21 May 04
Carnivores
In the ongoing saga of the California ground squirrels outside my office window, I can report that the wounded male is recovering somewhat. His mate is now lactating and can be seen frantically gathering dried grasses which she hurries down into the burrow, presumably to shore up the bedding for the young.
I have been watching this female pick up what looks like a large seed pod and gnaw on it for a while… but she never seems to make much headway. So finally, yesterday, I went out to see what it was.
I was utterly aghast.
It’s the skull of a small mammal—one with a warmer shade of coat, perhaps a rabbit. Truly dessicated. Squirrel pemmican.
So much for the herbivore theory of ground squirrels.
In other carnivorous news, we discovered yesterday that a feral cat has made its home in the beekeeping equipment out back and has at least two kittens. Now it’s a race against time to catch the kittens, socialize them, get them spayed or neutered, and get them adopted out. Catching the mother will be much harder and her fate is unclear, but at the very least will include preventing her from reproducing any more.
It’s estimated that cats-any cats, house cats, not just feral cats-kill at least 30 birds per year per cat. Unfortunately, they don’t restrict themselves to invasive exotics like starlings. Mostly, of course, the birds aren’t eaten: they’re killed because cats are just brilliantly effective killing machines. They’re great: indoors.
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I recommend a shotgun for the feral cat.
Organizations that deal with abuse of women and children are beginning to recognize another signpost of the potentially abusive male:
abusive actions or language toward cats.
In our society (modern western), cats are often equated with feminine or childlike qualities.
If a male is willing to recommend evil actions toward cats in front of women and children—better keep an eye on him.