Noah,
When you say..."I'd say the person who foisted that bit of :bull:", well, at first I assumed that you lumped me into that catagory.If you did,please remove me because you're far off base if you do. There is an element of truth to what you say about left leaning tendencies of some if not most universities and colleges.But that's OK since the main objective of these institutions is to make young people think,and if they think usually they'll come around to a common sence viewpoint. The recent "Ivory Bill Woodpecker In Arkansas" is a good example of what you are saying,and a very big and important ( :shake: ) Eastern University involved in this :bull: :bull: privately wishes this would just go away.
But ...to the point we are supposed to be addressing unless I am wrong... Feral cats and dogs do cause damage and from a wildlife managers viewpoint I'm not saying that they don't.But...and it's a BIG but..any damage feral/domestic animals cause HEALTHY individuals is so small that it's not worth worrying about.No feral cat or dog is anywhere near as capable of preying on wildlife species as the native predators are,and under normal conditions with healthy predator/prey species of wildlife even native predators are not a threat to prey species.Rough as hell on "individuals" within the population,but not to the population as a whole :winking: .It's usually when man..you,me,Homo boobiensis..gets involved that things get out of hand.One of the classics studies in wildlife management on this subject is the Kiabab Plateau episode in Arizona between deer and panthers,but that's a different subject.Back to the point....
We're not discussing (or shouldn't be under the subject thread) damage feral dogs do to DOMESTIC livestock.Good Lord! Everyone knows dogs will group up and kill chickens,calves and even cows. Either kill the dogs or get a couple of burros to protect the herd! Feral AND domestic cats Will catch and kill songbirds...ESPECIALLY where bird feeders concentrate the prey!(Homo boobiensis,again).Don't put up feeders especially where cats have cover from which to attack!
Introduction of non-native species of wildlife (including house cats and dogs) to areas where these animals have never a part of the overall scheme of things IS an invitation for disaster.There are too many examples of this being done in Australia,New Zealand,Pacific Islands (including the one off the coast of California) and other areas to say
[url] otherwise.Again[/url],Homo boobiensis at work!
Pen raise game birds...quail,pheasant,whatever...and turn them out on a tract of land and see what happens.Want to concentrate native predators AND feral cats? Just try doing this! Almost any species of pen raised wildlife--including trapped and moved wild wildlife--is an invitation for dinner at the Cracker Barrel for everything that makes its living in the woods eating other critters.Down here in the Deep South we pen raise and release quail.Out in the Mid-West it's pheasants. These birds last about as long as I would in Iraq with a sign around my neck saying "Islam is Stupid".Feral house cats surely get their share.But so do mink,weasels,fox,coyote,etc etc.
Wild animals suffer accidents!! Betcha never heard that one before :winking:.But they do.Broken or just strained joints and legs and here comes a predator!A stick in the eye...catarachs (even in young animals,especially coons). A pregnant doe eating 8% protein when she needs 16%.Fawns born deformed,still born,retarded.Everything that happens with us (Homo boobiensis :winking: ) happens to wildlife,and there ain't no walk-in clinic in the woods,much less a Mayo Clinic! Predators including feral/domestic dogs and cats eat these animals,excrete the hair in feces and get the blame for killing
[url] them.Include[/url] coyotes in this!
One other comment then I'm off my "soapbox".My wildlife Prof was an old Island-Hopping Jarhead with a battlefield promotion to first lieutenant,about three purple hearts a couple of bronze and silver stars,and more common sense than most people I've ever known.He used to tell us that if we had a question about wildlife management and didn't know the answer,just go down to the local barber shop on Saturday morning and ask.Everyone there would be an expert :hatsoff:
