want to use birth control on this state's deer population to use your neighborhood cat colony as a testing ground.........haha.


~ m ~

[Hamilton Reef]

In part from an old report in my file. The full report is at this site.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Jan99/species_costs.html

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES IN THE UNITED STATES

(in part).......
Introduced cats have also become a serious threat to some native birds and other animals. There are an estimated 63 million pet cats in the United States (Nassar and Mosier 1991), plus as many as 30 million feral cats (Luoma 1997). Cats prey on native birds (Fitzgerald 1990), plus small native mammals, amphibians, and reptiles (Dunn and Tessaglia 1994). Estimates are that feral cats in Wisconsin and Virginia kill more than 3 million birds in each state per year (Luoma 1997). Based on the Wisconsin and Virginia data, we assume that 5 birds are killed per feral cat/year; McKay (1996) reports that pet cats kill a similar number of birds as feral cats. Thus, about 465 million birds are killed by cats per year in the nation. Each adult bird can be valued at $30. This cost per bird is based on the literature that reports that a bird watcher spends $0.40 per bird observed, a hunter spends $216 per bird shot, and specialists spend $800 per bird reared for release; in addition, note that EPA fines polluters $10 per fish killed, including small, immature fish (Pimentel and Greiner 1997). Therefore, the total damage to U.S. bird population is approximately $14 billion/yr. This figure does not include small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles that are killed by feral and pet cats (Dunn and Tessaglia 1994).

[sargent]

I've had some trouble with a feral cat fighting with one of my two cats (both of my cats are neutered) was going to attempt a shot at it the other day but my cat was just too close and he got away. Today I picked up a live trap and hope to nab this renegade. My large male has a large abcess in his jaw from two bite wounds which we have to clean and irrigate and he's recovering well at this time.

Question: I know with the live traps you end up catching non target animals and one animal I'm not looking forward to trapping is a skunk! Anybody know how to handle a skunk caught in a live trap? (besides shooting it)

P.S. remember to E-Mail your rep and voice your opposition to house bill HB4410 (the bill that would allow School Districts to sell their state land to the highest bidder. 82,000 acres will be lost!
See General MI hunting forum for details

Thanks!

[YPSIFLY]

One of my best friends is a cat. I found her after she was abandoned in a remote part of Monroe Co. one night during a fishing trip. She was just 6 weeks old and would not have made it on her own. I hate to think what would have happened to her if I hadn't taken her in.

The reality of the bigger picture is that not every cat can be taken in. I don't know all of the answers, but I know that something should be done. I had Zoe spayed as soon as she was old enough. That is one answer.

I would rather have the cats that are already here put down humanely, than have some sort of open season on them.

Besides, from what I understand, the growing population of coyote are checking the number of wild cats. Not only that, the last I heard, there was some sort of rabies strain that is moving north through Ohio and is carried by raccoons.