Disclaimer: I used to work for a mobile phone manufacturer.
Nokia?
Lacy, no, this cat went to a nice field.
In this area, no songs birds in there.. if you can call a sparrow a song bird, then ok, poor sparrow. Not! I can't stand all of the sparrows around here! They eat, drink and poo in my chickens food and water. The song birds hang close to our fruit trees up here, and the marshes. Barns? I've talked to folks out there, they won't keep chickens, I offered.. unless, they are completely caged in. Too many raccoons, ferrets, skunks, hawks. Now mice and rats on the other hand. I've seen folks asking for cats to be dropped off at their barns to keep the critters down. Out in the flat area where the alfalfa grows, is a pretty good place for a cat. I won't kill the kitty. :/
Hence humans are destined to destroy the natural planet.
Don't get me wrong, I like cats. I think they're cool animals. I've owned cats and we have a cat now, but all have been confined indoors.
People like to believe that Norway rats and invasive sparrows are the target kill of cats. It just doesn't make sense that they would discriminate. The truth is, based on many research papers, the vast majority of animals killed are native wildlife. Data shows that cats are the largest single source of anthropogenic mortality of native species. Anthropogenic means environmental damage originating in human activity.
It's not just my opinion.
This is an interview with a Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientist on the research.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/killer-cats-take-down-billions-of-birds-report-says-1.1312489
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/killer-cats-threaten-songbirds-small-mammals-1.1393193
There have been over 20 scientific studies that demonstrate both feral and domestic house cats allowed to roam are the most significant threat.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...te-change-habitat-loss-science-united-states/
Fish and Wildlife service.
http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf
As for your sparrows, you may be thinking of the old world invasive sparrows the house sparrow. We have those as well as the Eurasian tree sparrow. I hate 'em too.
The native sparrows however, consist of 21 species and though only 2 are threatened, they still belong here and not on a cat's diet.
Songbirds aren't just sparrows and natives in danger include many migratory birds.
If all the prairie where the cat went has are invasive sparrows, then where did all the other 500+ bird species native to Utah go?
http://www.utahbirds.org/checklistUtah.htm
Birds eat a lot of insects so are a very important control of invertebrates. I have several species of lizards here. They eat a lot of insects as well and the cats kill them too.
http://endangeredspecies.about.com/od/howyoucanhelp/a/Do-Cats-Kill-Endangered-Species.htm
Hubby decided to not "allow" me to do something ONCE shortly after we were married. Smiling, I called him the next day and told him I will come home whenever he decides I'm his wife, not a Golden Retriever. He never tried that one again and I have never done the same to him.
20 years of happy marriage.
...
Great story.
People don't get it unless it's their ox being gored. I worked nights for many years. I worked 10+ hours a night getting off between 4 and 6 AM. IF I got off at 4, made it home by 4:30 or later, wind down and maybe get to sleep by 5:30 or 6 AM. To get 8 hours sleep, I wouldn't wake up till well into the afternoon.
My dad used to call me between 9 and 10 AM almost every morning. He'd say "you still in bed sleepy head?". Every day, I'd explain what time I got home, what time I got to sleep and what time I would need to sleep till in order to get enough sleep. He'd say, "oh yeah that's right" - but he still didn't internalize it. I would then go back to sleep after having my REM sleep disrupted.
I finally got tired of it. I would wait till my second break after lunch which was between 1 and 3:30 AM. I would then call him and wake him up. When he'd answer, I'd day "you still in bed sleepy head?" He'd just chuckle a bit and I'd talk to him long enough so he couldn't doze right back to sleep. After 4 nights of that, he never called before 1 in the afternoon again.
I guess the guilty by association myth is busted. Nobody has been banned by interacting with me. So u paranoid old timers can rest easy. There is no threat of the thread being shut down. Im being good. Although i have been bored out of my mind,,, i am filtering my posts.. .
I'm paranoid and good for you for being good. It's almost as much fun.
