Wild cats

[Geof Nanto]

I read this article a while back about the backlash against a botched attempt at the culling of a cat colony in a regional city several hundred kilometres from where I live. While the deliberate killing of any animal provokes strong emotional responses in many people, with cats that seems more so. They seem to inspire either extreme love or extreme hatred.   Dogs for instance inspire great love but rarely, if ever, hatred (although fear of dogs is not uncommon.) 

 

In the forested area where I live there are some feral cats. I don’t think there are many and, in any case, they know how to keep themselves invisible. In the 20 plus years I’ve lived here I’ve only rarely seen them, and usually only brief glimpses because they turn tail and disappear into the undergrowth the instant they see me. However, once when I was sitting in total stillness in the forest, one made its way slowly to within a few metres of where I was sitting. It didn’t sense me and I marvelled at the rare privilege of observing it up close.   A cat out hunting for prey in the wild is a magnificent sight to watch.  I felt mesmerised by how it moved, it’s whole being alive with contained power. They are superb animals, graceful, silent, and totally at one with their forest environment.  

 

Yet many of the conservationists here have what seems like a phobic aversion to them. Rationally they frame arguments around the amount of native wildlife one cat will kill each day. And there’s truth in this. (I maintain my land as a wildlife refuge so I’m well aware of these arguments.) Yet their strongly emotional response speaks of something far deeper stirring within their psyche.  Such emotion is totally absent when talking about the problem of other feral animals that kill native animals, such as dogs or pigs, for instance. 

 

What’s behind this deep aversion to cats?  I have some ideas but am interested in other people’s insights. 

[liminal_luke]

3 hours ago, Yueya said:

 

What’s behind this deep aversion to cats?  I have some ideas but am interested in other people’s insights. 

 

Cats are often wild, independent, self-possessed.  You never see a cat reading Melody Beattie, author of Codependent No More.  Cats offer affection, or not, on their own terms.  Not everyone appreciates these qualities.

Edited May 2, 2021 by liminal_luke

[Taomeow]

3 hours ago, Yueya said:

I read this article a while back about the backlash against a botched attempt at the culling of a cat colony in a regional city several hundred kilometres from where I live. While the deliberate killing of any animal provokes strong emotional responses in many people, with cats that seems more so. They seem to inspire either extreme love or extreme hatred.   Dogs for instance inspire great love but rarely, if ever, hatred (although fear of dogs is not uncommon.) 

 

In the forested area where I live there are some feral cats. I don’t think there are many and, in any case, they know how to keep themselves invisible. In the 20 plus years I’ve lived here I’ve only rarely seen them, and usually only brief glimpses because they turn tail and disappear into the undergrowth the instant they see me. However, once when I was sitting in total stillness in the forest, one made its way slowly to within a few metres of where I was sitting. It didn’t sense me and I marvelled at the rare privilege of observing it up close.   A cat out hunting for prey in the wild is a magnificent sight to watch.  I felt mesmerised by how it moved, it’s whole being alive with contained power. They are superb animals, graceful, silent, and totally at one with their forest environment.  

 

Yet many of the conservationists here have what seems like a phobic aversion to them. Rationally they frame arguments around the amount of native wildlife one cat will kill each day. And there’s truth in this. (I maintain my land as a wildlife refuge so I’m well aware of these arguments.) Yet their strongly emotional response speaks of something far deeper stirring within their psyche.  Such emotion is totally absent when talking about the problem of other feral animals that kill native animals, such as dogs or pigs, for instance. 

 

What’s behind this deep aversion to cats?  I have some ideas but am interested in other people’s insights. 

 

I think it's hatred of naturalness of behavior, of a lack of artifice and servitude, of a free spirit, of self-determination, of non-submission to control that manifests as hatred of cats in some of those who sense, on an unconscious level, that they themselves have irretrievably lost or surrendered these deepest human needs.  Cats are just about the closest thing most people can observe in their lives to nature wild and free.  The yearning for the impossible, and moreover unidentifiable -- because nothing in their experience has taught them to consciously articulate those amorphous dissatisfactions -- can manifest as defensive rejection of whoever has what they need but can't have. 

