Dear Neighbor,
This is an open letter to everyone in the neighborhood. Specifically, cat owners.
If you don't own a cat, you are free to recycle this.
And if you have kids who are selling chocolate for fund raising, please send them our way.
Cat Owners:
If you own an indoor cat, then bless you.
If you let your cat roam freely outside, please consider this not a warning, but a declaration.
When you own a pet, there comes a set of responsibilities.
This includes feeding it, loving it, giving it veterinary care and keeping it out of danger. You are promising to keep this animal happy and healthy.
IF YOU LET YOUR CAT ROAM FREE, you are blatantly ignoring your DUTY as a pet owner.
Cats are non-native, predatory animals who kill our native wildlife such as birds, mice, lizards, amphibians, etc. Studies have shown that bird populations and diversity drop dramatically in areas where cats are allowed to roam free. And it's not THEIR FAULT.
If you are about to start explaining to me that "cats are just acting on their instincts", or "My cat won't stay indoors!" or "My cat is happy when he's outside!", please think on this:
Imagine your cat. Better yet, go find your cat and look into his or her eyes.
Now, imagine your cat, just having been hit by a car. Your cat is laying in a ditch, maybe already dead.
Or maybe the blow wasn't quite enough to kill him. Your cat is mangled and in excruciating pain, dragging himself into the weeds. Your cat will spend the next few hours, or maybe a day or two, either bleeding to death or slowly succumbing to starvation, because he is paralyzed and can't get back to the house. Your cat has died a horrible death.
Or maybe a stray dog has gotten hold of your cat. The dog is savagely shaking the life out of your cat. Your cat has died a horrible death.
Or maybe your cat has been caught by a great horned owl, or red-tailed hawk. He has been lifted off the ground and taken to a tree where he is being squeezed by hundreds of pounds of pressure so that he will stop struggling so the bird can eat him. Your cat has died a horrible death.
Or maybe your cat has been captured by sick teenagers who set him on fire. Just for fun.
He is left to lay wherever they throw him. Your cat has died a horrible death.
Sick to your stomach yet? You should be.
Ready to wipe these scenarios from your mind? There is one, and only one thing you need to do.
KEEP YOUR CAT IN YOUR HOUSE.
That's it.
And here comes the declaration:
If I find your cat roaming the neighborhood, I will be taking him off the streets to our local shelter where he will have the safety you neglected to provide.
If you didn't have him micro-chipped, then you will probably never see him again.
I will be giving him the chance you never did. Because I care more about him than you do.
If you want to come down and yell at me, feel free.
I'm the Freak Down the Street with all the birds in her yard, and her cats in the HOUSE.
Showing posts with label ranting like a maniac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ranting like a maniac. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
It's all about BALANCE, people!
Lorelei and I stopped at our favorite pet store today (Jack's Aquarium and Pets) for dove and rat food (Why doesn't Kroger carry rat lab blocks? I mean, honestly.)
As we made our way back to the car, I almost stepped into a big pot of trouble...
Let's play "Spot the Goose":
As we made our way back to the car, I almost stepped into a big pot of trouble...
Let's play "Spot the Goose":
See her?
The goofy thing was sitting on a nest on one of the parking lot "islands".
I led Lorelei up onto the island, because she has the unnerving habit of dashing in front of oncoming cars in parking lots.
And if I had taken one more step, we would have had a pissed off Mother Goose under foot.
So I grabbed Lorelei out of harm's way and put her in the car, and of course grabbed my camera and went back over to take a few photos.
I led Lorelei up onto the island, because she has the unnerving habit of dashing in front of oncoming cars in parking lots.
And if I had taken one more step, we would have had a pissed off Mother Goose under foot.
So I grabbed Lorelei out of harm's way and put her in the car, and of course grabbed my camera and went back over to take a few photos.
On the way out of the parking lot, I saw another poorly chosen nest site.
Considering the population of Canada geese, it's probably extremely hard for them to find more "normal" nest sites, like beaver dams or elevated areas near water. How many lakes can you think of that don't allow fishing? People and nesting geese do not mix. We created a Mecca for this species (and for white-tailed deer, etc) and when they move in, we get pissed.
Along the same vein, we have introduced house sparrows and starlings to a continent that cannot remain balanced with their existence. For a good debate on HOSP, check out Julie's post about active HOSP management.
Something I like to incorporate into my educational programs is our role in animals' lives and well-being.
Take DDT, for example. We created it, sprayed it everywhere, and it took a few decades for us to realize that birds of prey, water birds and so on were dying off rapidly.
The reason: In a nutshell, DDT biomagnifies. It builds up in the food chain until it reaches the top of it (example: raptors and humans!) and in the case of birds, breakdown products are toxic to embryos and can disrupt calcium absorption, making the egg shells very soft. The female would lay the eggs, and when she went to incubate, her weight would crush the eggs.
(Did you know that the man who created DDT got a Noble Prize for it????)
