tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post3191900353032147003..comments2023-10-08T12:11:52.993+13:00Comments on New Zealand Conservative: Here's my killer cat, Gareth MorganLucia Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10485990994973953860noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post-7960003671154944162013-01-24T20:30:19.344+13:002013-01-24T20:30:19.344+13:00From an article in Breitbart about this:
"..J...From an article in Breitbart about this:<br />"..John Innes, a wildlife ecologist with government research body Landcare, said Morgan's argument that cats killed birds may be too simplistic, pointing out that they also kill rats, another major bird predator.<br /><br />"No one's ever actually done the numbers to see whether the number of birds that those rats would kill is bigger or less than the number that the cats kill," he said..."KGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01940428991630766942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post-31398448112171624032013-01-24T11:35:20.767+13:002013-01-24T11:35:20.767+13:00KG,
Now that's the sort of information that M...KG,<br /><br />Now that's the sort of information that Morgan needs, but would most likely ignore, because it wouldn't fit into his utopian ideals.Lucia Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485990994973953860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post-27474260114274109742013-01-23T16:46:45.773+13:002013-01-23T16:46:45.773+13:00A couple of years ago, where I now live, they had ...A couple of years ago, where I now live, they had a mouse plague and the number of feral cats rose hugely. So did the snake numbers.<br />Now the plague is over, both cat and snake populations have dropped off too.<br />It's a simple fact that feral cats cannot be eradicated and it's also true that they tend to reach equilibrium with the local wildlife after a while.<br />KGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01940428991630766942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post-3849475243272030962013-01-23T12:06:49.380+13:002013-01-23T12:06:49.380+13:00Marian,
The SPCA are supposed to de-sex the feral...Marian,<br /><br />The SPCA are supposed to de-sex the feral cats and then let them go again, according to what they say they'll do. The theory being that if you kill them and there's food available, then more cats will move into a the area.<br /><br />I had a stray cat turn up on my doorstep last year that didn't want to leave. Looked to be in a very bad way, so I caught it and took it to the vet. Turned out to have a microchip, was from the SPCA and was given to a old woman by her son. The old woman didn't want it and so when it ran out the door and disappeared on the first day of owning it, she made no attempt to find it. Six weeks and a couple of kilometers from where it started out, it turned up on my doorstep, ravenously hungry, incredibly thin and with massive abscesses on it's back. It went back to the SPCA (who didn't want to know about it when I phoned them initially), and I'm not sure if it survived.<br /><br />It's people like that old woman (and her son) that create the feral cat problem.<br /><br />BTW, Asterix likes the skinks as well. I rescue as many as I can, but since my husband dug up their home area for a fence (lots of bits of old wood lying around there and rocks and things), I haven't seen any at all.Lucia Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485990994973953860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38893560.post-39582787357381359552013-01-22T14:05:24.068+13:002013-01-22T14:05:24.068+13:00LOL.
Yeah. I've a cat too. He doesn't do ...<br />LOL.<br /><br />Yeah. I've a cat too. He doesn't do much either. His only bad habit is he does take out and catch the odd Monarch butterfly.<br /><br /><br />As for cats. It's overall not the domestic cat that's the main problem as long as they're fairly well fed and looked after. It's the wild feral cats which are a problem and unfortunately the SPCA or Animal Control does nothing about them. We can have upto 20 feral cats in my immediate neighbourhood and we are expected to pay $$$ to hire cat cages to catch them. Well most of them are cage and trap shy anyway so it's a waste of money. Of course if I try to get rid of them humanely via other methods well the SPCA and the like will come down on you like a ton of bricks. We are only able to catch some of the kittens from time to time to try and keep a bit of the lid on the local exploding feral cat population.<br /><br />Having said that several years ago I did have a problem with one of the neighbours cats when I was living in Pukekohe. This particular Tomcat took great delight in hunting and wiping out the population of native skinks which were living in the rock garden.<br /><br />Overall though It's the feral cats which do the most destruction to our native birds, etc.Marianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546765399447990888noreply@blogger.com