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New-Consideration142 t1_iugg4ct wrote

Why don’t the city let some cats free?

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blind__panic t1_iugm3za wrote

Cats are not very good at killing rats and very good at killing small songbirds.

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New-Consideration142 t1_iugnv3n wrote

Interesting, I always thought cats were good at killing rats and mice

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BoozAlien t1_iui4870 wrote

Urban rats are maybe a little too large for the average cat. Some breeds of dogs, on the other hand, are extremely skillful at killing rats.

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sarathecookie t1_iuij24d wrote

Meh.

In my neighborhoot we have at least two 'cat ladies', who regularly feed a drove of feral cats who live here. There will be at least 10 cats at each 'feeding' everytime, more in breeding months.

Because of this, we see these feral cats with their sucessful rat hunt spoils, dangling from there mouths, every once in a while.

Even if they dont end up eating the whole thing, they definitely catch AND kill them regularly.

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WitnessedStranger t1_iuj69i1 wrote

Those ladies are feeding rats as much as they are cats by leaving food out.

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CaptainObvious110 t1_iuia9dt wrote

What kills me is that people don't just get dogs that are specially trained to kill rats and then let them do what they do and kill the doggone rats

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WitnessedStranger t1_iuj6dza wrote

They'll probably end up ingesting rat poison pretty quick if they did that.

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CaptainObvious110 t1_iuk97w0 wrote

Which is where "specially trained" comes to play. Dogs are very intelligent and perfectly capable of being trained to do what they need to do. They have been doing so for thousands of years so it's reasonable that they can continue to do so now.

Think about it....There are dogs that are used in hunting of other animals. Along the way, they could get bitten by a poisonous snake, they could get injured or even killed by the animal that's being hunted.

So the possibility of danger to them is understood and accounted for. They have a purpose and are able to accomplish it.

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Thismarno t1_iuhh7zi wrote

My cat catches mice and thinks they’re his new friends. Hunting instinct, yes. Killer instinct, nope!

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brodies t1_iui32jt wrote

My GF has two cats. Both are very interested in fast-moving toys, but one catches them, holds them, and then releases, waiting for them to start moving again. The other does anything and everything it takes to catch the toy and then immediately starts bunny kicking with her rear claws out doing her absolute damnedest to eviscerate the toy. She also spends her days slowly stalking up to the window chattering at the birds she so desperately wants to murder. Not sure how the first cat would do if he ever got outside, but she’d promptly decimate the bird and mouse population and declare herself god-emperor of what remains. That said, I think even she’d leave full-grown rats alone. Why risk it when there are so many easier targets out there?

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