Well, I'm going to do it again. I'm sure we all have fun screaming at each other here. This post, however, is not political. Anyone who wants to make a political issue about it is cordially invited to go boil your head. One way to celebrate this season is to remember the animals. If you can, remember to set food and water out for the birds. Also, for any wild animals in your area if you are in the suburbs or country. The animals have few enough places left where they can survive and it doesn't hurt to help them out. I have three (sometimes four) feral cats living in my yard. Three of them have been there for years, two of them for about 6-7 years. I feed them. If that means feeding any other animals who wander by, I'm willing to do that. There are no-kill organizations which can help you in this. The ones I donate to also help with spay/neuter issues. I even have deer from time to time. If I see them hanging around, I buy & set out food for them. This means spending a moderate amount of money. I'm willing to do it. If you are looking for a pet, don't buy one. Go to one of the animal rescue organizations. If you don't want a pet (or another one) donate to those organizations. One of the organizations I support is run by a nice lady who has been known to go into debt (personal, not organizational) to save injured animals. I do not donate much (I am not rich) but I try to give at least something per month. Before some blockhead complains that I should give to organizations which help humans, I do that too. This, however, is about the animals. Many are pets abandoned by "owners" who either are just too cruel to care or who simply cannot support a pet because they have been mugged by the economy. If the animals have been abandoned, the animal shelters try to help. It the pets have been turned in to one of the shelters, that shelter probably could use some financial help. Pass up that 6-pack or 5th of gin and help living beings who need it. If this makes me, in some eyes, a "wishy-washy, bleeding-heart liberal" then that's what I choose to be and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it. I'm still going to set food out twice/day.
We acquired a cat from the rescue centre just a couple of weeks ago and she is settling in fine, a lovely little thing. Although the dog wasn't that keen ...but he is getting on ok with her now. The dog was a rescue also. We usually have pedigrees but this one is a great character and has never been to a vet for any reason other than jabs, where the pedigrees tended to have more issues perhaps because they were large breeds, I don't know. Rescue centres here are being overwhelmed, apparently because of the economy more animals are being brought in. I wanted a Maine Coone cat and contacted a rescue centre which had one, but he was already rehomed. They had a black cat waiting for quite a while. This cat didn't take to people easily and was reserved, but she was fine with me. She came up when I spoke to her and when I kidded her she immediately swiped at me, without use of claws, so I took her home. She had already been rehomed, but didn't settle. She's totally fine here. The Rescue website has a section about black cats and black and white cats. They are much harder to rehome than other colours, people don't like them. I saw this reported on tv also, the rescue centre confirmed black and white cats are so difficult to rehome they are put to sleep in the back of the van (not by the rescue people) without even being brought in.
Adopted a raccoon outside my place, he comes around looking for me to feed his family and I set out some leftovers everyday. He is a friendly guy one time I fell asleep in the yard and he slept with me to protect me.
Years ago, one of my ferals in the yard had kittens - 2 all black, one sort of tuxedo. All three are now my inside cats & the tux has decided that I exist to serve her. She is spoiled rotten & more fun than I can easily describe. The lady I mentioned helped get them spayed/neutered at reduced price. Various friends have taken in strays/rescued dogs, mostly small, with no problems. For a while, we had a rescue dog, now dead of old age. The dog & the cats got along fine.
I rescued my little calico kitten from the outside not but three months ago. She just showed up at our apartment door meowing and crying. I'd leave food out for other animals but since I am at an apartment complex I don't think my apartment manager would appreciate it especially since I think this complex already has rats in it. That's certainly one thing that can be bad about leaving food out too, it may help some animals but also may attract pests. My mom used to feed the birds from her balcony, she'd throw seed on the ground down below. Then she saw a few roof rats showing up and stopped feeding the birds.
Living in a city or other urban environment can be a problem - rats and all that. I realize that & I think I am lucky as relates to pests. In my case, the cats take care of that. Raccoons can be called a pest, but I have had no real problem with them, although they do get to the food I set out, especially in the summer. As long as I keep the garbage in closed cans & keep access to the house controlled, they are OK &, also, funny. At times, usually in the summer, we have foxes. They may still be taking advantage of the free eats, but I have not seen them recently. Also, in the summer, we have a possum. I haven't seen the deer for a while. The birds are, at times, sort of like the cats. The cats are so well fed they don't seem to bother the birds. Both birds & cats are obviously waiting at feeding times. This morning, all three of my outside feline kids were waiting. When it snows, sometimes I can have a bunch of birds on the landing, looking in the window & waiting for the old guy to get off his duff and put out the seed. I make no claim to any real merit in this, but I still donate to both humans and animals, more in winter. I just wish I could do more. Anyway, I thought I would remind people. I guess we can go back to screaming at each other now.
clueless as self described. ez conviction. you may go now and continue killing massive amounts of birds/rabits/moles/shrews and insure no one will ever see another grouse again for the rest eternity, and the whole while you're spreading round worm/tapeworm/pin worm/hookworm larva all over your own property. go walking barefoot for best results.
