Maybe I�m out to lunch on this topic. I like cats, although not strays. I would be extremely irritated, as in HOT, if somebody popped one of my dedicated, loyal, barn mousers on my property. The felines which survive all the natural predators, are in fact quite interesting domesticated animals. In stating this, I do not believe in inside cats, or cats which harm bird feeders, trash bags, and other such things in urban life. Life is good when watching the Sun set, baseball game on the radio, and one of the fine survivor mousers comes by for a little attention. BTW��.I�ve seen cats run good hunting dogs (I have one) into the side of vehicle. Then set them up to do it again.

I�m a big fan of this website, and hunt and shoot regularly.

So what are you saying Jayboid, that you're a "closet" cat killer? Any "pet" out terrorizing the local wildlife population, gets my vote for the lethal injection.
Cats may kill mice, but if they're out there to get field mice, you can bet your sweet ass they aren't stopping there especially in the spring when most newborn critters are voulnerable.
Trigger

I�ve never been one to try to start a hot topic, and been on the net for over a decade. Not a closet cat killer, but a person who has put down animals of all types. I do not enjoy shooting man�s mistakes.

I don't know but here in Oklahoma us good ole southern boy's figure the only good use for a cat is as a target. But then again we pick up Sailor Cats ofun the Hiway and use them for redneck skeet. For you northern boys a Sailor Cat is one that has been ran over so many times its dried out and about as thick as a pancake and you can sail them in the air like a frizbee.

Just about all cats like to hunt. They dont discriminate between mice and endangered wildlife so in my POV the only good cat is a dead one.

I do however respect peoples' pets but any cat coming onto my property without some form of ID gets a steaming third eye.

Snowy

My next door neighbor's little kitty is a real cutie. Last spring, I noticed him coming across the street with a bluejay in his mouth. He took it into "his" backyard and placed it on a pile of four squirrels and five other birds of differing species. Then, he flipped it up in the air a couple of times, let it fall on the pile, and walked onto "his" back porch for a nap. None of the animals had been eaten, just killed. This little cutie was also responsible for killing AT LEAST four baby birds in MY backyard alone. The cat is obviously healthy so, there is no hunger need to kill the animals. I feel like giving him a ride some night and letting him out about forty miles away, so he can reek havoc somewhere else.

Hmmm, my neighbors' (plural) dogs have been killing a lot of squirrels in the area. Does this mean they should be shot on sight as some seem to be intimating should be done to cats?

[ 06-01-2003, 03:17: Message edited by: prof242 ]

If your neighbors are letting them run how 'bout having them arrested? Out to be possible in Colorado by now.

A good cat is a dead cat! Nothing kills more small game animals than ferel cats. Kill everyone I see on my property and enjoy doing it. If that bothers you then keep them at home. H.H.

If you get rid of crows you get jays.
If you get rid of rats you get mice.
If you get rid of bobcats you get ferral cats.
If you get rid of wolves you get ferral dogs.

They are all varmints, some with different licence requirements.

If I had a barn I would allow possibly 1-2 cats to roam around. Any more than that I consider a threat to native species. Cats are just to adaptable while species such as Ca. Quail are not. I will shoot Feral cats on properties that are "wild" because they have no business bieng there.

I am a happy cat shooter. I am also an outspoken cat killer. I prefer the .223, because of one shot splatterings, but in the town a BB gun is the choice weapon, quiet and not quiet as messy. Then a good toss over the fence on the four lane so it looks like an accident. Sometimes my dog cleans up the mess with a good shaking and slobbering on the pest. Cats, kill rabbits, quail more so than mice, as they don't want to mess with chasing mice through all the barnyard stuff. Snakes make good mousers. I will take all the snakes I can get.

Hunter fish

I know of no human who would rather open a stall door and find a Copperhead or Rattler, instead of a friendly loyal cat. I still use the line hoe my Grandmother used to walk with when checking her prized chickens. A line hoe is a 48" wood handled tool with a straight metal edge, which is used for cutting weeds and serpents. She passed in 1998 at near one hundred years old, but the tool still works as of last week. Cuts like a good sharp knife, and leaves snakes a wigglin. BTW....I've been hit by the friendly black snake, and it scares the living s@@t out of you, plus hurts. If memory serves, snakes and coons were egg stealers.

