Cat Populations Should be Controlled

[Hobie]

A new report by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recommends killing feral cats as a way to control their population.

Now, I want to say that it isn't my intention to ignite a "cat killing" topic. The question really is how much we should allow our domesticated animals to impact wild animal populations. Still, I know this is going to generate some conversation.

[stretch]

I personally like cats.....but I can't eat a whole one at one
sitting anymore.



-Stretch

[CEMENTHEAD]

The area I bowhunt is loaded with song birds and all sorts of small mammals. The feral cats hunt there too. I 've noticed a major impact on these smaller animals/birds. I have no problem with responsible pet owners, however I'm seeing more and more house cats roaming this same area. I can only imagine what it's like at night, as most of the home owners in this area put out their cats for the night. I use to shoot the coyotes in this area, no longer. They are doing a wonderful job on the cat (feral/house) problem. As far as the feral cats, if they're mangy, I'll help out by putting them down. I won't go into numbers, however I'm in the triple digits total in the last 4 years.

Thanks, Tom

[bdhold]

my neighbor fed feral cats for years before he finally became responsible and limited himself to a few pets.
My back yard is a fenced acre and my Akita killed easily a dozen cats that wandered into her turf.

If I had a cat as a pet, it would be a Bombay and would never be outside. I understand people with barns need barn cats, and my grandfathers certainly had them. But yes, feral cats are a problem.

[gamekeeper]

In the UK it is estimated that cats kill 55 million birds each year, that's a lot of birds in a small country like Britain.
When I was a professional Gamekeeper feral cats were my worst predator problem, Pheasants did not like spending time in woods frequented by cats, I could always tell when feral cats turned up by the behaviour of my birds.
I usually had one barrel loaded with large shot in case I ran into a feral cat anywhere on the estate, got me into a few arguments with a couple of tenant farmers who thought "all" cats were cute. If a pet cat ever disappeared, for what ever reason, it was always wrongly assumed that I had shot it!

[pdawg.shooter]

I drive 25mi to and from work every day on county roads. I see a cat not around a farm house I stop and shoot it. Every time, without fail.

[crs]

Feral cats make for good target practice.Two of the best shots of my shooting carreer were on running cats; one with a Daisy pump BB gun at night and one with a scoped .308 while stalking deer.
Ah, the good old days!

[Pisgah]

Many years back, a good friend of mine died and left his widow to run their small horse breeding/training operation. It proved too much for her and she eventually sold off all their stock. As is usual around barns and stables, there were several semi-feral cats in residence at the time and she, being an animal lover, continued to feed them after trying unsuccessfully to give them away. Within an amazingly short period of time there were cats in such great numbers that we literally could not count them all.

County Animal Control came in at her request and tried to trap them out. They had some success, catching maybe two dozen over a few weeks; but before too long they told her the problem was simply too big for them to handle.

By this time, the place was an ecological disaster area. The cats were sickly; many showed physical deformities, likely the result of inbreeding, and the 200-acre property, once a haven for birds and small animals, became barren of any and all small wildlife. At her request, a friend and I took on the responsibility of thinning them out.

It was a huge job, no fun at all but clearly an absolute necessity. Over an 18 month period, my friend and I shot over 200 cats in and around the barn, stables and outbuildings. Really nasty duty, believe me, but the results were astounding. Within six months after we wrapped up our extermination efforts birds and wildlife returned to normal populations -- but to this day, nearly ten years down the road, the barn smells like cat pee.

Folks, NEVER allow Kitty to roam outside unless he/she has been spayed/neutered. Even a well-fed cat is a killing machine, and if they can reproduce you will unleash havoc on your environment.

A grim but potentially useful observation -- a good accurate 9mm loaded with hollowpoints or a tight-choked shotgun with # 4 or 5 shot are extremely efficient cat killers.

[shooter]

I've heard that feral cats wreak more havoc on the quail population than any other predator. I shoot feral cats any time I get the chance. Same goes for wild packs of dogs. I love animals, but have no use for irresponsible pet owners or feral animals.

[Nath]

I get feral cat problems around here. I would prefere ten fox's running about than one feral cat!

Nath.

