What would you have done?

[popeyewhite]

number2 said:

okgo said:

I’d argue you’re the outlier there, I’m aware of either house cats or cats that go out. I’ve ‘never’ heard of anyone who shuts a cat in at night only.

I did - looks like others do too!

I never have. I think it's an extraordinary idea. How d'you teach the cat it can go outside only during daylight hours? Cats mainly hunt at night, how do you rationalise impeding a cats natural hunting instinct?

[ninepoint2]

Greenbot35 said:

Why would you take a photo a an Eagle dropping a rabbit too its death? I know its nature but is that something you want look at again.

Simply nature in action I guess

[MC Bodge]

I would have put the seagull out of its misery if there wasn't a crowd watching. Doing work on the land when I was young and hunting and fishing might result in a different viewpoint to the majority of people.

Re: cats. I know that some people are very attached to them, but they a carnivorous predator that has no affection in return for their human feeder and they kill and eat a lot of wildlife too.

Cats have no road sense. A cat ran out in front of my car near my house the other day. I was going slowly and was able to brake hard to stop. Had I hit it, it would have been very inconvenient. I would probably have picked it up and taken it to the local vet. Had I killed it and driven off, there would have been a lynch mob raised on the local FB group....

[TheJimi]

"...that has no affection in return for their human feeder"

That statement holds the same amount of water as me saying all dogs are rabid child killers.

[rossub]

popeyewhite said:

I never have. I think it's an extraordinary idea. How d'you teach the cat it can go outside only during daylight hours? Cats mainly hunt at night, how do you rationalise impeding a cats natural hunting instinct?

Very easy, as cats have routines. Our cat has no desire to go out at night at all, as she has never known it. It’s an awful lot better than never letting her out at all.

Your choice, but I couldn’t sleep at night knowing she was out there with all the increased dangers.

[cobra kid]

popeyewhite said:

I never have. I think it's an extraordinary idea. How d'you teach the cat it can go outside only during daylight hours? Cats mainly hunt at night, how do you rationalise impeding a cats natural hunting instinct?

Why have any pet if it's mainly indoors? And is it a pet if it's outdoors at all times??

[number2]

popeyewhite said:

number2 said:

okgo said:

I’d argue you’re the outlier there, I’m aware of either house cats or cats that go out. I’ve ‘never’ heard of anyone who shuts a cat in at night only.

I did - looks like others do too!

I never have. I think it's an extraordinary idea. How d'you teach the cat it can go outside only during daylight hours? Cats mainly hunt at night, how do you rationalise impeding a cats natural hunting instinct?

It seemed happy. It was in and out all day, then when it came in - usually late evening post 9pm - we shut the cat flap.

It was a domestic cat, not a wild tiger - it was well fed and happy - It told me .

[popeyewhite]

rossub said:

Very easy, as cats have routines. Our cat has no desire to go out at night at all, as she has never known it. It’s an awful lot better than never letting her out at all.

Your choice, but I couldn’t sleep at night knowing she was out there with all the increased dangers.

Cats are natural night time hunters (crepuscular) - well actually this means they want to hunt more at dawn and dusk. I think restricting the natural behaviour of an animal is cruel, but each to their own. Of course, traffic can be worse at dusk and dawn. But that's playing to the owner's feelings, not the cat's.

[Turkish91]

I’ve always wondered this since hitting a Deer a few years ago. I 100% hit it hard enough for serious internal damage and I’m pretty sure it had at least one broken leg. Thankfully I was in a Fourtrak so it didn’t do a vast amount of damage to my car - left a spectacular scrape (with I assume it’s foot) all up my drivers door and onto the rear quarter.

By the time I’d stopped and got out the car it was crawling/hopping away into the bushes. You can’t exactly wring the neck of a deer and I don’t carry a knife in the car to do anything more “professional”. So if the deer was closer to death and laid there in the road, what on earth would I have done to put it out of it’s misery?

Only solution I can think of would be to kneel on it’s neck until it stops breathing, but then I’m sure even a wounded deer is pretty strong when the adrenaline kicks in. I should expect a kick to the face is also a likely scenario!

In the OP’s scenario, I think I’d have chucked my coat over it, taken it somewhere quiet and dispatched it. No doubt with a few pecked fingers though!