Another bit of info I like to talk about is our lawns. I try very, very hard NOT to be preachy. Nobody wants to hear a sermon on how awful we are at managing nature.
People ask me what they can do to attract raptors to their yards.
My answer: Absolutely nothing. If the food is there, the birds will be there.
Instead, I show people things that they can do. Or more correctly, that what they don't do makes a huge difference.
Here at Williams Manor, we call it "judicious laziness".
What anal-retentive twit dictated that our yards had to be LAWNS?
What is a lawn? A grass farm.
And Nature not only abhors a vacuum, but also abhors a monoculture.
Why do you have to trim every corner down to the ground? Why not leave a few patches of tall grass? Or when you trim back the ever-so-invasive honeysuckle, why not start a brush pile?
Creating a brush pile is an inexpensive and easy way to provide critical shelter and cover for ground-nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians, chipmunks, rabbits, and other small mammals.
Why are people spraying their yards with pesticides? In a yard with native plants and a natural balance of beneficial insects, you don't need pesticides. If you have a healthy supply of insects, you will also have a healthy supply of insect-eating birds.
And why, in the sweet name of God, do people fertilize their grass? So that it grows thicker and faster, so you have to mow it more frequently, using more gasoline to chew through the thick carpet of unnatural green? Not to mention adding to the stinky fumes that hang around in the air and choke the trees.
Deep Breath....ahhh.
I feel better.
But seriously. This way of thinking and "managing" our yard has been so rewarding.
Aside from the 45 bird species we have seen in our yard, (5 of which were birds of prey), we have also seen:
Raccoons
Possums
Chipmunks
Squirrels
Field mice
Deer mice
Meadow voles
White-tailed deer
Little brown bats
Eastern cottontail rabbits
Midland brown snakes
Black rat snakes
Countless dragonfly species
And I don't know how many insects.
All this was seen on 0.75 acres.
I'm pretty well spent now.
But I am adding a nice cleansing picture:
Considering the population of Canada geese, it's probably extremely hard for them to find more "normal" nest sites, like beaver dams or elevated areas near water. How many lakes can you think of that don't allow fishing? People and nesting geese do not mix. We created a Mecca for this species (and for white-tailed deer, etc) and when they move in, we get pissed.
Along the same vein, we have introduced house sparrows and starlings to a continent that cannot remain balanced with their existence. For a good debate on HOSP, check out Julie's post about active HOSP management.
Something I like to incorporate into my educational programs is our role in animals' lives and well-being.
Take DDT, for example. We created it, sprayed it everywhere, and it took a few decades for us to realize that birds of prey, water birds and so on were dying off rapidly.
The reason: In a nutshell, DDT biomagnifies. It builds up in the food chain until it reaches the top of it (example: raptors and humans!) and in the case of birds, breakdown products are toxic to embryos and can disrupt calcium absorption, making the egg shells very soft. The female would lay the eggs, and when she went to incubate, her weight would crush the eggs.
(Did you know that the man who created DDT got a Noble Prize for it????)
Another bit of info I like to talk about is our lawns. I try very, very hard NOT to be preachy. Nobody wants to hear a sermon on how awful we are at managing nature.
People ask me what they can do to attract raptors to their yards.
My answer: Absolutely nothing. If the food is there, the birds will be there.
Instead, I show people things that they can do. Or more correctly, that what they don't do makes a huge difference.
Here at Williams Manor, we call it "judicious laziness".
What anal-retentive twit dictated that our yards had to be LAWNS?
What is a lawn? A grass farm.
And Nature not only abhors a vacuum, but also abhors a monoculture.
Why do you have to trim every corner down to the ground? Why not leave a few patches of tall grass? Or when you trim back the ever-so-invasive honeysuckle, why not start a brush pile?
Creating a brush pile is an inexpensive and easy way to provide critical shelter and cover for ground-nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians, chipmunks, rabbits, and other small mammals.
Why are people spraying their yards with pesticides? In a yard with native plants and a natural balance of beneficial insects, you don't need pesticides. If you have a healthy supply of insects, you will also have a healthy supply of insect-eating birds.
And why, in the sweet name of God, do people fertilize their grass? So that it grows thicker and faster, so you have to mow it more frequently, using more gasoline to chew through the thick carpet of unnatural green? Not to mention adding to the stinky fumes that hang around in the air and choke the trees.
Deep Breath....ahhh.
I feel better.
But seriously. This way of thinking and "managing" our yard has been so rewarding.
Aside from the 45 bird species we have seen in our yard, (5 of which were birds of prey), we have also seen:
Raccoons
Possums
Chipmunks
Squirrels
Field mice
Deer mice
Meadow voles
White-tailed deer
Little brown bats
Eastern cottontail rabbits
Midland brown snakes
Black rat snakes
Countless dragonfly species
And I don't know how many insects.
All this was seen on 0.75 acres.
I'm pretty well spent now.
But I am adding a nice cleansing picture:
"I feel YELLOW,
Oh, so YELLOW..."
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