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What cats do when we’re not looking

theguardian.com

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Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#51

Post by jriot »

peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

My cat loves being outside, practically lives outside. He kills birds occasionally, but predominately hunts rabbits and squirrels. He also eats them on my porch. I have an indoor cat as well (she had he claws removed before we adopted her), and their muscular structures are entirely different, the outdoor cat feels strong, lean, and with the natural look of a cat. Cats aren't meant to be indoor animals - no animal, humans included, are indoor animals.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#52

Post by tzs »

peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

How about keeping the cat indoors in the daytime and letting it out at night? Cats are naturally nocturnal so the cat should be happy with that.

As far as I've been able to tell where I am, everything out at night that a cat would be able to reasonably encounter is either too big for the cat to kill or something that I would like the cat to kill (rats and mice).

Well, I'm not sure about the weird floating blob thing that my cameras caught one night. It was a white featureless blob just floating in front of the camera jiggling around. I would have dismissed it as some optical effect, maybe some light somewhere shining right at the camera...except it was casting a shadow. It seemed small enough for a cat to take, but I have no idea what defenses it had. Here's the footage of the blob [1].

Also not sure what this thing is or how it would do versus a cat [2].

[1] https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/DUGe2BbORXOIQyQgmD65wA....

[2] https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/x0vVRDOYSJK9oaGArGUVfA....

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#53

Post by ZekeSulastin »

jriot wrote: post #51
peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

My cat loves being outside, practically lives outside. He kills birds occasionally, but predominately hunts rabbits and squirrels. He also eats them on my porch. I have an indoor cat as well (she had he claws removed before we adopted her), and their muscular structures are entirely different, the outdoor cat feels strong, lean, and with the natural look of a cat. Cats aren't meant to be indoor animals - no animal, h…

I’m sure the indoor cat having their toes chopped off (which is a procedure derided by pretty much everyone these days) has nothing to do with it.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#54

Post by mythrwy »

peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

A reflective collar with a bell stopped my cat from killing birds.

She still "hunts" birds but hasn't been able to catch one since I put the collar on. I suppose eventually she will get one, but it helps immensely.

The only issue is about once every two months she loses the collar (it has break away elastic) and it has to be replaced.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#55

Post by jriot »

ZekeSulastin wrote: post #53
jriot wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My cat loves being outside, practically lives outside. He kills birds occasionally, but predominately hunts rabbits and squirrels. He also eats them on my porch. I have an indoor cat as well (she had he claws removed before we adopted her), and their muscular structures are entirely different, the outdoor cat feels strong, lean, and with the natural look of a cat. Cats aren't meant to be indoor animals - no animal, h…

I’m sure the indoor cat having their toes chopped off (which is a procedure derided by pretty much everyone these days) has nothing to do with it.

She was rescue cat, I would never declaw a cat and my wife felt we were the only ones who could take care of her. We don't let her outside as she has no way of defending herself and we live the deep south with plenty of animals that could kill her.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#56

Post by armoredkitten »

eric4smith wrote: post #4

No need for GPS or cameras. Cats are stone cold hunter killers. Almost brainless too. They kill anything that moves and is edible. We all know cats that sometimes just kill for the sake of killing (practice??) and don’t even eat the prey. It’s like the cats brain is just made for hunting and killing and very little else. Just watch how stupid cats are in cat videos — except when they are hunting. I have a cat at one…

>Just watch how stupid cats are in cat videos — except when they are hunting.

Uhh, I dunno man, I saw a video of a cat playing the keyboard once, seemed pretty smart to me

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#57

Post by simion314 »

BrianOnHN wrote: post #49
simion314 wrote: post #32

I can't understand how such intelligent animals get killed by cars. I had young cats killed by cars but also one that was old with years of outside experience.

Humans? I mean, pedestrians get killed by cars all the time. So I wouldn't expect cats to be immune to them.

Could be, but in my village nobody was hit by a car, and many of my family cats were hit by cars. So the chances for cats to get hit are higher, so we could maybe think that is because of the small size ?

The thing is cats have good senses so I am wondering if they have an attention issue where something else distract them or they have a perception issue so they don't realize how closer a car is.

My current cat is afraid of cars, so I hope she stays away from the roads.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#58

Post by Workaccount2 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #42
peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

That's what cats do. That's how bird populations are kept in check. A bird nest has what, 4 or 6 eggs? All those hatchlings are pretty much born to die in the first year. Because next year, the bird population is pretty much the same. Cats can only catch birds when they are plentiful. When the population is back within bounds, cats find birds hard to find. Its a natural feedback cycle, been around for millions of yea…

You're on the right track, but domestic cats are not native species in most places.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#59

Post by lamp987 »

eric4smith wrote: post #4

No need for GPS or cameras. Cats are stone cold hunter killers. Almost brainless too. They kill anything that moves and is edible. We all know cats that sometimes just kill for the sake of killing (practice??) and don’t even eat the prey. It’s like the cats brain is just made for hunting and killing and very little else. Just watch how stupid cats are in cat videos — except when they are hunting. I have a cat at one…

Almost brainless? My cat figured out how to open doors and turn off lights, possibly by observing me. Its quite annoying actually...

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#60

Post by second--shift »

tzs wrote: post #52
peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

How about keeping the cat indoors in the daytime and letting it out at night? Cats are naturally nocturnal so the cat should be happy with that. As far as I've been able to tell where I am, everything out at night that a cat would be able to reasonably encounter is either too big for the cat to kill or something that I would like the cat to kill (rats and mice). Well, I'm not sure about the weird floating blob thing…

[1] appears to be a spider or some kind of bug, suspended by a web or fiber. It's really close to your IR leds, what's why it's blown out in white (overexposed) and casting a shadow into the distance.
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