 

As Laozi almost said, "when a wise man sees a cat, he follows it.  When an average man sees a cat, he ignores it.  When a dumb man sees a cat, he hates it.  If he didn't hate it, it wouldn't have been the cat."   

 

 

[Geof Nanto]

1 hour ago, Taomeow said:

As Laozi almost said, "when a wise man sees a cat, he follows it.  When an average man sees a cat, he ignores it.  When a dumb man sees a cat, he hates it.  If he didn't hate it, it wouldn't have been the cat."   

 

I laughed out loud when I read that. Thanks. It’s been a heavy few weeks here where I live. 

 

A good friend of mine took his own life a few weeks ago. We held a commemorative service for him in our community hall yesterday.  He lost everything that he'd built up over the last 40 years of living here during the massive 2019 fire and felt too old at 70 to start again. And his health wasn't good. Although I've felt deeply saddened, I know he was always a person who chose his own path in life. He thought about his options carefully and he decided he could no longer live the active lifestyle he wanted on the land he loved. He was someone who was connected to his land with his heart, belly and bones. Yet because of a complex set of reasons that involved the betrayal of his trust in an old friend, he was being forced off his land. He chose to die there rather than to leave. 

 

 

That's him and his cabin. As you can see, he's become part of the land. The property he lived on was over 2000 acres, mostly forested. I felt a heart connection with him, because, like me, his natural temperament was to live a semi-reclusive lifestyle.  He built up a small timber mill over the years and he supplied beautifully sawn hardwood to local owner builders for minimal cost.  He worked entirely by himself and was extremely conservation minded with his tree felling. All the building work I've done here has been with his timber. He would only supply timber to people he respected and delivered it exactly according to his own timetable. That might be in a week or it could be several months. But when he delivered it he would stay and help with any building work that needed an extra pair of hands. He was never in a rush and was the least materialistic person I’ve ever met. No way could you buy his services with money. He chose who and when he’d supply.  And although he milled timber and helped many people built substantial houses, he himself was totally satisfied with his small cabin.

[Geof Nanto]

2 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

You never see a cat reading Melody Beattie, author of Codependent No More. 

 

What sort of books do you think cats would like to read? How about this one: 

 

 

"The Cat is a Romanian fairy tale of some complexity and great charm. It is the story of a princess who at the age of 17 is bewitched – turned into a cat. She must remain in that form until an emperor's son will come and cut off her head. Eventually a simple-minded emperor's son, searching the earth for fine linen, finds her and accomplishes the task. How and why this happens is patiently dissected by von Franz with her characteristic erudition and earthy humour.

 

One by one Dr. von Franz unravels the symbolic threads in this story, from enchantment to beating, the ringing of bells, golden apples, somersaults, witches, etc., and, throughout, the great themes of redemption and the union of opposites, always relating them to both individual and collective psychology. This is Marie-Louise von Franz at her very best, theoretically lucid, sharply insightful and grounded in lived experience."

 

I read this book some time ago. Here’s an extract: 

 

Spoiler

 

 

The Cat in Mythology

 Now we should consider the cat and its amplifications both mythologically and materially. One of the most striking things about the cat as a symbol is its ambivalence. Like the serpent, its image oscillates between beneficence and malevolence.

 

Historically, the cat was first endowed with archetypal power at the time when in Egypt it came to be regarded as a sacred animal. Its sanctification meant that it was virtually purified of the dark aspects of its nature, and was connected with man's spiritual life. In Egypt, from very early on, the cat was considered to be sacred to Isis. But it was as the daughter of Isis and her husband Osiris that the great cat goddess Bastet emerged in the twenty-second dynasty and took precedence over all other goddesses. She was known as the Lady of Bubastis and her temple stood at the center of the city, surrounded by water.

