Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer

[Freedom]

https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Wars-Deva.../dp/0691167419



In 1894, a lighthouse keeper named David Lyall arrived on Stephens Island off New Zealand with a cat named Tibbles. In just over a year, the Stephens Island Wren, a rare bird endemic to the island, was rendered extinct. Mounting scientific evidence confirms what many conservationists have suspected for some time―that in the United States alone, free-ranging cats are killing birds and other animals by the billions. Equally alarming are the little-known but potentially devastating public health consequences of rabies and parasitic Toxoplasma passing from cats to humans at rising rates. Cat Wars tells the story of the threats free-ranging cats pose to biodiversity and public health throughout the world, and sheds new light on the controversies surrounding the management of the explosion of these cat populations.

This compelling book traces the historical and cultural ties between humans and cats from early domestication to the current boom in pet ownership, along the way accessibly explaining the science of extinction, population modeling, and feline diseases. It charts the developments that have led to our present impasse―from Stan Temple's breakthrough studies on cat predation in Wisconsin to cat-eradication programs underway in Australia today. It describes how a small but vocal minority of cat advocates has campaigned successfully for no action in much the same way that special interest groups have stymied attempts to curtail smoking and climate change.

Cat Wars paints a revealing picture of a complex global problem―and proposes solutions that foresee a time when wildlife and humans are no longer vulnerable to the impacts of free-ranging cats.

[walrus]

I don’t think my boy freedom likes catz.

[Gandalf]

Being an obvious advocate of eugenics the first thing I did to my cat was rip out her womb. Thus no issues with overpopulation and secondly the cat never leaves the home. She seems happy enough and is far less of a threat to the world than the human species.

[walrus]

Besides being great companions, cats may have actually saved civilization from starvation and disease.
Imagine living in a time and place where every home was teeming with tiny, dangerous beasts. Some new threat lurked at every corner: asps hiding in clay jars, rats spoiling massive amounts of stored grain, venomous scorpions creeping under cradles. In this time and place-- Ancient Egypt-- one creature existed that could make the world safe from these little monsters: the cat.

The same graceful creatures that now sleep on our pillows were life-saving companions to the people of ancient Egypt. It's no wonder that generations of Egyptians were drawn to worship them.

One of the earliest deities of ancient Egypt was the goddess Mafdet, who was highly revered by people seeking protection against venomous animals like snakes and scorpions. She was shown with a variety of fierce, feline forms, most often as a woman with the head of a lion, cheetah, or house-cat (though sometimes she was shown as a cat with a woman's head). Because cats could protect against the tiny monsters that made Egyptian homes unsafe, Mafdet was regarded as the protector of the home-- and of the kingdom itself!

Later in Egyptian history, the goddess Bastet (sometimes just "Bast") replaced Mafdet as the feline goddess of choice. Like Mafdet, she was regarded as a fierce protector of the home (and especially of children and royalty), largely because of cats' renowned ability to kill snakes, scorpions, and other vermin. Her followers called her the "Eye of Ra," the sun god, and believed that she fiercely watched the world and guarded Egypt against invasion.



Catz saved us n shitz

[Master]

Cats do kill birds so owners are encouraged to make sure they have a bell collar to warn their prey. The cats do not need the food anything they catch is played with and tortured.

[walrus]

About 10 years ago, two scientists decided to estimate the total number of birds on the planet. The number they came up with was 200 to 400 billion individual birds. Compared to 5 billion people, this amounts to about 40 to 60 birds per person. Your second question, unfortunately, is much easier to answer.


We have more than enough birds, we can spare a few ten or hundred million