If not a good life, then at least a clean death.
November 28th 2008 01:11
Im trying to convince myself that thats enough.
Lets update. I went out to check the cage and the ginger kitten was gone. I still had 3 safely trapped but he was just gone and I dont know how he got out. I set a trap for RiverStar, and would you believe, I actually got her. I couldnt believe it. Now, I was going to make them as comfortable as possible - for now - by putting RiverStar in the laundry with her babies so she could feed them, and hunt down missing ginge. But she bloody escaped - damn she's a smart feral. So now she's out there, howling, knowing I took her babies, looking after the one and only she has left. However, danger to her only remaining son didnt stop her running off with black tom last night.
I'll tell you something about that black tom. He's got a home. He's groomed, well fed, and handsome. Sometimes he wears a red collar. If I find his owners, they will be lucky to keep their spleens. Last night was not a good night for me my friends.
This baby here is a dead ringer for one of the ones I had to surrender last night. I did not take photos of the babies themselves. Their faces are burned on my memory, the soft touch of their souls struck deep to my heart. I cried as we put them in the car, gave them my quiet sorrow. They were wild yes, feral bred, yes, but within only a few hours they had responded to me. They ate out of my hand and stopped hissing. They leaned in towards my warmth and purred, were comforted by me. They responded to a warm towel around the bum to let them relieve themselves. They cried quietly while in the car, and when we arrived they didnt hiss, they didnt claw, they begged me, they cuddled me, they took some more food from me, and settled into the overnight drop off cage as if now, all would be well.
Mum rang this morning to tell me she had spoken to the RSPCA. More than likely, 95% sure they will be put to sleep. Their reasons being - They have 159 kittens at this time. The kittens are too young, cannot eat, cannot poop, without help. Too young for antibiotics they need to beat the cat flu. They need to rehome the healthy ones before the unhealthy ones.
Right now, Im gonna tell ya, these excuses are a massive load of bull. I got them eating and pooping, and the four kittens we took in had cat flu and recovered beautifully. These excuses are things you say when you need to justify your actions. So I get it. But it doesnt make me feel any better about it. I know these kittens would have needed time, effort, and its better spent on others....I myself have surrendered them for that reason.
I have never hated humans as much as I do today. Stupid humans who refuse to get their cats desexed. Stupid humans who wont keep their cats indoors. Stupid humans that are forcing me to deal with their problem so they can ignore it.
I spoke with a woman from an adoption agency today, and she informed me - very gently - that being so infected with cat flu the babies would have been put down wherever they went. Oh, my heart is breaking. You poor kids. My gift feels like it is being misused. At work at the stud, I used to be able to catch any horse, no matter how wily. I used to psychically project sweet lies "You arent going on the truck, of course Im not taking you away from your friends. Im not like the others, you can trust me...Come to me..." And they would. And I would take them away from their friends and mercilessly put them on the scary truck. That was easy to do, a trust easy to betray, because I knew they were going home to their owners to have their babies, and the stud was only a 'summer home' while they visited their boyfriends. To these babies I told the same sweet lies...Even I believed them. And now my mind is full of images of them screaming as they are injected. Bodies thrown out like trash. Shit.
And Ive got two to go. RiverStar and remaining TomBoy - Ive named him BourneHeld - (I know jesus K stop naming them!) still have to be caught. RiverStar, like her sister Zenith, is not a particularly good looking cat, but she does have striking eyes. Could I tame her down? If I capture her and Bourneheld, could I cure their flu, get them sweet, so when they are surrendered they have more of a chance?
You know Im gonna give it a go.
Animal Adoption lady also said that she prefers the pound, not only a much shorter drive, but she knows the tender hearts there. If the cats are cute they will fight for them, so local pound it is.
I did a little research today. The feral cat gets a bad rap.
It seems, this is how most people see the feral cat. As evil, ramapaging killing lunatic. People like to write up great stories about them, show pictures of them with their vicious teeth and claws sunk into native wildlife. I can tell you now from watching them, native wildlife is too fast for them to bother with it. They like to steal food or kill slower and dumber domestic animals. They are too smart to waste time on stuff that moves fast and is as wild as they are.
So, if we jump on board with the Enviro Nazis, its the cats fault. Right. The cat IS a killing machine. It was made to be and meant to be. That is its exact purpose in nature. So how is that the cats fault? The cat obeys its instincts, kills to feed, and how then can you cry that...Its not fair?