 

Although conceived as a female, Bastet was often identified with her father, Ra. Here Osiris, Ra and Horus very often merge, as the gods do in Egypt. In her identification with Ra, god of life, the sun cat was believed to engage every night in a struggle of cosmic proportions with Apophis, the serpent of darkness. Thus the cat takes its place among the solar heroes of all mythology who fight with the devil in various forms.

 

The cat was also worshipped as lunar. It was believed that during the hours of darkness, when the rays of the sun were invisible to humans, they were reflected in the phosphorescent eyes of the cat, as the light of the sun is reflected in the moon. So here we have the kind of feminine consciousness about which we have spoken already.

 

During the late period in Egypt, Bastet was identified with Artemis the huntress, virgin goddess of nature, linked with fertility and the feminine presiding over childbirth. According to one myth, when the Greek gods fled to Egypt pursued by Typhon, Artemis transformed herself into a cat and in this form took refuge in the moon. And Hecate also turned herself into a cat. Together with Freya, the Teutonic fertility goddess married to the sun, whose carriage was drawn by two cats, Hecate also represents the evil side of the feminine, the witch, the Terrible Mother, responsible for madness and obsession.

 

Finally, in the Middle Ages, the cat came to be predominantly endowed with the power of the devil. Some women, it was said, had the power to put their souls into black cats. These were witches, dedicated not any more to the light powers but to the dark powers, to the devil. The Catholic dissociation from the instincts, sexuality and generally speaking from the feminine natural element, probably has much to do with this development of the cat as a destructive, instinctual feminine symbol. In fact, the black cat may be seen as the shadow side of the Virgin Mary, a projected unconscious desire for revenge against the Church.

 

So we see, very schematically, how the polarity of the cat archetype was established. Now, briefly, let us look at some characteristics associated with both the light and the dark aspects of the cat. The cat is closely linked with consciousness and all creative processes. The sexual orgies of Bastet were believed to increase vegetable, animal and human fertility. On the other hand, the black cat's orgies, practiced on moonless nights, were virtually sterility rites. Intercourse with the devil, who often took the form of a cat, bore no fruit, produced hail, rain and storms, destruction of crops, death of animals and sterility or impotence in humans. The white cat was a healer and a nurse. She destroyed poison, counteracted irritation and strengthened people's powers of recuperation. Her tail was widely used to cure blindness and, generally speaking, the cat's power appeared to be located in the tail which is also believed to be an organ of balance. On the other hand, the black witch-cat poisoned people's minds, infected their bodies with disease and inflicted them with blindness. The devil used the tail of his incarnation to bewitch people and bind them to his will.

 

In folklore and fairy tales, the white cat is the of the oppressed, and helper of impoverished or underprivileged young men. It uses its cunning and resourcefulness to overthrow the powers of darkness and brings wealth, power and honor. The black cat is often an omen of misfortune, bringing poverty and frustration. It oppresses and tortures. It is a traitor and a thief. The solar cat, the light of the world, is to be seen at the foot of Christ, while the demonic cat sits at the foot of Judas.

 

On the positive side, the cat is associated, like the serpent, with immortality. It curls up in a circle and is said to possess nine lives. On the negative side, it suggests the "vicious circle." Because of its unblinking eyes, and due to the fact that it sees in the dark, the cat is also a seer. It possesses foresight and insight. On the negative side, the cat's eyes suggest the power of fascination. They can paralyze their victims. Because of its independence and freedom, the cat has been linked to the Virgin, but also, as we have seen, to the witch. The cat is a healer and a servant to men; it protects their houses and crops from rodents and snakes, and has also been seen as a curser, a bewitcher and a vampire.