I hope no one from PETA or one of the various humane societies views this thread because we don't sound much like caring and responsible adults. I'm not much of a cat person although we have two, 20 and 12 years old. You can't justify slaying animals because they don't conform to your personal view of correct behavior. They have no brain to speak of, know no right and wrong. They are simply dumb animals behaving according to their instinct. He doesn't know the diference between a grackle and a songbird. We try to rationalize that there are good animals and bad animals. Friend, there are neither. They are just acting within their nature, and doing what to them comes naturally. One of my cats found a ground nest made by yellow finches, and one by one wiped them out. I'm not going to kill my cat, and I sure as hell can't reason with it. I can keep it indoors for a few days and hope he forgets about the finches. But he won't. Cats are probably the best hunters in nature. Try to be understanding of the little
beggars. They fit into the natural order just like we do. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

.....I really like cats. I like having them around the house. I like their independent attitude, and their perpetually playful behavior.
That having been said, I agree that they are probably the most efficient killers in the animal kingdom. I have one cat..solid black, yellow eyes. She's a sweetheart... and she's a hunter of the highest order. She regularly kills mockingbirds, occasionally baby rabbits, lots of mice, once a parakeet(where did THAT come from?)and at least two dove that I know of. She gets fed very regularly, and almost always eats the whole animal.. just leaving feathers and feet of the birds, and the heads of the rabbits.
Hunting is their nature...just like many of you "cat-killers" claim is YOUR nature. I agree there are too many feral cats running around, and I have no problem with thinning them out. I would do it in my neighborhood, if they were a problem..... BUT.. I would be absolutely certain they were feral.. not someone's pet.. or I wouldn't do it. It's easy to talk big about how you would kill all the cats running loose, but to knowingly kill someone's pet, simply because you think cats kill too many animals, takes you to a level below contempt... let's not be stupid about this....

Hornetguy and Sibley, you seem to dancing around the issue. I do not shoot pets. Responsible pet owners keep their animals confined to their property. I can not allow my GSP to roam without one of us suffering the consequences. However, I do shoot feral cats, such as the ones that I constantly see roaming the countryside and lurking around my bird feeders. If someone wants a cat for a pet and keeps it within the confines of his/her house or property, then that is their business. If they allow it to roam and it comes on my property or land that I have leased then it becomes my business.

Cats belong in the house,not out killing small game.If I see one out in the field,I shoot it.

Like I said "If you dont like it keep them at home"! Since I dont own any cats, any cat I see on my property are ferel to me. For every small aniaml you see they killed, how many to you think they killed you dont see? Keep them HOME! H.H.

I own two cats and I let them kill whatever they want. Though, at times, it gets annoying when I wake up and find bird feathers and whatnot everywhere on my bedroom floor. But nothing a vaccum can't take care of, right?

Red Neck,
Like you I believe a cat should stay in the house, but who wants a box with cat shit in it in the house? Always had cats in the house as a kid but didn't have much love for them. Live out in the semi country now and watch all of the little kitties kill everything they can catch just for the fun of it. Not many quail around anymore. Keep your cat and cat box in the house and everybody will be happy.

Most of you know my attitude on this, but my mind has expanded. If they aren't native species I'm goin' hot. Cats, dogs, walking catfish, friggin' Austrailian Jellyfish. Whatever. It's a good reason to load your own. Pets belong in a state of direct control or supervision by their owners. If they fail in that responsibility, well....... I don't have to tolerate their crap in my yard, or their hunting local wildlife. I think all housecats should be boxed up and sent back to Egypt. Down in this part of America the non-native species almost outnumber the native ones...kinda like illegals and citizens...

Digital Dan

I must smile at your post. A few years ago, Mz. Boid and I were backroading from a rural football game with spare time on our hands. Stopped at a green field and watched what every Kansas official will tell you we didn�t see. Of course most folks who observe nature tell us, we did see. As the Sun set, a fine Buck was standing in plain view, we decided to see if the Does would come out too. We got out of our vehicle. The Buck was not startled by us, and not over 200 yards away. We saw a bounding kitty of what we estimate over 150lbs get within a leap of the deer. At the last second the Buck took off running into a wooded area. Who knows what happened in there, but I would bet one less Whitetail. I clearly saw at least three bounds which were higher than the deer. I will personally provide the refrigerator box, if you would like to ship that Mountain Lion off to Egypt. As for me, I wouldn�t want to tangle with that kitty.