I'll tell you whats not fair. Humans clawed their way to the top of the food chain. They screamed and fought and killed, wiping out whole species to get there. And once there, THEY TAKE NO RESPONSABILITY. You cannot blame a cat for feeding itself when its hungry no matter how sentient it may be. You can blame the human who didnt feed it, the human who didnt restrain its instincts, the human who didnt desex it, the human who turned a blind eye, the human who said its not my problem.
Some humans, right now, are displaying less sentience than the animals. We cull the feral animals when they get out of hand.
Dont Tempt me.
On a short sidenote, Mynah birds came up in my feral searches. Man, do they get a bad rap. The facts, apparently, are that Mynahs cannot live with native wildlife - at all - that they actively destroy with droppings and nests, kill baby birds, implant their own eggs, attack kookaburra and - shock! - even people.
These lies have the outlandish taste of an anti drug campaign. You know the one - 'One pill will kill you' (no it doesnt) - because we have a flock of Mynahs here, that grows every year as they are eager breeders. They live in perfect harmony with the kookaburras, magpies, currawongs and choughs. They dont nest near the house at all, even though I have live bait in here. The horses adore them, and stand still for long grooming/bug eating sessions.
They do attack people. But not out here, only in the city. They love to scare people. Easy answer - Whos afraid of a little birdie wirdy?
Heres some happy, to remind me that yes, I do good work, Im not a muderer.
Lets update. I went out to check the cage and the ginger kitten was gone. I still had 3 safely trapped but he was just gone and I dont know how he got out. I set a trap for RiverStar, and would you believe, I actually got her. I couldnt believe it. Now, I was going to make them as comfortable as possible - for now - by putting RiverStar in the laundry with her babies so she could feed them, and hunt down missing ginge. But she bloody escaped - damn she's a smart feral. So now she's out there, howling, knowing I took her babies, looking after the one and only she has left. However, danger to her only remaining son didnt stop her running off with black tom last night.
I'll tell you something about that black tom. He's got a home. He's groomed, well fed, and handsome. Sometimes he wears a red collar. If I find his owners, they will be lucky to keep their spleens. Last night was not a good night for me my friends.
Public domain image from google galleries - feral kitten
Mum rang this morning to tell me she had spoken to the RSPCA. More than likely, 95% sure they will be put to sleep. Their reasons being - They have 159 kittens at this time. The kittens are too young, cannot eat, cannot poop, without help. Too young for antibiotics they need to beat the cat flu. They need to rehome the healthy ones before the unhealthy ones.
Right now, Im gonna tell ya, these excuses are a massive load of bull. I got them eating and pooping, and the four kittens we took in had cat flu and recovered beautifully. These excuses are things you say when you need to justify your actions. So I get it. But it doesnt make me feel any better about it. I know these kittens would have needed time, effort, and its better spent on others....I myself have surrendered them for that reason.
I have never hated humans as much as I do today. Stupid humans who refuse to get their cats desexed. Stupid humans who wont keep their cats indoors. Stupid humans that are forcing me to deal with their problem so they can ignore it.
I spoke with a woman from an adoption agency today, and she informed me - very gently - that being so infected with cat flu the babies would have been put down wherever they went. Oh, my heart is breaking. You poor kids. My gift feels like it is being misused. At work at the stud, I used to be able to catch any horse, no matter how wily. I used to psychically project sweet lies "You arent going on the truck, of course Im not taking you away from your friends. Im not like the others, you can trust me...Come to me..." And they would. And I would take them away from their friends and mercilessly put them on the scary truck. That was easy to do, a trust easy to betray, because I knew they were going home to their owners to have their babies, and the stud was only a 'summer home' while they visited their boyfriends. To these babies I told the same sweet lies...Even I believed them. And now my mind is full of images of them screaming as they are injected. Bodies thrown out like trash. Shit.
And Ive got two to go. RiverStar and remaining TomBoy - Ive named him BourneHeld - (I know jesus K stop naming them!) still have to be caught. RiverStar, like her sister Zenith, is not a particularly good looking cat, but she does have striking eyes. Could I tame her down? If I capture her and Bourneheld, could I cure their flu, get them sweet, so when they are surrendered they have more of a chance?
You know Im gonna give it a go.
Animal Adoption lady also said that she prefers the pound, not only a much shorter drive, but she knows the tender hearts there. If the cats are cute they will fight for them, so local pound it is.