 

We now have to consider another aspect of the cat which places it between the extreme polarities which have been seen so far—the cat as medium. According to a Gnostic belief, there was a cat in the Garden of Eden, guarding the tree of life with its knowledge of good and evil. In the same way, the Egyptian solar cat was associated with the Persea tree, which was also a tree of life and consciousness. There is also a Celtic legend that tells how an oracular shrine, located in a certain cave, was found occupied by a slender cat reclining on a silver couch. The cat was thus seen as a medium. It formed a bridge good and evil, with knowledge of both. It acted as a mediator between them as well as between interior and exterior life, god and supernatural forces and man. Because it has access to, and is at home in, both spheres, it has much prophetic wisdom to impart and can teach us how to hold conflicting values in balance. As a symbol of consciousness, it is a psychic entity that knows the way—provided we learn to trust it, honoring, obeying and following wherever it leads.

 

And to end up, a brief remark about cat sacrifice. The meaning of cat sacrifice appears to have been the destruction of human projections onto the animal, whether they were of dark or light psychic experience. Cat sacrifice was a necessary compensation for great unconsciousness. It constituted an act of recovery from any form of archetypal possession. Thus we find rites of cat sacrifice in Roman Catholic France as well as in England and elsewhere, and we also find the white cat at the foot of the cross where, as a symbol of light, healing and salvation, it represented Christ himself, and like him had to be sacrificed in order to be reborn. In connection with the sun, the cat is a tom cat. Also the cat that helps the hero in fairy tales, as in "Puss in Boots," is a male cat and has, if we want to circumscribe it, mercurial qualities. In such fairy tales he is the knower of the way, the soul guide. He is associated with the sun, and like Mercurius is always helping with the sun, which is rather different from the she cat. The she cat is on the line of the moon, Bastet fertility and so on.

 

 

 

I don't know how cats would react to having so much mythology projected onto them. With indifference I suspect. 

 

 

[natural]

I had a few feral cats who did fine until a fox whelped, producing 5 kits whom were quite a handful.

The cats did not go with out a fight...

[liminal_luke]

As you might suspect, @Yueya, only the most intellectual and inward-looking cats read Jungian analysis.  Feline reading habits run wide and deep so I hesitate to make generalizations, but if I had to pick a single favored tome I´d go with this one.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by liminal_luke

[Taomeow]

4 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

As you might suspect, @Yueya, only the most intellectual and inward-looking cats read Jungian analysis.  Feline reading habits run wide and deep so I hesitate to make generalizations, but if I had to pick a single favored tome I´d go with this one.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Cats don't have to read books.  They can absorb knowledge by osmosis, by just being around books.  A human comes the closest to this ability by listening to an audio book -- but cats don't have to even do that, they perceive the books' aura.  I can often tell a cat who lives surrounded by books, to the same extent I can tell a human of this nature.  There's an aura of curiosity about them, but not the unrefined kind that kills the cat.  A wiser, cultivated kind.

 

[liminal_luke]

51 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

Cats don't have to read books.  They can absorb knowledge by osmosis, by just being around books.  A human comes the closest to this ability by listening to an audio book -- but cats don't have to even do that, they perceive the books' aura.  I can often tell a cat who lives surrounded by books, to the same extent I can tell a human of this nature.  There's an aura of curiosity about them, but not the unrefined kind that kills the cat.  A wiser, cultivated kind.

 

 

First the big chain booksellers threatened to decimate mom-and-pop bookstores everywhere, then came the literary catastrophe of e-readers.  Among all that we´ve lost and are losing, few things strike an emotional chord as poignant as the formerly ubiquitous bookstore cat.  

Edited May 2, 2021 by liminal_luke

[Nungali]

22 hours ago, Yueya said:

I read this article a while back about the backlash against a botched attempt at the culling of a cat colony in a regional city several hundred kilometres from where I live. While the deliberate killing of any animal provokes strong emotional responses in many people, with cats that seems more so. They seem to inspire either extreme love or extreme hatred.   Dogs for instance inspire great love but rarely, if ever, hatred (although fear of dogs is not uncommon.) 

