Since the target thread was actually getting back on track I didn't want to put my .02 on cats in there.


I'm a cat owner, so I obviously not a cat hater.  But stray cats are a nuisance.  They shit and piss everywhere, they kill wildlife, get in fights with our cat, and fight among themselves in the wee hours.  One of the damn things even attacked my wife when she didn't give it any food.  My solution is to trap them and take them to the "animal shelter".  I use one of those have a heart (or something like that) traps.  It is like a wire mesh cat carrier with a trap door.  By trapping the cats, I avoid mistakenly whacking some kid's, or old lady's, pet.  If the trapped cat is actually someone's pet they have ample opportunity to claim it at the "shelter".  Most likely the cat is a genuine stray and it will be killed in due time.  It works pretty good.  I've trapped about a dozen cats in the last couple years.  I've never seen a trapped cat return.

BTW the cat trap also works for opossums.  The opossums I just let go.  In case any one was wondering, they smell awful, like the inside of a coot.

I thought you meant...
[url]http://www.owar.com/bso/catspics.htm[/url]

I suppose one must consider where they live before shooting a cat.  I would never do that in a semi-urban or semi-suburb area.  Most people have only seen real pet cats that are fuzzy and nice.  That is why all the flames start whenever someone mentions shooting a stray.  

You know, most strays are just plain wild to begin with.  This makes them equal to coyotes in my book.

We had a situation here with a guy traping and eliminating feral cats.  The country folks where the trapping was taking place were in agreement while the whining single women in town were livid.  On the big local news battle he sited some pretty sobering stats on the wildlife destruction of cats run amok.  Planerench out.

Sometimes you can coax a stray cat right up to you and even pet it.

Once you have gained it's confidence you are then free to pick it up and eliminate it by hand.[xx(][xx(]

Thay are fun to shoot if you ask me.

[chainsawkill][chainsawkill]

I like to use my paint-gun on them.  I've got some clear paintballs that work really good incase someone does own it!

What no "chinese"thai,laotion,mandrin (whatever)restraunts nearby?Our was that stray dogs?[:|]

tell your to quit feeding it. it will become dependent on her for food. or just add a little anti freeze and that will take care of it..

i feel the same way about stray humans. i wish someone would trap 'em, and take 'em away.

weiseguy, your post describes the humane way of dealing with a "cat problem", although i can't personally imagine that there is such a thing.

everyone else, you sadden me, you are all just plain mean, and i think putting down your copy of "how to be a macho-redneck" for a while, will do you all some good. really, don't you guys have anything better to do? no illegitimate children to escort to the gerry springer show? no broken-down camaros to fix?

Stray cats and dogs seem to find us. We only have one rule. If you stay you get fixed.

I'm pretty sure that bedwetting and fascination with fire go along just fine with your taste for animal cruelty.


[IMG]http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/cwm/cwm3d/3ddisgust3.gif[/IMG]

We never feed strays, except for the bait in the trap.  I'don't know what they eat, besides birds.  They sure don't put a dent in the rat population.  I think the crazy dude on the corner feeds them.  The highest concentration of strays seems to be his property.

I think you should leave the cats alone and eliminate the "crazy dude".

What do you think people did to cats before there were animal shelters? Thats right they shot them. I guess you have never had a multiple cats sneak in your garage and scratch the paint off you car and shit and piss on it too. I have no problem shooting them.

on the contrary, cats are all over my vehicles, they shit on my lawn, scratch my outdoor furniture, fight with my cat...know what i do? i wash the footprints off, avoid the land mines and leave the funiture alone, and my cat is tough enough to handle himself...its called live and let live, give it a try!

Sorry I have a 1 strike and your out policy. If an animal messes with me and my stuff, It gets one chance after that it's in my crosshairs.

Shoot them with a airsoft pistol, wont kill them but they will associate you with pain.

