Australia’s war on feral cats • Hacker News Board

Re: Australia’s war on feral cats

#41

Post by vacri » Mon, Oct 19, 2015, 8:37 PM UTC

littletimmy wrote: post #29

vacri wrote: post #4

Weird article. The article finishes up complaining that humans are the prime agents of reducing biodiversity and are hence morally obligated to fix it... but apparently not by animal management. Somehow we are morally obligated to fix the damage we have done, but not by reducing the numbers of cats (or foxes, toads, pigs, rabbits, camels...). The proposed alternatives are merely links to sites that don't give clear p…

We should engage in a culling of humans. This despicable species of hairless African chimp has marauded the rest of the earth. Humans are 7 billion. Ideally, we need some 500 million.

Well, going by the article, you're welcome to use any form of population control that won't upset any humans.

Re: Australia’s war on feral cats

#42

Post by itsybitsycoder » Mon, Oct 19, 2015, 10:58 PM UTC

rwmj wrote: post #33

geowwy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> They aren't chipped or tagged and there are no registration fees unlike dog ownership. There is no equivalent of a dog catcher or fines for people who let them wander. In Western Australia it's now illegal to let your cat out the house unless it's chipped, tagged, tattooed and de-sexed. Other states will probably follow soon.

Tattooed? Edit: Finally I scrolled past all the "cat tattoos" on Google, and found out what this is about: http://www.mypetsdoctor.com/tattoos-indicate-spay-neuter

That's probably not the tattoo that's meant. When most cats get neutered/first shots, they get a tattoo in the ear with a unique serial number, which includes a vet to contact. That way if the cat gets lost it can be tracked down. It was the only "permanent" way of doing it before microchips.

http://www.icam-coalition.org/downloads/Identification%20met...

Re: Australia’s war on feral cats

#43

Post by pvaldes » Tue, Oct 20, 2015, 12:57 AM UTC

A lot of the problem with feral cats is not the cats in fact, is the environment. We need to start removing places from cats, not keep removing cats from places.

Re: Australia’s war on feral cats

#44

Post by pvaldes » Tue, Oct 20, 2015, 2:10 AM UTC

jacobush wrote: post #30

vacri wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The arguments in that article don't seem to ring true. It's claiming that simple trap-and-remove just has other cats move into the area and that if you don't catch all of them, the breeding pairs bring population back to the same level. But with TNR, the population is never reduced, since you put them back; you have the same problem with breeders if you don't catch them all; and when the neutered cats start dying out…

Neutered cats compete for resources that otherwise breeding ones would access.

mmmh... yes and no. Neutered male cats are bottom feeders in the cat societies. They will be attacked and easily displaced from the best areas by the other cats.

Maybe is diferent for neutered females. Females stay in the same territory with her mothers often, they only move when are in heat and there is not any appropiate male at sight.

Re: Australia’s war on feral cats

#45

Post by pvaldes » Tue, Oct 20, 2015, 3:28 AM UTC

buserror wrote: post #31

Having grown up with a cat lady (17 cats at some point) I can tell you that anyone who claims 'look in the mirror' and try to apply human ethics to their pets is completely irrational. Most of the time these people will actually make up complete nonsense story to justify the pet behaviour, including completely stupid stuff like "it's Tuesday, he always like to be on the dinning table on tuesday" and endless other non…

Agree with the first part, but not with the last paragraphs. Neither Cats nor toxoplasma are known to change the behaviour of adult humans. Every human brain in the world is strongly wired to react in the same way to an animal with short face, round head, big eyes and high pitched voice. Round face (still developping bones), means "cub" and "do not harm. Protect". Most humans react in the same way to seals or cub dogs for example, and simians and all mammals do the same also. Is just that cats are like babies in many aspects; they like to drink milk, cry like human babies, have warm bodies... having similar weight and size thanhuman babies, can be carried around also, and they remember you, can communicate with you and want to stay next your body to warm himselves, so is easy to create a bound.

Toxoplasma can damage permanently the brain in human foetus, but normally is not a major concern in healty adults unless you have a defective inmune system. Lots of people with antibodies do not even remember to be ill or know when caught it. Inmunization is for life normally.