Posted on 05/26/2011 8:41:43 AM PDT by decimon
CHAMPAIGN, lll. — Researchers (and some cat-owners) wanted to know: What do feral and free-roaming house cats do when they’re out of sight? A two-year study offers a first look at the daily lives of these feline paupers and princes, whose territories overlap on the urban, suburban, rural and agricultural edges of many towns.
The study used radio telemetry and a sophisticated activity-tracking device to capture the haunts and habits of dozens of owned and un-owned cats living at the southern edge of Champaign and Urbana, neighboring cities in Central Illinois. Together, the 42 adult cats originally radio-tracked for the study ranged over a territory of 2,544 hectares (6,286 acres).
Of the radio transmitters used in the study, 23 had tilt and vibration sensors that tracked the animals’ every move.
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Cats also get diseases from wildlife or other cats, Mateus-Pinilla said, and can bring them home and infect their owners and other pets.
“For example, Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite spread primarily by cats, may cause neurological, reproductive and even respiratory problems in humans, cats and wildlife, depending on the species affected,” she said. Rabies, cat scratch fever, feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus are also of concern to pet owners whose cats encounter other cats outdoors, she said. Vaccination of pet cats will reduce but not eliminate the threat of disease transmission, she said.
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.illinois.edu ...
Yes, it is....
I suspect. The “animal-rights” nut jobs are trying to eliminate all pets. There are enough cat haters to give them ammo.
Step 2 is register the cats as Democrats. Step 3 is to fill out absentee ballots in their name.
Yes, his name is dusty and there’s a video of him on youtube.com.
I’ve found that if you dig far enough, it always ends up being funded by the bird-brained bird watching organizations.... they forget how the birds are killing birds and spreading over 60 diseases to your back yard. Yet, they focus on a cat. Bird-brained.
“LOL...Love that cat. The ferals at my house go up on the roof I found out. Came home late one day to see two of the pure white ones watching me pull in from the rooftop...”
In almost two years I’ve been in my current house, the only cats I’ve ever seen on my roof were pets. One of them was mine, and we had a heck of a time getting her to come back home (we’d only had her a couple months at that point).
Of course that doesn’t mean the neighborhood strays never get up there; maybe they’re just better at keeping out of sight.
I remember hearing something about a feral cat exermination program that was aimed at increasing bird population somewhere that had the opposite result; turns out rats were stealing the birds’ egss and the cats had been keeping the rat population in check...
Don’t remember the source, and at the moment I’m too lazy to look it up. :)
bttt
Yes, but if I tried that, their names might give them away. How many people are named Miss Hissy Slashy? And the required signature? A paw print? Not gonna cut it.
You’re right though. Only a dimwit’rat could get away with such fraud.
It’s the unintended consequences that foil the schemes of the left every time.
Bring back the feral cats!
“How many people are named Miss Hissy Slashy?”
Great name! I read somewhere recently that Frank Zappa had a cat named Fighty Bitey.
;-D
LOL. Our two cats are prime examples of low activity. We will be in trouble with the vet again this year. The are both over 14 lbs.
No. She acted that way before the bite. ;o)
Seriously, the cat was one of our fosters and has had its shots. She was at the vet getting her last shots when she got scared and bit my wife.
My Dad’s cats are robbers. They go out on the road in front of his house and hold up people. You’re driving along and you see a couple of cute little kitties wearing bandanas over their faces and you slow down and say “Isn’t that cute” and then a 9mm bullet goes through the windshield. Stupid cats have gotten $90 from me.
I raised a feral cat. He became my best friend, but continued to hate everyone else. Getting him to that point included a lot of bites and scratches. I am a proponent of treating same with lots of hot water and soap, followed by hydrogen peroxide and some antibacterial cream.
Naturally, the only time I've had infected wounds, said wounds have been from my rose bushes.
I'd like to have a garden cat, but too many predators outside and I'm too attached to my cats, so they remain indoor kitties. The current “only” has never set one of her pristine white paws outside.
Why is it that such actions, properly vetted with the local DNR/DEC are so distasteful to some? How do you think Game Wardens/Biologists control such situations?
Advice to pet owners, be responsible-I would love to see fines for owners when the pets they allow to roam are recorded eradicating wildlife the owner would be fined/imprisoned for if they did the same acts.... When I hunt, I am required to have a license and follow criminally enforces rules....
Another problems is that these “pets” often don’t have required collars /identification either....
Best;
The poor animals can’t help it. They are innocent.
Trap them and take to to a ‘no kill’ shelter.
I asked the DNR/Biologists to handle it, they have no interest, but do issue permits for control actions.
You can come over and set traps if you wish.... My conibears wouldn’t work, huh?
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