And then something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump! We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat! And he said to us, "Why do you sit there like that?" "I know it is wet And the sun is not sunny. But we can have Lots of good fun that is funny!" "I know some good games we could play,"

I consider stray cats to be the same as non-native wildlife like hogs, only worse, because they are far more destructive. Like hogs, there is no closed season on them around here.
Goet, methinks people like you are the bedwetters.

cat's the only real interactive targets
[img]http://wsphotofews.excite.com/026/Tw/nm/ML/w172439.jpg[/img]

Goet, check out the hunting forum and post all your complaints there.  BTW - the King of Mice called - he wants you to represent them too!

someone please tell me how cats are so destructive? more so than hogs? man, i guess we just don't get those headlines out here: [red]"hoards of stray cats invade town, locals scared"[/red] or [red]"3000 acres of soy destroyed by stray cat, may have acted alone"[/red] or how 'bout this one: [red]"local militia formed to deal with rising cat-crime wave in mid-west"[/red]

[rolleyes]

They had a feral cat problem some where out east (Southhampton?) earlier this year. Instead of just killing them, they were getting them neutered and leaving out food.

Well FattyM4, the last newspaper article we had on pigs was in the ads.  $0.99 a pound.

Feral Cats are pound for pound, equal to raccoons and coyotes for nusiance causing, and are much more bold.  They may not have them in NY, but farm country is rife with them.  They kill native songbirds at a far greater frequency than any other predator.  I would rather have Purple Martins, and Indigo Buntings than stray cats.

They are ugly, smelly, fierce, rude, disease ridden, carry rabies, noisy, proliferous, and as alien as Killer Bees, Kudzu vines, Starlings, Fire Ants, and Zebra Mussels.

Try pulling your head out of your ass by reading some of these links:
[url]http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/b03-koa.html[/url]
[url]http://www.audubon.org/local/cn/98march/cats.html[/url]
[url]http://wildlife.wisc.edu/extension/catfly3.htm[/url]
That's just 3 links out of 21,300 hits I got by typing "extinction cats" into the Google search engine.

Oh, and here's a good one:
[url]http://www.batnet.com/wildlife/education.html[/url]
If you love your animal, KEEP IT INDOORS!!!!

Me Too.

High Performance Tacitcal Gear!
[url]www.Lightfighter.com[/url]

ok, smartass, i read your links, did you? they say that cats are "the most destructive to wildlife [blue]EXCEPT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT[/blue]" destruction of habitat = humans!!!

who introduced all these cats into north america? HUMANS!

and [b] NOWHERE [/b] did those articles call for animal cruelty like poisoning them, or otherwise dealing with the problem (the first legitamate one i've read, the loss of songbirds)  in the neanderthal-like manner(s) listed above.

i like birds too, but animal cruelty, and wanton bloodshed prove your level of humanity, or lack thereof.

So I guess I am not an animal lover, I think my dogs would disagree, but I just shoot stray cats, and dogs for that matter. I have been doing that snice I was growing up in FL and still do so in Colorado. Cruelty? You ever see what that needle does. I don't mind killing for myself, I won't hire it out.

ok, lets just keep my point nice and clear: if you are a farmer, rancher or birdlover, shoot strays on your land if you must. but animal cruelty like beartraps, poison and needless injury are unacceptable.

Weiseguy had a good, educational post until it was ruined by those cave-men who need to prove their manhood by being mean and bragging about it, when we all know that there are some small-penis compensation issues at hand, i feel bad for you guys.

Since when does shooting an animal become animal cruelty?  I have read material from PETA that advocates that position.  Are all hunters bloodthirsty hicks with somthing to prove about their manhood?  NO.  You own a gun?  Rosie o'Donnell would say the same thing about you.
Shooting pests is a humane and mature method of eliminating overpopulations of unwanted animals.

"Real Men Don't Need Guns!"  read a banner carried by an anti-gun protestor.  This sounds like you.  "Real Men Don't Shoot Animals!"

If yours and theirs is the definition of being a man, I am happy not to be one!

Do you advocate the extermination of humans?  There is a foundation called Zero Population Growth that welcomes your outlook.

Fortunately for America, your outlook has not been shared by people who built this country.

My humanity teaches me that Humans have a higher value than cats or any other animal. We control the animals, they don't control us. [b][u]I do not mean that there is to be needless killing of animals. That is wrong to kill an animal for sheer kicks.[/u][/b] I am saying that if an animal is causing damage to me or my property, it will die on site no matter what it is.

torf, re-read the post above yours.

i [b] AM [/b] a hunter. i also love [b] every [/b] animal, especially those i hunt. for more on this line of thought, please refer to ANYTHING ted nugent ever said. he would be dissappointed in most of you.

reconxl, you must have been typing when i posted the one above torf's post. please read it. we agree on everything, except the humans-uber-alles thing, that smacks of a religious dogma, one which i do not subrscribe to, and is best left for another thread.