[cobra kid]

popeyewhite said:

Cats are natural night time hunters (crepuscular) - well actually this means they want to hunt more at dawn and dusk. I think restricting the natural behaviour of an animal is cruel, but each to their own. Of course, traffic can be worse at dusk and dawn. But that's playing to the owner's feelings, not the cat's.

Then the natural behaviour for a cat isn't to stroll over to a bowl of dried cat food out in the wild is it? Do you make sure it hunts for it's food in the house instead of feeding it?

[TheJimi]

cobra kid said:

popeyewhite said:

Cats are natural night time hunters (crepuscular) - well actually this means they want to hunt more at dawn and dusk. I think restricting the natural behaviour of an animal is cruel, but each to their own. Of course, traffic can be worse at dusk and dawn. But that's playing to the owner's feelings, not the cat's.

Then the natural behaviour for a cat isn't to stroll over to a bowl of dried cat food out in the wild is it? Do you make sure it hunts for it's food in the house instead of feeding it?

I realise you were trying to be facetious with the latter question, but actually, that's a thing.

It's good practice to allow a cat - especially an indoor cat - to "hunt" for it's food indoors. We do exactly that with her dry food, making her hunt/work for it.

[PistonBroker]

We had cats growing up. They would get put to bed in the breakfast room every night.

One of them used to give my Dad the run-around. But not because he wanted to be out hunting. Simply that he was already comfy where he was, thank you very much.

Him and his brother used to bring back multiple gifts most days, so it doesn't seem like we were reining them in. They once found half a dead fox and dragged that back to the patio. We were alerted to it by the banging on the cat flap as they tried to bring it into the house. Then there was the live rabbit I had to pluck out of the bottom of the food cupboard and set free. The Tabby one used to sit on top of the flat roof of the garage and catch the occasional bat.

[rossub]

Ah the joys of coming home from work to a dead rabbit in bits in the hallway. Eyeballs and teeth away from the body were a proper treat.

[popeyewhite]

rossub said:

Ah the joys of coming home from work to a dead rabbit in bits in the hallway. Eyeballs and teeth away from the body were a proper treat.

Why own a cat if you're in denial of their true behaviour? I don't like the detritus left indoors after a cat hunt any more than the next person, but in my view the more you try and domesticate them the less real cat-character they retain.

[21st Century Man]

If it weren't for a difference in scale, your cat would have you.

[cheesejunkie]

A good friend has one of those cat flaps that open to the cats collar.

I’d never own a cat but if I did I’d go with that option. Let the murdering bd come and go.

It’s a Tom and regularly comes back with presents. I’m laughing along with some of the comments, there are cats that are big enough to eat me. They’re considered dangerous for a reason.

[Deranged Rover]

popeyewhite said:

I never have. I think it's an extraordinary idea. How d'you teach the cat it can go outside only during daylight hours? Cats mainly hunt at night, how do you rationalise impeding a cats natural hunting instinct?

Ours were kept indoors from kittens - as has been said, they are creatures of routine and soon get used to it. They are also shut in the kitchen at night where their beds are and if we have friends round and are up late, they will actually put themselves to bed!

As to the hunting, I can assure you they do plenty of this during the day - birds, mice, rats, voles, squirrels and even a rabbit on one occasion. Also, rest assured we do actually feed them...

[rossub]

popeyewhite said:

rossub said:

Ah the joys of coming home from work to a dead rabbit in bits in the hallway. Eyeballs and teeth away from the body were a proper treat.

Why own a cat if you're in denial of their true behaviour? I don't like the detritus left indoors after a cat hunt any more than the next person, but in my view the more you try and domesticate them the less real cat-character they retain.

You’ve lost me there.

In her best spring/summer she caught nearly 30 small rabbits while out during the day time. She gets out from 7am to circa 6pm.

As she’s now 15, she still hunts a bit, but catches are limited to the odd mouse now and again. She comes in her flap with them and consumes them in the Hall. I just let her get on with it and clean up after.

You’re imagining things that I’m preventing her from being a cat. Like lots of cat owners, she just doesn’t get out at night for her own safety, simple as that.

[popeyewhite]

rossub said:

You’re imagining things that I’m preventing her from being a cat. Like lots of cat owners, she just doesn’t get out at night for her own safety, simple as that.

Cats are crepuscular. That is fact. You prevent your cat from this sort of natural behaviour, that is also fact. How am I imagining anything

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong of course, you may live by an especially dangerous road or somesuch. Your choice.

[rossub]

I think we’ll leave it at that

Wonder what happened to the seagull…