Yes. If there is something that me, Catamount, and Brasky can agree on, you know it is veritable fact.
Suspicious that we've got even RTQ's ruling on grackles but not even a peep from the bird docs. Is there a grackle conspiracy? Does birdman shill for BIG GRACKLE?
Will bird people and cat people ever come to a truce, cause all I see is a ton of hate and intolerance (with most of it coming from the bird people).
Cats kill an estimated 3 billion birds per year in North America (!!!), whereas birds (mostly great horned owls) kill maybe a couple hundred cats. Feral and outdoor domestic cats are an ecological disaster on the order of pythons in the everglades and are responsible for dozens of species extinctions around the world, including in Hawaii where you were posting about earlier.
I love cats, just keep them indoors...how is that for tolerance?
Unfair to cats. But they need to be fixed.
What is unfair to cats?
Forcing them to remain indoors. What poses a greater threat to all other species- loss of habitation and environmental degradation due to human overpopulation or cats? Maybe we need to start talking about the impact humans are having.
Forcing them to remain indoors. What poses a greater threat to all other species- loss of habitation and environmental degradation due to human overpopulation or cats? Maybe we need to start talking about the impact humans are having.
We continue to domesticate cats and as stewards of nature, it is our duty to do it in a responsible fashion. The outdoor cat ship sailed about 10,000 years ago. You can't have it both ways and by letting your cat outside you are doing it and the birds upon which it preys a disservice.Bird people = intolerant cat haters. Never fails.
I actually quite like Grackles. Boat-tailed Grackles at least. The males have really beautiful iridescence and the can be quite fun to watch. I used to do field work in Cape Lookout National Seashore on North Core Banks and at the end of the day I would sit on the back porch of my cabin drinking a beer as the sun set behind Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge across Core sound. Most nights silhouetted against the twilight sky, male boat-tailed grackles would sit atop the highest perch in their little display terrirories and make their obnoxious calls/songs. They would stand as tall as they could, fan their tails, point their beaks at the sky and flap their wigs to make a fluttering sound; all in an effort to measure each other up and show off for the drab brown females. It is a lovely memory and actually sometimes in moments of stress I close my eyes and return those evenings; I don't have any pictures but the scene is etched in my brain. Give Grackles a chance, they can be quite awesome.
Seems like you should get a cat.
Bird people = intolerant cat haters. Never fails.