 

In the forested area where I live there are some feral cats. I don’t think there are many and, in any case, they know how to keep themselves invisible. In the 20 plus years I’ve lived here I’ve only rarely seen them, and usually only brief glimpses because they turn tail and disappear into the undergrowth the instant they see me. However, once when I was sitting in total stillness in the forest, one made its way slowly to within a few metres of where I was sitting. It didn’t sense me and I marvelled at the rare privilege of observing it up close.   A cat out hunting for prey in the wild is a magnificent sight to watch.  I felt mesmerised by how it moved, it’s whole being alive with contained power. They are superb animals, graceful, silent, and totally at one with their forest environment.  

 

Yet many of the conservationists here have what seems like a phobic aversion to them. Rationally they frame arguments around the amount of native wildlife one cat will kill each day. And there’s truth in this. (I maintain my land as a wildlife refuge so I’m well aware of these arguments.) Yet their strongly emotional response speaks of something far deeper stirring within their psyche.  Such emotion is totally absent when talking about the problem of other feral animals that kill native animals, such as dogs or pigs, for instance. 

 

What’s behind this deep aversion to cats?  I have some ideas but am interested in other people’s insights. 

 

I will get my friend to answer this one ;

 

" Well, god dammit , they get a free ride and a free dinner , dont do no work, lie around all day like they own the place , go up a tree where ya cant get to them and look down on you in destain  - chase 'em off I reckon .... give  'em a good scare ! " 

 

My friend is also available for   views on other subjects  ;

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Nungali]

16 hours ago, Yueya said:

 

I laughed out loud when I read that. Thanks. It’s been a heavy few weeks here where I live. 

 

A good friend of mine took his own life a few weeks ago. We held a commemorative service for him in our community hall yesterday.  He lost everything that he'd built up over the last 40 years of living here during the massive 2019 fire and felt too old at 70 to start again. And his health wasn't good. Although I've felt deeply saddened, I know he was always a person who chose his own path in life. He thought about his options carefully and he decided he could no longer live the active lifestyle he wanted on the land he loved. He was someone who was connected to his land with his heart, belly and bones. Yet because of a complex set of reasons that involved the betrayal of his trust in an old friend, he was being forced off his land. He chose to die there rather than to leave. 

 

 

That's him and his cabin. As you can see, he's become part of the land. The property he lived on was over 2000 acres, mostly forested. I felt a heart connection with him, because, like me, his natural temperament was to live a semi-reclusive lifestyle.  He built up a small timber mill over the years and he supplied beautifully sawn hardwood to local owner builders for minimal cost.  He worked entirely by himself and was extremely conservation minded with his tree felling. All the building work I've done here has been with his timber. He would only supply timber to people he respected and delivered it exactly according to his own timetable. That might be in a week or it could be several months. But when he delivered it he would stay and help with any building work that needed an extra pair of hands. He was never in a rush and was the least materialistic person I’ve ever met. No way could you buy his services with money. He chose who and when he’d supply.  And although he milled timber and helped many people built substantial houses, he himself was totally satisfied with his small cabin.

 

Thanks for that , and condolences .

 

I want to write more about this, but it might be too off topic .

 

I hope you do not mind that I use  your post to start a new thread .
 

[natural]

19 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

I will get my friend to answer this one ;

 

" Well, god dammit , they get a free ride and a free dinner , dont do no work, lie around all day like they own the place , go up a tree where ya cant get to them and look down on you in destain  - chase 'em off I reckon .... give  'em a good scare ! " 

 

My friend is also available for   views on other subjects  ;

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

I totally identify with 98% of that post, however the picture does not capture the real me!

[Taomeow]

  The honest ones among dogs openly admit that their attitude toward cats is born of envy.   And the best ones follow one of my favorite maxims:  "We become what we admire."  

 

 

 

[Nungali]

4 hours ago, natural said:

I totally identify with 98% of that post, however the picture does not capture the real me!

 

No, he is a real 'Spike ' whereas you  ... you are more like a  ' Chester ' .