You Vegetable-Rights wackos always go there, so here goes:
If you had more confidence in your ability to please women sexually, you wouldn't have to constantly kow-tow to their unrealistic, nurturing view of the world. You would feel free to be a man without worrying about never getting laid again. I suggest you shut up and go back to gossiping about movie stars with your girlfriend.

The rain was just pouring that cold, cold, cold day
And the guys and I had no poker to play.
The wives were at bingo, the kids were just out
And the boredom had made my friend Hickory pout.

When something went bump
And that bump made a thump.

In from the rain walked this stylish cat.
In from the rain walked a cat who was fat.
He said, "why do you sit there looking forlorn?"
He said, "I've found chips on which we adorn
The presence of dip and the swirling of beer
Let's go," said the cat," for that beer is not here."
So off to the brewery we followed the cat
Off to the beer that was made in a vat.

Then, Joe Bob said, "Stop. For we should not be here.
Our wives would be angry if we drank this beer.
We should not be here while our wives are out."
"We should not be here!" we heard poor Joe Bob shout.

But the cat just replied, "We'll have such a ball
But that is not all; no, no, that is not all."

So over we leaned
and that big vat we cleaned.
And drunk from the beer, we were suddenly shocked
By such a sick sight that some loogies we hocked
To escape the taste of that sickening vat
That disgusting vat; that vat with a rat.

Its body was rotting, though preserved by beer
And someone had swallowed its tail, I fear.
Then Joe Bob yelled," See? We have drunk up a rat.
We drank up that rat 'cause we listened to that...
That cat who is fat and is holding his throat."
And we all could just listen to Joe Bob emote.

"We should not be here while the wives are out;
We shouldn't be here," and we saw Joe Bob pout.

What could we say? What could we do?
Then, Jimmy and Hickory began to spew.
I joined in quickly, and up the beer came
While the rat in the vat remained sadly the same.

Then, running through raindrops, we left that beer vat
We left that beer vat, or the vat with the rat.
When our wives got home, they said, "How was your day?
What kind of male bonding games did you play?"
And we looked at our wives, and they looked at us
And up came more beer with nary a fuss.
And somewhere that fat cat's just laughing out loud
At a rat in a vat; I sure hope he is proud.

I was posting at the same time you were.  I am glad you are willing to be reasonable.  However, I disagree with your assessment of the community.

Is trapping foxes wrong?  Is poisoning rats wrong?  No.  So what gives?  There are inconsistencies there.
Referring to someone as a caveman is a liberal tactic.  Referring to someones genital size is a childish tactic.

Maybe, but Ted has never asked to hunt with me, and also has not ever called me at home. Who cares if he is disappointed in me?, I don't like his music either. I respect the man, and hope he would respect me too, but, if not, I really won't miss sleep over it. A .223 sp will kill a cat without it knowing what hit it.

The "Nuge" would probably have a lot in common with this community.  Are you his spokesman?  He writes about trashing hippie carts at his concerts and using the shirts to clean his guns.  Does he have penis envy?  No, probably not.

If Monotheistic views are not your cup of tea, then consider the alternatives.  Pantheism (Gaia-everything is God).  Athiesm (survival of the fittest).

Consider the implications.

torf, trapping fox is an accepted method of harvest. i choose not to. rats are poisoned, mice are trapped and coyotes get shot. but there is no cat-specific poison on the market, nor is it legal AFAIK, atifreeze is what i was talking about - a slow, inhumane death.

Rew, i'm not asking you to idolize ted the way i do, i hate his music, but as far as i'm concerned, he is wise in the way of hunting and the balance between man and animal. charlton heston never called me either, but i try to do what i think would keep in his better favor, just as a guide.

Ok I can understand that, I guess, Heston has never impressed me either. Again, I could care less how he feels about me. Now, SGM Write, that guy impressed me and I did care how he felt about me! Drill Sgt Johnson also had my attintion for at least 16 weeks. I am pretty sure I got a few guys to care what I thought as an Infantry PLT SGT. But ya know, not one had the balls to ask about my penis size. I kind of figger the only person concerned with that would be my wife, and she seems happy. I could be wrong, but after 20 years I think she would know. In otherwords big names just don't impress me, and a SP .223 will still kill a cat.  

