Freaks Fun Friday: the one environamentally difficult predator
I am a freak, I admit it. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed going to school (go ahead, laugh at me) — not because I wanted to meet my friends, but because I loved learning new stuff. It hasn’t changed all that much. I’m still delighted if I manage to smuggle facts into my stories without anyone noticing. at this place, I’ll give you access to my twisted mind. Welcome to a Freak’s Fun Friday.
My daughter went to a lecture about wolves yesterday, and came back full of questions about predators in general and wolves in particular. She was fascinated by the fact that the number of the prey is not determined by the number of predators (1 exception, see below), but by the available food. In fact, the number of predators is determined by the number of their prey.
So, what has that got to do with an environmentally unfriendly predators, you might ask. Well, do you know which predator is the hardest for nature to cope with?
Correct, it’s cats. Yes, the fluffy, adorable, cuddly, cute animals so many people keep as pets. They are hunting machines, and due to the fact that they know how to train their can openers (humans), they reproduce in great numbers. With the food freely available from us, their population has grown incredibly, threatening some species (hunting mice is fine but many birds fall victim to cats any many of those are endangered already). The big problem is that most cats are free to roam the streets, and since they don’t stop hunting, their sheer number is a burden for natural habitats. Would anyone let his/her budgie, dog or pet tarantula run around free? Surely not, but it’s very different with cats. What people forget is that cats are very effective hunters.
They are also the only predatory animal that is capable of sharing a territory with other cats with a time schedule. The same gardens are patrolled by several cats at specific times, which means, cats instinctively understand time management. It’s amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I admire cats; their patience, diligence and beauty when they hunt. I am not trying to hold cats responsible for the fact that they only do what their instinct tells them to do: hunt.
But I wish, humans were more careful about what they unleash. Sure, kitten are cute, but does that mean we should ignore birth control with cats? If every cat owner would make sure his/her cat couldn’t reproduce and stayed indoors most of the time, nature might get a reprieve.
Do you have a cat? Or are you more a dog person?