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Nungali

[Taomeow]

Aoshima Island, Japan. 

Population:

humans -- 15

cats -- 150 

 

 

 

[Geof Nanto]

Video removed for the reasons Taomeow outlines here.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Yueya

[Taomeow]

2 hours ago, Yueya said:

 

Not for the squeamish, especially the scenes starting at 13 minutes. 

 

Could you give a brief description of what's in the video, please?  I'm not sure the word "squeamish" describes me, I could gut a chicken freshly decapitated by my grandmother when I was 5, but if it entails violence against cats, I'd rather not open it.  Based on the title alone I already feel that Australia was a mistake.   

[Geof Nanto]

1 hour ago, Taomeow said:

 

Could you give a brief description of what's in the video, please?  I'm not sure the word "squeamish" describes me, I could gut a chicken freshly decapitated by my grandmother when I was 5, but if it entails violence against cats, I'd rather not open it.  Based on the title alone I already feel that Australia was a mistake.   

 

The title photo gives a good idea. I posted it because it’s important for me to acknowledge that this is going on in Australia. Yet I can neither condemn or condone it. I understand the reasons the feral cat cull is part of Australian conservation policy. As the video makes clear, Australia’s native wildlife have no defences against a predator as smart as a cat. And it’s estimated there’s between 2 and 6 million of them. 

 

For people like myself who live in areas where wildlife is abundant, killing is not something remote like it is for many city people. People on the land have to deal with it all the time. But I wouldn’t like to have people like those hunters featured in the video for neighbours, especially not the old guy whose house is decorated with cat skins. He even wears cat skin clothes. Hunting cats for him seemingly has a far deeper significance than merely dealing with the native wildlife predation problem. A perverse form of love? I explored such psychology a little in a previous post, as did you and Luke with your insightful replies. 

 

“Cats are just about the closest thing most people can observe in their lives to nature wild and free.  The yearning for the impossible, and moreover unidentifiable -- because nothing in their experience has taught them to consciously articulate those amorphous dissatisfactions -- can manifest as defensive rejection of whoever has what they need but can't have.”

 

Note, the old guy has the cats in a form over which he has total control, namely dead as cat skin clothes and a house full of cat skins. He even makes them into what for him are artworks. 

 

But overall, Australia is a relatively peaceful and compassionate country. At this time and continuously there are people all over the world who have been deemed feral and are likewise hunted out and eliminated.  Muslims especially. And the USA is the world’s most powerful predator in this regard. That too is important to acknowledge. 

[old3bob]

a guy and his buddy cat:

 

 

[cheya]

....

Edited May 11, 2021 by cheya

[Geof Nanto]

7 hours ago, cheya said:

"Not for the squeamish.."

 

@Yueya, I can understand you have opinions about feral cats, opinions you felt were important to add to a thread celebrating the beauty of "Wild Cats"

If you had just commented that feral cats are a serious problem in Australia, and directed folks to another thread with your "not for the squeamish" vid, I would not have been offended. 

 

But to post that vid in this thread is not just insensitive, it actually feels like an assault.

 

 

 

If you care to read my original post on this topic you will see I greatly admire feral cats.  But I’m also fully aware of the damage they do to native wildlife. That’s a dilemma I live with as someone who maintains my land as a wildlife sanctuary. Feral cats have again become wildlife. Stunningly so. And I admire all wildlife. 

 

My other focus in posting here is on the psychology of people’s reaction to cats, especial hatred. That video gives some insight into this.  No way is this a straightforward, black and white subject.  

 

However, if Taomeow would like me to take down that video I will do so as I consider it her right to make this request because she is the person who started this topic. I consider all topic starters have a right to make such a request for the removal of content which they consider inappropriate to the spirit of their topic. (I also feel each individual member has the right to either comply or not with such requests,)  
 

 

[Nungali]

16 hours ago, Yueya said:

 

The title photo gives a good idea. I posted it because it’s important for me to acknowledge that this is going on in Australia. Yet I can neither condemn or condone it. I understand the reasons the feral cat cull is part of Australian conservation policy. As the video makes clear, Australia’s native wildlife have no defences against a predator as smart as a cat. And it’s estimated there’s between 2 and 6 million of them. 