[Blaine]

If you know a cat belongs to your neighbor, I would not think kindly of you if you shot it. Having said that, cats belong inside if they are a domestic pet. If you let feral cats hang around for your barn, you should thin them out yourself, or not be offended if they are shot at a neighbor's farm.

[damienph]

Currently, we have three outside barn cats (3 is our maximum limit). We rarely have the same three barn cats for more than two years; owls, coyotes, bobcats, and a shotgun ensure that we maintain our limit; if any others show up, they are "dispatched." Unless, as Blaine mentioned, they are known neighbor cats.

We, luckily, do not have many (that I have seen) feral cats around us. I am not in the habit of shooting cats unless they on our ground.

We do have the barn cats neutered, as well as our four dogs.

[damienph]

Abandoned dogs are more of a problem for us. We typically have two or three dropped off near our place every year. We have seven acres around our house and buildings fenced in with woven wire to keep our dogs in and I think that people looking for a place to dump their pets see our dogs in the yard and think "hey, there's a good place for dogs, lets leave Fido here."

Sometimes I can find a home for them, sometimes we have to put them down. Our dog limit is two, right now we are at four because a couple that were dumped in the last three years, I just didn't have the heart to get rid of.

And no, I won't post my address, four dogs is PLENTY.

[Sarge]

My dear old 87 year-old MIL has a long standing practice of feeding every stray cat that wanders onto our 40 acres. I generally ignore them until they get under foot or I catch them hunting in the hedgerows, far from the house, where the quail reside.

When those thing occur, I revert to a long-standing practice of my own. Target practice.

[AJMD429]

1. If the cat belongs to a neighbor, using a live-trap and keeping kitty out of sight in the tool-shed for a couple days, while they worry, then 'finding' the kitty in the trap you set to protect your chickens or wild birds, and returning it to them, usually works. They'll usually keep it inside after that..!

2. If it is a feral cat, there's always the Coehorn Kitty Mortar . . .

• < link > http://www.buckstix.com/CoehornMortarHunt.htm

[BenT]

Barn cat management . I have three females( all nuetered) to kill all the mice and rats and two tom cats that really don't kill anything just lay around ,but keep all the neightbors tomcats away. I have had the same cats for over 6 years now. This is the formula for cats that my father in law has used around the farm all his life. Plus around here every month the hunman society gives away $35 coupons for spay and nuetering. You can only get one a month and they have limited quanities so it takes a few months to get the cats taken care of.

The kids lost one of the house/outdoor cats to coyotes a couple months ago. I got a lot of heat for not killing more coyotes.

[Catshooter]

I had a friend with a barn that had a feral cat problem.

A 1911 Colt .45 works wonders on them. When I started there was about 35. The day after I shot the 18th one I was out hunting for #19 and I spotted the whole herd waaaay out in the back forty, heading north. They never returned.

It was a very accurate pistol and great fun.

That's how I picked my user name.


Cat

[Blaine]

I had a friend with a barn that had a feral cat problem.

A 1911 Colt .45 works wonders on them. When I started there was about 35. The day after I shot the 18th one I was out hunting for #19 and I spotted the whole herd waaaay out in the back forty, heading north. They never returned.

It was a very accurate pistol and great fun.

That's how I picked my user name.


Cat

Robert Ruark would be proud...(Use Enough Gun)

[piller]

When I was younger, I would hunt pheasant out in Southwest Kansas with my family. My Father would shoot a cat if it was actively hunting birds. If it was near a house and seemed to belong, he would ignore it. When a cat is 10 miles from the nearest farmhouse, it is probably feral. Federal Hi-Power 12 guage in #6 shot did a good job on both pheasant and feral cats. Smaller shot sizes damaged the meat of the bird.

[2571]

139 gr RN (sheep tallow lubricant) over 38 gr 4064 in .277 Elliott Express for shots out to 50 yards.

Load supposedly developed for cats which were sold to Edison labs during development of early incandescent light bulb filaments.

Unable to verify with Snopes.

I substitute Liquid Alox.

[FWiedner]

If an animal is a pet it belongs on it's owner's property, not on my property, and not running or hunting game on public lands.

Occassionally stray pets should be captured and turned over to their owner or animal control.

Habitually stray or destructive pets and ferals should, in every case, be destroyed outright.