I did a little research today. The feral cat gets a bad rap.
public domain image taken from google galleries
It seems, this is how most people see the feral cat. As evil, ramapaging killing lunatic. People like to write up great stories about them, show pictures of them with their vicious teeth and claws sunk into native wildlife. I can tell you now from watching them, native wildlife is too fast for them to bother with it. They like to steal food or kill slower and dumber domestic animals. They are too smart to waste time on stuff that moves fast and is as wild as they are.
public domain image - google galleries
I'll tell you whats not fair. Humans clawed their way to the top of the food chain. They screamed and fought and killed, wiping out whole species to get there. And once there, THEY TAKE NO RESPONSABILITY. You cannot blame a cat for feeding itself when its hungry no matter how sentient it may be. You can blame the human who didnt feed it, the human who didnt restrain its instincts, the human who didnt desex it, the human who turned a blind eye, the human who said its not my problem.
Some humans, right now, are displaying less sentience than the animals. We cull the feral animals when they get out of hand.
Dont Tempt me.
On a short sidenote, Mynah birds came up in my feral searches. Man, do they get a bad rap. The facts, apparently, are that Mynahs cannot live with native wildlife - at all - that they actively destroy with droppings and nests, kill baby birds, implant their own eggs, attack kookaburra and - shock! - even people.
These lies have the outlandish taste of an anti drug campaign. You know the one - 'One pill will kill you' (no it doesnt) - because we have a flock of Mynahs here, that grows every year as they are eager breeders. They live in perfect harmony with the kookaburras, magpies, currawongs and choughs. They dont nest near the house at all, even though I have live bait in here. The horses adore them, and stand still for long grooming/bug eating sessions.
They do attack people. But not out here, only in the city. They love to scare people. Easy answer - Whos afraid of a little birdie wirdy?
Heres some happy, to remind me that yes, I do good work, Im not a muderer.
My boys. Sampson and Rowdy
Ynatra and Tyger
Rescue success story
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Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Very good post. Humans are quick to point the finger.
Can you supress instinct to the point of nonexistence?
I thought the Indian Mynah birds were an introduced species, like the cane toad, that got out of control? Human logic again.
So what's your next step?
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Did you know, I have a soft spot for the Mynah Bird?
Thats a real pic, not photo shopped. She is on my shoulder this very moment. Ive bred lovebirds, budgies and cockateils since I was young, and I was always fascinated by Mynahs. I was just waiting to get one as a pet. We have a very liberal stance on ferals - we were effectively kicked out of WIRES for rescuing them. We have a pet pigeon, and are up to our third pet sparrow. Its not well looked upon.
Our stance is that the animals did not ask to be brought here. They are now part of the eco system. This bird on my shoulder is not traditionally an 'Indian Mynah' she is literally an Australian evolution. Like rats, they need humans to survive and they are not found in the true bush.
They are, without doubt, the smartest evolution of all birds. They display stunning learning behaviour. I believe that this is an unstoppable process of natural evolution, they will take over any eco system given less than half a chance. But we cannot eradicate the feral species we have introduced and that goes for horses, goats, camels, sparrows, pigeons, rabbits, cats and mynah birds. We must learn to live with them. Mynah birds can be encouraged away from human areas with the noisebox - an electronic device that emitts frequency they cant stand. For plague proportions, the trapping and killing is working well but I have heard they are getting so good at the traps one bird goes in, gets the food, calls for help, and another comes and stands on the pressure pad and lets it out.
As a true animal lover, I cant help but admire that. Native animals are very hard to rehabilitate, where a feral adapts like a human does. Its quite fascinating how a native will die of a heart attack when a feral will just keep plugging on. I thought our native animals were supposed to be hardy?
But, I believe in natural selection, I should not have been born by its laws. We have stuffed up the eco system and made it human friendly, the ferals that evolve right along side us are the only ones that will survive in the new world we make. The final solution is, if you want to get rid of Mynah birds? Get rid of humans. Without us to learn from and feed off, they will die or evolve.
I LOVE this question! Thankyou! Resounding, absolute, YES!!! I have worked on supressing the natural instincts of my cats their whole lives, and it has worked! The result? They cant catch mice! If the boys you see above, or mums girls for that matter, are let out for mousing purposes, they cry and scream and paw on the door to be let back in. They might look hungrily at mice, but cant actually move quick enough to catch them. Rowdy and Xiara play with the Mynah bird - Im not kidding. I busted Rowdy charging up the hallway, waving his tail in the air, grinning like a maniac while Najara flew low swooping his tail. They do it everyday. You cant tell me its his natural instinct to play with a bird!
House chemistry is all changed now. Zenith is wild, she has this restlessness from hunting and whoring her whole life, and doesnt know what to do about it. One look at Najara, "You seem to have a vermin infestation. Terminate mother?"