Posted on 08/20/2011 9:45:48 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Authorities have raised a "cat army" to tackle rodents destroying crops and pastureland around it in western China. They have also been using tons of poisonous repellents to combat the menace.
Pest control officials in Xinjiang province's Bole city said they have caught 150 stray cats to tackle rats. The desperate measure comes in the wake of estimates that the rodents have hit 5.4 million hectares of farm and pastureland in the province.
The feline hunters have proved their worth as the number of rats and rat holes have come down drastically. The provincial government is considering the use of the strategy in other places of the region as well.
Overgrazing and killing of predators like foxes is seen as a major cause behind the menace. Pest control and forest officials have tried their best to make the stray cats, captured from places far from Bole city, comfortable in their new surroundings.
They have built pens for cats near water resources, Chinese media quoted forest worker Li Hua as saying. "In winter, when the minimum temperature drops to minus 30 degrees Celsius, they will stay in local herders' homes (who) will get government subsidies in return," said Li.
hmmmm...
a kitteh army.
(ya gotta love it. I hear the Immigrant Song as I type.) :)
Mmmmmm. Cat stew. Velly good!
Cats are good, but owls are better. Cornell University calculated that just 48 barn owls would eat about 1.3 tons of gophers per year, which also translates to mice and rats.
Want to start a “Cat House”?????
On initial reading, that sounds like a lot. But it actually calculates out to about a pound per bird per week, which makes it much more reasonable.
Breeding program? I rather doubt it:
Vietnam: Chinese Buy All The Cats In Northern Region Of Vietnam (Region Faces Rat Problem)
Beggar thy neighbor...
Is the General of this Cat army - Meow Tse Tong?
There will shortly be several cat ranchers to supplement the local diet.
As a kid we shot and sold cottontail rabbits to people, but after skinning them, had to leave one front foot on. Some customers were afraid we might peddle them a cat.
It is a win win, cats eat rats, people eat cats.
Ohhhhhhhhhh, I love cats!
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Especially with soy sauce - they’re delicious!
Sounds like a much better idea than using poison. I’d rather rely on God’s solutions than Monsanto’s.
Yeah, yeah. I know this is offensive. I have 4 inside cats and 3 barn cats. All strays. Lighten up. This is funny.
I prefer kung pao myself.
How in the world could you kill a little bunny, much less skin them.
Ugghhhhhhh.
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