Re: Are pets eating our valuable resources.(split from plague thread )

Why would anyone want to try the same thing anywhere in Europe? exotic feral animals are not the problem they are here.

Re: Are pets eating our valuable resources.(split from plague thread )

That;s in your country Bruce, over here ferrel cats in the country are working animals. Kill rats and mice on farms. Problem lies not with cats but with people own them and don't get them neutered.

Re: Are pets eating our valuable resources.(split from plague thread )

I don''t think a feral cat could be called a "working cat" - as a border collie or a farm cat could. My understanding is that a feral cat is born in the wild and is not simply a stray or a neglected farm cat. It was born in the wild and is not/has not been owned by anyone. It has never known any other life and is a wild animal. In the cities and towns feral cats can be a real problem and many live pretty miserable lives. When they are captured they are often sick and diseased - they are usually incorrigable and their fate is usually to be humanely destroyed. Sometimes, if healthy, they are neutered and released if the conditions are suitable for them to survive reasonabl well and this helps keep the population down, but really I think most would say it would be better if feral cats had not become a problem in the first place, i.e. pet cats should be itaken care of and neutered, never abandoned to breed and their offspring become feral in the first place.

Also in many parts of the world (particularly on islands) introduced cats which have been abandoned have bred and their offpsring have become feral. They prey on indigenous species who have little defence against the cat's predations. Some native species have been almost wiped out by feral cats. In Scotland feral cats breed with the native wild cat, diluting the genetics of the native Scottish wildcat.
All in all feral cats are at least a nuisance and at worse a dangerous menace. Once again, it's human beings who are responsible.

Re: Are pets eating our valuable resources.(split from plague thread )

Well that's how one of the farmers I knew saw them, they didn't have names and they weren't fed, they hunted for food i.e rats and mice. You certainly couldn't pick one up, let alone sit it on your lap. She had a very straight forward way of dealing with unwanted kittens, she drowned them. I don't like the idea but then I'm not her, she thought the world of her dogs though, none of which were working dogs as long as I knew her, which was 20 yrs.
I'm not a cat lover but I wouldn't hurt one, though I did chase one round the house whith a mop when I found he'd had a little robin cornered for over an hour.