[1894cfan]

I live in a residential neighborhood, and can't abide neighbors letting their cats out to wander! Especially if said cats poop in my garden and use my plants as scratching posts.

[765x53]

A few years ago our city animal control was live-trapping ferrel cats, transporting them to the Four Rivers Conservation Area a few miles from town and releasing them.
Needless to say, the conservation department put a stop to it.

[1894cfan]

A few years ago our city animal control was live-trapping ferrel cats, transporting them to the Four Rivers Conservation Area a few miles from town and releasing them.
Needless to say, the conservation department put a stop to it.

[Cimarron]

If an animal is a pet it belongs on it's owner's property, not on my property, and not running or hunting game on public lands.

Occassionally stray pets should be captured and turned over to their owner or animal control.

Habitually stray or destructive pets and ferals should, in every case, be destroyed outright.

I couldn't agree more!!!

[AJMD429]

...cats which were sold to Edison labs during development of early incandescent light bulb filaments...

For what...? Did they make the filaments out of whiskers or something...?

[markinalpine]

For the home craft types, time to build a CAT-A-Pult?

Mark

[CEMENTHEAD]

I live in a residential neighborhood, and can't abide neighbors letting their cats out to wander! Especially if said cats poop in my garden and use my plants as scratching posts.

We have at least a dozen "house" cats running around my neighborhood at night as the neighbors let them out year-round.

I was kinda happy to see a coyote around my neighborhood the other night. And then they will wonder where "Fluffy" went.....dummies.

Around here Animal Control Officers won't even come out for any cat, much less a feral cat. They don't consider them domestic animals at all, and won't waste their time on them. They will tell you to call the State D.E.M. if it looks rabid. Other than that, I've been told "off the record" to S.S.S.

Thanks, Tom

[willygene]

i have shot many a feral cats but now i just let my blue heeler do all the work haven't had a cat around here in three years, or a coon, opossum or any other small animal.

[Griff]

Cats, there are cats runnin' around loose? Why, I've never seen any around here.

[rogn]

Most people wont accept the fact that the housecat is an alien species the same as the norway rat, the starling, English house sparrow, snakehead, etc. If they are maintained properly in ahousehold they are domestic animals. Barn cats tred a fine line and hopefully the balance falls in the favor of damage/ pest control. All too often some misguided soul tries to feed every stray that happens along and the result is a colony of unhealthy dangerous( continual potential for rabies) animals.

[claybob86]

Usually have a wild one or two around here. I like them because there are WAY too many mice. Deer mice, the kind that can carry hantavirus. I don't feed the cats and the numbers stay low. Coyotes probably help with that too.

[TedH]

I can only recall seeing one ferel cat out while hunting. He was working his tail off trying to catch a mouse or a vole. I watched him for a while, getting quite the comedic show from it. When he finally caught the mouse I had to let him enjoy his feast. They just don't seem to be a problem in my area like they can be elsewhere.

[3leggedturtle]

I live in a residential neighborhood, and can't abide neighbors letting their cats out to wander! Especially if said cats poop in my garden and use my plants as scratching posts.

Not only that,but they seem to think a kid's sandbox is thier own personal giant sized litterbox

[.45colt]

We have four big cats that showup from time to time, crossing the property back in the woods. I have a good idea who owns them and there is no use talking to them. I was raised with the 3-S policey My whole life but in the world of cell phone cameras and all the other recording stuff I am watching My back now. one owner knows exactly how I feel about cat's running loose and I get the feeling they would love to get some "proof".
Hopefully as the winter get worse the local Coyotes will get a free lunch. .

[Rusty]

We had a judge hand down a ruling years ago that said a cat was not a domestic animal and could not be domesticated because of their very nature.

[3leggedturtle]

We have four big cats that showup from time to time, crossing the property back in the woods. I have a good idea who owns them and there is no use talking to them. I was raised with the 3-S policey My whole life but in the world of cell phone cameras and all the other recording stuff I am watching My back now. one owner knows exactly how I feel about cat's running loose and I get the feeling they would love to get some "proof".
Hopefully as the winter get worse the local Coyotes will get a free lunch. .

put in a "dog door" that leads to a havahart trap. Then take your time "returning" them where they really belong