It's interesting to note that where we live the cats don't stray to far from home. But then again there are alot of mountain lions and coyotes and now the wolves are coming in slowly. Lots of mountain lions in the area. That critter gives one pause when you go to the truck at night and I'd hate to be a cat in the fields around here at night. Yep, there not many stray cats around here.
I think it would be amusing to see how the little cats would respond to a real cat.
There was a picture in the newspaper a few year back where a lion took down a 400 lb +- elk.
How many cats, could a cat eat, if a cat could eat a cat.
Isn't strange how people love animals that lick themselves, walk through all kinds of filth and disease, ringworm, hook worm, mites, ticks,lice, fleas, then lick the owners children in the face. And this is regarded as normal and acceptable.
And woe unto the person that dispenses with a cute
pet. ???
We need more mountain lions & bobcats to deal with the strays and teach that the natural world is not according Walt Disney or Hollywood.
Turn a few dozen grizzlies and mountain lions and wolves loose in Washington D.C. and I think the laws would change about animal rights real quick. No such luck I'm sure.
I haven't laughed so hard as I have after reading these posts about cats. "Field Lions" what a riot.
Never have shot one yet, but I guess It would be a the same as a praire dog.
Cat - The other white meat.

The latest travesty by the "do-gooders" was placing the prairie dog on the endangered list. It was found out, too late, that they'd miscounted by over 75%. We were thinking that a good approach would be to catch a lot of the little varmints and drop them off in the the People's Republic of Boulder (Colorado). State made that illegal...darn.

Exactly Crowrifle, Redneck, and Horn Harvester.

Its pretty obvious that most of you folks are city folks from your post. Anyone that lives in the country can tell you the value of a couple of barn cats. No mice, no rats, no voles, no snakes. Sure, they knap a bird now and then but that's called culling the gene pool. They only get the slow and/or stupid.

BTW, mount your bird feeders on metal poles and you can forget about your cat, squirrel and coon problems.

Beeman, not true. I had to put a squirrel baffle on my pole to keep them off. The 'coons just reach over it and pull themselves up for a meal. One of the neighbors asked the other day if I'd heard that "odd popping sound at night. Every once in awhile.???" "Not me" sez I, but sooner or later he'll ask why all the buzzards hang around from time to time. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

A couple barn cats would be ok if they were unable to reproduce. But, most people's ideas of a couple barn cats is (I usually see 7 or 8 but there may be more) the more the merrier. They reproduce and scatter to establish home ranges elsewhere.

Hunter Fish��..Having pets sterilized if not for breeding is essential. Thinking back, I can�t remember one male dog, or cat dropped off in this area which has been neutered. This is an owners responsibility. It can be costly, so here is my recommendation for cutting costs.

1. Find a good liberal Human Society
2. Tape over any NRA, hunting, shooting bumper stickers, or better yet borrow a Volvo.
3. Remove fast food bags, and containers from vehicle. Starbucks coffee cups are a plus.
4. Wear a T shirt with I love ???, Hedgehogs are a good one now. Sandals add a good touch. Any NY, or California college shirt works too.
5. Bring in animal, treat it like your favorite older relative.
6. Make a comment about the rain woods disappearing in the Arctic or something like this.
7. Make sure to ask if this will hurt the animal.
8. Ask for price, then acted shocked. A reference to tiny animal condoms may help your cause too.
9. Offer to pay in New Jersey returnable bottles.
10. You have made it! They usually will do the deed for free, or a small donation.

Digitaldan, I buy sections of black 2" water pipe (16") and cut it in half. I drove the unthreaded end into the ground and put a stanchion flange on the top (threaded) end. I then fastened the feeder on top of the flange. Works great. FYI, get a in-line coupler and put it on the threads while you drive the pipe in. Keeps from buggering up the threaded end.

What kind of fool would ever shoot a CAT???

With anything smaller than a 375 H&H??

Make that section of pipe 16 FEET long. I end up with two 8 feet sections of pipe. Duh.

Beeman, I did all that. 1.25" galvanized, feeder 7' in the air. Squirrels go up that thing like it's covered with velcro. Coons too. Kinda funny when the wife sprays it with Pam though. The coons are slow on the uptake with that, and will try for 30 min. or more before giving up. Chasis lube grease is more durable.

