When I was a kid in a park in Sacramento, I was delighted by squirrels and chipmunks all over the place. I haven't seen one of those little red chipmunks in years and I hardly ever see grey or red squirrels. I saw just one the other day and I was surprised whereas previously it would not have been at all unusual.
There are sixty million feral cats in the U.S. and I can provide citations if you like but you already know the truth of it. The percentage of socialized and unsocialized cats isn't clear but that's important because the unsocialized feral cats are likely to be more effective killers.
So ...
Project: Squirrel
There's the problem of the Rockhouse Defense Force because there is some varying number of feral but mostly socialized cats since all know of human-made food and will come for it.
In one version, the food I set out for them is that many fewer squirrel kills.
In the other, setting the food out encourages more squirrel kills.
The problem: if I set out more food, say, at the end of the day in addition to the morning, does it only attract more cats or will the existing feral cats stay the same but eat more. I suspect it's the former.
Cat people can get all bleeding heart if they like but it's short-sighted because cats are such incredibly efficient killers in their size range and they can wipe out just about anything. Scientists apparently recognize them as top predators in some regards. They also warn feral cats are the No. 1 threat to wildlife in the United States other than unnatural influences (e.g. pollution of various kinds, etc).
It's an open question. The cats here were neutered so they won't make more ferals but they're still little killers. There are Trap-Neuter-Return programs which may have some success but the scale of the problem is enormous.
So, no good answer as yet.
There are sixty million feral cats in the U.S. and I can provide citations if you like but you already know the truth of it. The percentage of socialized and unsocialized cats isn't clear but that's important because the unsocialized feral cats are likely to be more effective killers.
So ...
Project: Squirrel
There's the problem of the Rockhouse Defense Force because there is some varying number of feral but mostly socialized cats since all know of human-made food and will come for it.
In one version, the food I set out for them is that many fewer squirrel kills.
In the other, setting the food out encourages more squirrel kills.
The problem: if I set out more food, say, at the end of the day in addition to the morning, does it only attract more cats or will the existing feral cats stay the same but eat more. I suspect it's the former.
Cat people can get all bleeding heart if they like but it's short-sighted because cats are such incredibly efficient killers in their size range and they can wipe out just about anything. Scientists apparently recognize them as top predators in some regards. They also warn feral cats are the No. 1 threat to wildlife in the United States other than unnatural influences (e.g. pollution of various kinds, etc).
It's an open question. The cats here were neutered so they won't make more ferals but they're still little killers. There are Trap-Neuter-Return programs which may have some success but the scale of the problem is enormous.
So, no good answer as yet.
2 comments:
You would need a sterilizing chemical that could be baited and be feline specific to have any hope of fixing that problem
No kill solution so that sounds good. Unknown if such a chemical exists but I'm sure projects such as TNR have no chance due to the sheer number of animals. If cat people don't show some responsibility then the cull people will have no choice and that will get ugly.
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