The Attention Deficit Disorder Thread

It's presented in a humorous light but it's actually a serious problem. And those statistics don't take into account the feral cat population, all of whom are killers. Cat's have had a huge impact on bird populations. After other insects, birds are the #1 consumer of insects, acting as Nature's insect population control. In urban areas, where cats are most prevalent, their impact on bird populations has led to an increase in insect related health issues.

 

It turns out Tripper may be afraid of me

 

cats are awesome!!!

 

I watched a study that said one cat could mess up the ecology for 10 or more archers of land

 

some sobering info...but cats are still awesome. So they like to hunt? So do humans. We hunt animals into extinction or to the verge of it at least. One major difference is that we "know better". Cats are just doing what their instincts tell them to do. Also, why are there such large numbers of feral cats? Stupid humans that take on a responsibility and then re-neg on it and open the door. Ease off the kittys. You shouldnt throw stones if you live in a glass house

 

Nope.

 

I love cats, but that doesn't negate the fact that they do great harm to the ecosystem. And since they are a product of domestication (their original purpose was to rid farms of vermin, not to be cuddly little creatures) that just makes them an extension of man's indifference toward the natural order of things. And at this point, most feral cats aren't strays, they were born that way. An article I read in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on the study of feral cats estimated there were half a million of them in Clark County, which equated to 1 feral cat for every 3 persons living in the LV metro area. That's an alarming number of unnatural predators.

 

Im sure you are right regarding feral cats now. They had to come from somewhere though. My money is on strays being the culprit, however far back. Its a shame, but we humans have a gross indifference towards the natural course of things. Look at the situation in Florida, where pythons and other types of snakes have been let lose by pet owners that underestimate the work and effort involved in owning exotoc pets. There is a growing population and no natural predators. That is a problem. There are many instances of this beyond cats and snakes. Im not alarmed. I think we humans will wreck the ecosystem and ultimately the planet before pythons and cats will.

 

Well of course the origin of feral cats is strays. As far as the environment is concerned, we ruin it for ourselves, Nature doesn't actually care one way or the other. My point about cats is that it's yet another man made issue that is being overlooked or treated with disinterest, but that could probably be addressed with minimal effort if the proper actions were taken, i.e. euthanasia for all strays after a set period of time. We really don't need kennels full of unwanted pets. Adoption programs are not the solution. I've had pets all my life so I understand the empathy involved, but under the circumstances empathy is not helpful.

 

Im not going to argue your point here but I will argue about how easy of a solution it would be. You cited half a million in Clark county alone. Would it be that easy to round up those kind of numbers? What method would be used? Would the consequences of inaction really outweigh the effort and money involved in such an undertaking?

Seems we agree on humans being the environments worst enemy. I understand what you are saying regarding kennels. The concept behind them is to promote more adoption rather than more breeding. It doesnt work, of course. Still a noble cause and try as you (in the general term) may, there is absolutely no way to negate the empathetic nature of humans with regards to mass euthanasia of cute little kittys and puppys.

 

Actually, most people in the know have indicated that hurricane Andrew's total destruction of several zoos in the Miami and Homestead areas most likely released the greater number of rock pythons into the Everglades.....as opposed to pet owners.

 

Id be interested to know how many zoos we are talking about and also how many snakes a zoo would have on average. Are we talking hundreds? Thousands? If its thousands, why the hell do zoos need that many pythons on hand. I dont remember seeing that many pythons when I have gone to the bronx zoo, the philly zoo or the san diego zoo. If its hundreds I can see argument that more animals have been released by dumbasses throughout the years then the one time you are referring to. I dont claim to be an expert. I would welcome info to the contrary.

 

.....Don't forget all the methane that cows release into the atmosphere.

 

Like other reptiles, snakes give birth to a lot of young in one clutch. Under the right conditions in an area where food is plentiful snakes can reproduce at a pretty brisk pace, especially in a region where there is a dearth of natural predators, and in the case of immature snakes it would be birds and rodents (see the connection to cats?). So over a prolonged period of time--in this case 20 years since hurricane Andrew--a relatively immune snake population can boom into great numbers from what was originally just a handful of progenitors.

 

Morning.

 

I'm sorry you had to remove your sig. It wasn't my doing.

 

Not a problem.

 

Here in Arizona if you find a king snake, it's a good thing. They keep rodents and rattlesnakes away.