 

For people like myself who live in areas where wildlife is abundant, killing is not something remote like it is for many city people. People on the land have to deal with it all the time. But I wouldn’t like to have people like those hunters featured in the video for neighbours, especially not the old guy whose house is decorated with cat skins. He even wears cat skin clothes. Hunting cats for him seemingly has a far deeper significance than merely dealing with the native wildlife predation problem. A perverse form of love? I explored such psychology a little in a previous post, as did you and Luke with your insightful replies. 

 

“Cats are just about the closest thing most people can observe in their lives to nature wild and free.  The yearning for the impossible, and moreover unidentifiable -- because nothing in their experience has taught them to consciously articulate those amorphous dissatisfactions -- can manifest as defensive rejection of whoever has what they need but can't have.”

 

Note, the old guy has the cats in a form over which he has total control, namely dead as cat skin clothes and a house full of cat skins. He even makes them into what for him are artworks. 

 

But overall, Australia is a relatively peaceful and compassionate country. At this time and continuously there are people all over the world who have been deemed feral and are likewise hunted out and eliminated.  Muslims especially. And the USA is the world’s most powerful predator in this regard. That too is important to acknowledge. 

 

 

Its  a dilemma  -  as we know, 'cats in the bush' are a problem but a farm without cats can be a big problem too . I dont know how many times I have heard on the community  " Damn rats   they .... "   ( any one of a series of options  from poo on the sink through to chew into electrical wiring and start a fire  inside your wall   ....  or get under your car up into the motor and randomly chew stuff - if you drive down Kalang Rd you pass  cars in peoples driveways, under carports  with their bonnets up ( a rat deterrent  )  and   often followed with a  'threat'    " I am going to get a cat " .

 

I have to say , that historically  and ethically I can not agree with this statement though  ; " But overall, Australia is a relatively peaceful and compassionate country. At this time and continuously there are people all over the world who have been deemed feral and are likewise hunted out and eliminated.  "  .... errrrmmmmm  .....

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Taomeow]

3 hours ago, Yueya said:

 

If you care to read my original post on this topic you will see I greatly admire feral cats.  But I’m also fully aware of the damage they do to native wildlife. That’s a dilemma I live with as someone who maintains my land as a wildlife sanctuary. Feral cats have again become wildlife. Stunningly so. And I admire all wildlife. 

 

My other focus in posting here is on the psychology of people’s reaction to cats, especial hatred. That video gives some insight into this.  No way is this a straightforward, black and white subject.  

 

However, if Taomeow would like me to take down that video I will do so as I consider it her right to make this request because she is the person who started this topic. I consider all topic starters have a right to make such a request for the removal of content which they consider inappropriate to the spirit of their topic. (I also feel each individual member has the right to either comply or not with such requests,)  
 

 

 

Thank you for the offer, Yueya.  Yes, I do think that video belongs in a different thread, if you would care to start one.  Personally, I have "heavy" and "light" and "neutral" threads here, and this one was meant to be light.  There's too much heartbreak in the world, I wanted to create a little virtual niche for something that isn't about that.  

 

If you remove it, I'll remove my comment under it too so as not to leave it hanging.    

[Geof Nanto]

49 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

Thank you for the offer, Yueya.  Yes, I do think that video belongs in a different thread, if you would care to start one.  Personally, I have "heavy" and "light" and "neutral" threads here, and this one was meant to be light.  There's too much heartbreak in the world, I wanted to create a little virtual niche for something that isn't about that.  

 

If you remove it, I'll remove my comment under it too so as not to leave it hanging.    

 

I've edited it out with a comment that hopefully allows the conversation to flow okay without altering any subsequent posts. 

[Taomeow]