7 replies to this topic

[Connectimyrmex]

NOTE: This is a short post about my opinion on irresponsible pet owners.

 

Many people, including some of my neighbors, love to let their pets roam around outdoors. I occasionally see a housecat stalking a dove in the woods and a boxer (dog) digging around in my backyard underbrush. While it is fine to let your pets roam outside, you should always keep an eye on them. One runaway pet can lead to a region-wide problem.

 

As most of you know, I used to live in Hawaii. The Hawaiian islands used to have the most diverse insect and bird populations, but not today. One of the most popular tourist islands, Oahu (my former home), now only has two common endemic bird species and a small number of thriving endemic insect populations. Even though much of this harm was caused by humans, some of the more recent damage has been inflicted by a popular pet: the cat.

 

The housecat, or Felis catus, is a beloved animal, and was one of the earlier animals to be domesticated. Unlike the chickens, pigs, and cows that we know so well, we did not domesticate the cat for its docility or productivity. We domesticated it because of its strong hunting instinct. In Egypt, the cat's ancestors, Felis sylvestris, was encouraged to hunt in storage areas to keep the populations of mice down. Eventually, those Egyptians were attracted to the cat's natural regality and grace, and so the first housecat was born.

 

Unfortunately, the cat still has a strong tendency to hunt. This is why I like to refer to cats as "semi-domesticated" (along with budgerigars, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, etc), due to their ability to thrive without humans in the right conditions. Imagine the foreign immigrants arriving in Hawaii, with their boats full of rats and the occasional cat or dog. Those cats, who wanted to satisfy their instinct to hunt, could occasionally kill rats. Then imagine how they felt when they arrived in Hawaii, with the colorful and easy to spot birds not used to non-human/bird predators. Those cats would leave their owners' homes and bring back birds to their owners. Eventually, those foraging cats would meet other cats and have kittens. Those kittens had more kittens, and soon a large feral cat population began to blossom. Cats would run away from their families to join the small cat "colonies", which began to grow at beaches and trails. Ground-nesting seabird chicks would fall victim to the cats and occasional dogs, and the honeycreepers would be slaughtered by the feral cat population. The plants, which no longer had the honeycreepers and treecreepers to aid in pollination, began to disappear. Then the insects, who lost their

host plants and forests, eventually died out.

 

If you ever visit Oahu, you would probably notice a cat or two roaming about at night. This is nothing. If you have the time, go to Kaneohe and visit the beach parks. I don't remember the specific ones, but some parking lots were COATED with cats. I remember that one of the parking lots had hundreds of kittens amongst the cats, with one of the adults (not carrying) eating a bloody and dying kitten. The worst part is that people FEED these cats. Some people who lived in nearby neighborhoods or condos would come with massive pet food bags. They would dump the entire bag on the ground, with cats fighting to get to the food. I always was disgusted by this. Instead of feeding the cats, they could be calling an animal rescue center to take the cats to a good human family (I always wanted to call a rescue center, but my parents said not to. Maybe I'm still too young?).  Those feral cats could even have lived happy lives with happy owners if their grandparents' owners supervised their cats.

 

I know that this entire post was about cats, but this happens with many kinds of pets in many kinds of places. I just wanted to give an example that I had experience with. Please supervise your pets, and even neuter them if you have to. Don't ruin your local ecosystem.

Thank you.

Please don't hate on me.

Edited by Connectimyrmex, January 1 2018 - 5:32 PM.

[Ants_Texas]

Honestly who would disagree with this. We can't let these people breed.

[Chicken_eater100]

"Every kind of pet in every place." Yeah, not gonna agree with you on that one. Take ANY kind of scorpion. Throw it to the flat piece of dirt we call Kansas, and it's dead. Throw some bumba cabocla out and guess what? They'll be dead in no time. Not hating, but you could've just said, dogs or cats or any species that can survive and breed in you area.

[gcsnelling]

"Every kind of pet in every place." Yeah, not gonna agree with you on that one. Take ANY kind of scorpion. Throw it to the flat piece of dirt we call Kansas, and it's dead. Throw some bumba cabocla out and guess what? They'll be dead in no time. Not hating, but you could've just said, dogs or cats or any species that can survive and breed in you area.

 Heck, in Arkansas if you turn them lose they will kill themselves in despair and shame.

Edited by gcsnelling, January 1 2018 - 4:47 PM.

[StopSpazzing]

In Los Angeles, California, you are required to leash any animal you walk. I think this is a great idea, seeing all the tigers, leopards, and cheetahs in Hollywood without a leash just wandering around would be a bad idea. 

 

On a side note, domesticated household cats are the WORST animal to let outside without supervision. The kill far more native species than Argentine ants. These cute, ruthless hunters are harzardous anywhere they are allowed to roam free. Make sure you get your pets spade/neutered or keep them inside or both.

Edited by StopSpazzing, January 1 2018 - 4:11 PM.

[T.C.]

In Los Angeles, California, you are required to leash any animal you walk. I think this is a great idea, seeing all the tigers, leopards, and cheetahs in Hollywood without a leash just wandering around would be a bad idea. 
 
On a side note, domesticated household cats are the WORST animal to let outside without supervision. The kill far more native species than Argentine ants. These cute, ruthless hunters are harzardous anywhere they are allowed to roam free. Make sure you get your pets spade/neutered or keep them inside or both.

I wouldn't know, I'm a cat hater. Do they really do that much damage? We used to trap the ones around here so they wouldn't eat song birds or baby ducks.

[Connectimyrmex]

 

In Los Angeles, California, you are required to leash any animal you walk. I think this is a great idea, seeing all the tigers, leopards, and cheetahs in Hollywood without a leash just wandering around would be a bad idea. 
 
On a side note, domesticated household cats are the WORST animal to let outside without supervision. The kill far more native species than Argentine ants. These cute, ruthless hunters are harzardous anywhere they are allowed to roam free. Make sure you get your pets spade/neutered or keep them inside or both.

I wouldn't know, I'm a cat hater. Do they really do that much damage? We used to trap the ones around here so they wouldn't eat song birds or baby ducks.

 

They'll do plenty of damage over time when their population grows. They don't just kill one baby duck or bird, the groups of cats kill thousands.

 

"Every kind of pet in every place." Yeah, not gonna agree with you on that one. Take ANY kind of scorpion. Throw it to the flat piece of dirt we call Kansas, and it's dead. Throw some bumba cabocla out and guess what? They'll be dead in no time. Not hating, but you could've just said, dogs or cats or any species that can survive and breed in you area.

True, I'm editing the post a bit. In truth, scorpions and tarantulas could survive in certain areas, which goes against what I previously stated

Edited by Connectimyrmex, January 1 2018 - 5:53 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

In truth, some animals could even survive in something like a greenhouse/arboretum and still be considered invasive (like the black crazy ant or argentine ant in cold areas).