Is it just me or is this dispute over the relative value of a feral cat(s) showing some kind of regional trends?  I mean is this the way most NY'rs and TX-CO residents view this problem as well?  I am just curious as I don't live out west or in NY so I don't know how most there would handle this situation.

In all fairness any wild mammal is to me a potential rabies carrier and as such a threat to me, my wife and my children, not to mention probably a nuisance to livestock, pets and crops.  Threats against family and property have but one natural response.  It is swift, it is harsh, but in my opinion it is also just.

btw-
I am not a cat hater on some Randy "Macho-Man" Savage delusional fantasy or whatever some here may seem to fear.  I also note that nobody so far has been calling for the extermination of all domestic cats, merely the feral ones who are in the habit of trespass, or worse.

Chissel, welcome aboard!
it does seem to be a regional thing. there are ferral cats here in NY, (upstate in the mountains is where i live) but they just aren't a news-worthy problem. i have no problem with pest control, i do have a problem with cruelty.

cruelty to me is more than one shot to kill a deer, antifreeze in an open container outdoors, etc.

i have hunted and photographed every inch of this great land from the florida keys to fairbanks, alaska. i have spent every possible minute of my life outdoors, and have yet to see a rabid animal, again, i seek animals to hunt or photograph. i just don't see them as a looming threat, and i treat every animal on a case-by-case basis. BTW, i have been feet away from some major animals, and have never been attacked either.

my point is: my FIRST instinct is NOT to kill an animal. if it became necessary, i would do so HUMANELY.

Fatty;

I should have said something more clearly...

I meant to say any wild mammal on MY property is a potential rabies carrier and therefore a potential threat to my family.

Also one's own definition of cruelty has to come to bear.  You seem to have your own definitions and anyone whose opinion differs risks being labelled as "cruel".  If a groundhog is in my mothers garden is she cruel if she hits it with a shovel?  It probably will take her more than one stroke to kill it quickly, does she have the right to protect what is hers with the available means since you cant discharge a firearm in city limits?  If the neighbor will not confine his cat to his property and it terrorizes her cats or craps in her petunias does she not have the right to open a can of tuna, replace the water with non-enviro friendly anti-freeze and leave it outside, on her property?

As for not meeting with rabid animals I am fairly certain that they live a much abbreviated life due to the viral infection they carry. That is probably why you have yet to see them.  I hope that just because you have yet to have a face-to-face with a foaming mouthed mammal doesn't mean you don't think they exist.  With any luck they die before you or someone else can try to pet fluffy with the attitude.

Don't get me wrong I love animals, but they can be a problem.  A raccoon tipping over the trash cans, a dog chasing chickens, a groundhog in the garden, a cat wiping out the rabbit population are all problems that if they occur on my property need immediate addressing.

I think it is best to live with attitude that what you do on your property is your business and what I do on mine is my business, that is as long as no person is hurt.

Thank you for taking the time to welcome me, I hope you don't think I am bitching or being uncivil, just making points that others may feel as well.

Ruger 10-22 loaded with a subsonic solid,combined with a nice "gutshot" allow the offending feline to run and expire a good ways from the house!

Guess it just depends how and where you were raised.  My solution to the problem is a HavaHart trap , a quick relocation into the garage, and a 22 Buckmark with those subsonic Colibri hollowpoints. (Won't cycle the action, but you only need one) followed by a trashbag.  I don't care how cute it is, it's a destructive animal, let loose by an idiot owner. I shoot loose dogs too.  Nothing like dogs chasing livestock into fences to make one bring out the .270. My record is 5 dogs in one instance.  Would been more If I'd only had a reload handy.  Every single one of them had a collar.  Just as an aside,  German game managers consider cats such a threat to wildlife that hunters are REQUIRED to shoot them if found in the wild.

How about a RWS pellet rifle (silent and powerfull like a 22) with some nice full copper pellets? wrap the "cadaver" in a garbage bag or chop it up a bit and feed it to a stray dog so it takes care of the other cats on the street.