"I feel like giving him a ride some night and letting him out about forty miles away, so he can reek havoc somewhere else." He'd be back in about a month.
The reason there are feral cats, at all, is because people take them "about forty miles away" and drop them and the irresponsible people who don't go to the not inconsiderable expense of having their cat spayed or neutered.
The cat is the absolute perfect hunter. Nature made them that way. The difference between 'Fluffy' and a lion is the size. Cats hunt. Period.
Most cats are far more intelligent than any dog and they don't care who thinks otherwise. Stoner(he walked like he was) was a bit daft but he still got what he wanted. Stink(he gave his opinion about his litter not being changed by giving birth to an airborne guy next to my rack in the basement. Smelled so bad it woke me up. Hence the name) brought a pidgeon home one day and left it just outside the back door. My ma said something told her to look down as she went to step out. No screaming. No yelling. Nada. Told her how impressed I was. Woulda been different if it had been a mouse.
When 'Fluffy' brings home prey, that's just the way Fluffy contributes to the Pride. Domestic cats are far more social than you'd think. They're more lion than tiger. Is the varmint hunter who doesn't eat the ground hog or gopher or coyote any different than a cat that leaves dead prey outside the back door? In any case, pumas and lions and most other wildcats don't eat their kill immediately.
Jayboid, a stray is just a cat looking for a pride. That stray is the one, in the country, that will prey on wild life just to exist.
Oh and Smokie, stayed on my Da's death bed except to eat and use the litter box for six months. Six months later, he went out and got himself hit by a car. I was 6. Tell me again why cats are not worth having around.

[ 06-15-2003, 09:04: Message edited by: sunray ]

1. Find a good liberal Human Society
2. Tape over any NRA, hunting, shooting bumper stickers, or better yet borrow a Volvo.
3. Remove fast food bags, and containers from vehicle. Starbucks coffee cups are a plus.
4. Wear a T shirt with I love ???, Hedgehogs are a good one now. Sandals add a good touch. Any NY, or California college shirt works too.
5. Bring in animal, treat it like your favorite older relative.
6. Make a comment about the rain woods disappearing in the Arctic or something like this.
7. Make sure to ask if this will hurt the animal.
8. Ask for price, then acted shocked. A reference to tiny animal condoms may help your cause too.
9. Offer to pay in New Jersey returnable bottles.
10. You have made it! They usually will do the deed for free, or a small donation.

Jayboid, where did you learn how to do all of the above? At Lawerence, KS? or KC, KC? Maybe Witchita, KS? Boy, those are god awful liberal towns.....

Now i wish i could be a good of a hunter as a cat! Aloh i have been shooting rat's today ^_^ But anyways what i Hunt i dont think my cat's could hurt deer,bear racoons ETC. Plus i must say i like sitting up a bird feeder good tareget practice.

I moved to Pa ten years ago. Before that time Pheasant and quail were already in decline. Most native pa hunters that i've talked to blame on people moving into the area bringing along cats.

Between the hawks, cats, and foxes in this area the pheasant & quail don't stand a chance. Matter of fact you can't even hunt quail in my county.

Not supposed to shoot the hawks - but the cats & foxes are fair game. I shoot every cat i see that is not next to a house. And then i have to use serious restraint.

A good mouser is worth it's weight in gold if you've got chickens or ducks. My uncle thought his feed bill was getting a little high so he set an improvised trap and caught well over 100 mice in a week or so, in addition to using a good flashlight and ratshot. Since he "acquired" a cat the feed bill went down considerably. Unfortunately that cat was a female and not spayed. One of the kittens was at my house last night(my labs were barking and I went to check what it was) I like hunting squirrels and doves so if I'd had something a little more quiet than my 1911(11:00 pm) we'd have one less kitty roaming about.

The only things I shoot just for fun are snakes and turtles around the ponds. Turtles don't stand up to 158 grain lead hollow points out of my snubnose very well

Clark:
If you get rid of liberals you get Constitutional law.

They are all varmints.

At the Humane Society, they put kittens to sleep by the 60 gal drum full.

If one guy stabs a cat to death they give him real prison time with no prior convictions.

A society ruled my emotions is insane [liberal].