10 thoughts on “We’re worried about lead ammunition killing a few birds …”
That’s pretty funny, though to be fair, house cats probably aren’t taking down many condors, or even ducks. Doves are probably on the menu though, at least for a healthy coon cat.
Will the American Bird Conservancy which was one of the plaintiffs in the earlier lead ammo lawsuits will allow us to use lead ammo on Muffy, Punkin, and Mr. Boots given they are cold-blooded *bird* murderers? Or are they afraid that condors will eat their little calico carcasses?
Great comic BTW!
I know of at least two people who keep outdoor cats in Vegas just to kill the pigeons.
I swear I’ve caught house cats out of the corner of my eye stalking me and trying to figure out how to kill me.
Funny but true. We had a former house cat go feral in my neck of the woods and it stalked and killed about every bird nest within its considerable range. I saw it doing the deed one day, while in the woods. One morning I heard the baby owls dying, then heard the cat screaming. Momma must have come home during the act. No idea how the cat survived that engagement (it was a big cat).
I saw the cat a little more, but the owls were gone. So were the rabbits (mostly) and some squirrels. That winter freeze saw the last of the cat, though by then I had already loaded a shotgun and kept it near the door. That thing did real damage to the local wildlife.
These days the wife and I agree: there are no first chances with feral cats. Unless it has a collar and comes up to play, it ain’t lost. It feral, and that means it’s heading for a hole back in the woods.
Cats are serious predators. Anyone worried about the birds had better focus on them, and not the few kills performed with lead shot.
But we all know this isn’t about the birds. They’d kill every living one of them if it meant they could take away private guns. For the sake of the birds, I suggest nobody figure out how to make that theoretical statement a plan. Because there are good numbers of wackos who would push it.
To be fair, they attempted to pass a cat leash law in Mass.
Anti-freedom, not anti-gun!
My family’s fixed male house cat, who has a continuous feeder not 3 feet from his favorite front porch chair, has taken songbirds, starlings and grackles, field mice, rats, baby bunnies, adult bunnies, moles, lizards and snakes.
And those are only the ones whose remains I have seen on the front porch as I leave of a morning.
The deaths of millions of small animals a year is both bad (the songbirds) and good (the mice).
I wish there was a way to make him only kill mice.
I can’t blame the cat. I like to cook up a bird now and then myself. Gives variety to the diet.
Early in their publication run, circa 1961, “Shooting Times” devoted a cover article on the damage that domestic cats inflicted on wildlife. Not much has changed.
I seem to remember that Australia was looking at exterminating their feral cat population and cracking down on domestic cat owenership in order to save their native wildlife.
Here’s the problem I have. My 16+pound fixed male cat lets the blue jays eat his food out of his bowl, and the only thing my small fixed female chases(and sometimes catches) are a few of the dumber lizards that live in the yard.
And I don’t remember reading any stories about cats attacking kids and such…
jist sayin’.
Feral cats are a problem though. Actually PEOPLE who throw away their cats that eventually become feral are the problem.
That’s pretty funny, though to be fair, house cats probably aren’t taking down many condors, or even ducks. Doves are probably on the menu though, at least for a healthy coon cat.
Will the American Bird Conservancy which was one of the plaintiffs in the earlier lead ammo lawsuits will allow us to use lead ammo on Muffy, Punkin, and Mr. Boots given they are cold-blooded *bird* murderers? Or are they afraid that condors will eat their little calico carcasses?
Great comic BTW!
I know of at least two people who keep outdoor cats in Vegas just to kill the pigeons.
I swear I’ve caught house cats out of the corner of my eye stalking me and trying to figure out how to kill me.
Funny but true. We had a former house cat go feral in my neck of the woods and it stalked and killed about every bird nest within its considerable range. I saw it doing the deed one day, while in the woods. One morning I heard the baby owls dying, then heard the cat screaming. Momma must have come home during the act. No idea how the cat survived that engagement (it was a big cat).
I saw the cat a little more, but the owls were gone. So were the rabbits (mostly) and some squirrels. That winter freeze saw the last of the cat, though by then I had already loaded a shotgun and kept it near the door. That thing did real damage to the local wildlife.
These days the wife and I agree: there are no first chances with feral cats. Unless it has a collar and comes up to play, it ain’t lost. It feral, and that means it’s heading for a hole back in the woods.
Cats are serious predators. Anyone worried about the birds had better focus on them, and not the few kills performed with lead shot.
But we all know this isn’t about the birds. They’d kill every living one of them if it meant they could take away private guns. For the sake of the birds, I suggest nobody figure out how to make that theoretical statement a plan. Because there are good numbers of wackos who would push it.
To be fair, they attempted to pass a cat leash law in Mass.
Anti-freedom, not anti-gun!
My family’s fixed male house cat, who has a continuous feeder not 3 feet from his favorite front porch chair, has taken songbirds, starlings and grackles, field mice, rats, baby bunnies, adult bunnies, moles, lizards and snakes.
And those are only the ones whose remains I have seen on the front porch as I leave of a morning.
The deaths of millions of small animals a year is both bad (the songbirds) and good (the mice).
I wish there was a way to make him only kill mice.
I can’t blame the cat. I like to cook up a bird now and then myself. Gives variety to the diet.
Early in their publication run, circa 1961, “Shooting Times” devoted a cover article on the damage that domestic cats inflicted on wildlife. Not much has changed.
I seem to remember that Australia was looking at exterminating their feral cat population and cracking down on domestic cat owenership in order to save their native wildlife.
This is a good idea:
http://www.legalzoom.com/everyday-law/home-leisure/wisconsin-considers-legalizing-cat-hunting
Here’s the problem I have. My 16+pound fixed male cat lets the blue jays eat his food out of his bowl, and the only thing my small fixed female chases(and sometimes catches) are a few of the dumber lizards that live in the yard.
And I don’t remember reading any stories about cats attacking kids and such…
jist sayin’.
Feral cats are a problem though. Actually PEOPLE who throw away their cats that eventually become feral are the problem.