tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post6740287625234269331..comments2024-02-21T12:11:32.886-05:00Comments on Bats Left/Throws Right: Jonah Goldberg Agrees With You. 'Nuff Said.James Briggs Stratton "Doghouse" Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05378802364709433791noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-80753596549983517102013-02-03T22:53:51.957-05:002013-02-03T22:53:51.957-05:00Cheap shot at the Smithsonian. Small was not part...Cheap shot at the Smithsonian. Small was not particularly well liked while he was there, and tried to close the organization that sponsored the research. I'm disappointed that you slimed the researchers by associating them with the former secretary. The science community at SI is not comprised of political hacks nor does it have an agenda other than research and "diffusion of Xjmuellernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-81985552239456538372013-02-03T21:56:02.739-05:002013-02-03T21:56:02.739-05:00So many comments! I hope this inspires Mr Riley to...So many comments! I hope this inspires Mr Riley to make cat-blogging a regular feature. I've got some video of a cute kitty playing <i>Babalu</i> on dried bird skulls you can use.hells littlest angelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-19989795016482514712013-02-03T19:09:03.041-05:002013-02-03T19:09:03.041-05:00On second thought I agree with Li'l Innocent &...On second thought I agree with Li'l Innocent "It's not cats. It's us."<br /><br />My first thought was that someone's decided that it's time for a new round of the Black Plague.<br /><br />sigynAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-23212307278625640472013-02-03T12:34:45.693-05:002013-02-03T12:34:45.693-05:00Please, just keep the freakin' killers indoors...Please, just keep the freakin' killers indoors. Letting them run wild is irresponsible. Feral or non feral cats are indistinguishable and fair prey in the country. prairie curmudgeonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-45066631040393263212013-02-03T11:25:01.351-05:002013-02-03T11:25:01.351-05:00Junk science. Some of the research is decades old...Junk science. Some of the research is decades old. And they cite Nico Dauphine. She hated cats and was convicted in DC for trying to poison cats, and then she was fired from her job at the Smithsonian.<br /><br />Woodrowfannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-24235585634862961922013-02-03T00:37:16.063-05:002013-02-03T00:37:16.063-05:00Well said, L'il I.Well said, L'il I.bjkeefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967912817595826059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-42222121633446132612013-02-02T21:41:42.808-05:002013-02-02T21:41:42.808-05:00"Almost all human-generated..."
Yet app..."Almost all human-generated..."<br /><br />Yet apparently some of it cat-generated, if you can believe the click-hungry New York Times. <br /><br />Or those cat-cams.<br /><br />I see what you did with that "fluffed-up" thing. Maybe subconsciously.<br /><br />FWSlifernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-78822011950396693192013-02-02T20:47:37.822-05:002013-02-02T20:47:37.822-05:00I think the points in Doghouse's essay are (1)...I think the points in Doghouse's essay are (1) that this Times piece is an example of a very bad, incompetent, and misleading type of fluffed-up-to-get-clicks writing about scientific studies, (2) that there's no way to tell from this bad, incompetent article what the scientific validity of the studies cited may or may not be, and (3) it's the kind of bad, incompetent scare-headline Li'l Innocenthttp://ladysmantle.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-3980901431701450652013-02-02T19:03:51.982-05:002013-02-02T19:03:51.982-05:00The sad part of the story was the idea that cats a...The sad part of the story was the idea that cats are deadlier than you think. Than who thinks? <br /><br />The interesting part was about putting the video cameras on cats and seeing some of the killing they were doing. When we did that with Norway rats we just got a lot of video of cheese being stolen.<br /><br />Cheer up and calm down, dude. Nobody is going to start asking for a national mental25yearsintheUSFWSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-57337446797466175792013-02-02T12:22:04.415-05:002013-02-02T12:22:04.415-05:00I'd say habitat destruction by "developer...I'd say habitat destruction by "developers", and the use of pesticides on farms kills a LOT more birds than cats do.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-15596412525249812652013-02-02T09:58:05.655-05:002013-02-02T09:58:05.655-05:00Isn't one of the more significant recent findi...Isn't one of the more significant recent findings that "animals that a cat brings home/shows to its owners/is discovered with" is actually an entirely (and substantially) different number than "animals that cat kills"? And, in fact, it's a pretty huge difference? <br /><br />"While the study didn't give a total number of prey killed by the house cats, about Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-36099309889143886522013-02-02T02:21:30.885-05:002013-02-02T02:21:30.885-05:00I think this can be filed along with that study or...I think this can be filed along with that study or whatever about cat bacteria controlling your brain, which was the biggest thing on the internet for like six hours nigh on 2012. Then it turned out it was a mite overblown. <br /><br />Being in the same business as Ms. Angier and the zillion other people who wrote about this without a hint of skepticism, I "get it," but also tend to whetstonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-38127223277815622542013-02-02T00:38:53.482-05:002013-02-02T00:38:53.482-05:00Cats kill things. If you've got a problem with...<a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/08/12/ive-been-warning-you-all/" rel="nofollow">Cats kill things.</a> If you've got a problem with that you'll need to find a planet without predators.Weird Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-59128200736834358892013-02-01T19:55:31.037-05:002013-02-01T19:55:31.037-05:00We have a small feral colony (6) on our suburban p...We have a small feral colony (6) on our suburban property. They're all fixed and vaccinated and we feed them regularly. They live in small cat shelters next to our deck. They do kill some birds, but I've seen more dead mice (and a few actual rats) than dead birds. Mostly they seem to rely on the squirrel population for fresh meat. Woodrowfannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-87511164389309394242013-02-01T08:17:03.082-05:002013-02-01T08:17:03.082-05:00Cats have allied themselves with the most successf...Cats have allied themselves with the most successful predator species, and are poised to survive anihilation like nobody else. Just sayin'.ygdraslnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-45864331404328640362013-02-01T03:16:30.539-05:002013-02-01T03:16:30.539-05:00All's I know is, I saw that article very short...All's I know is, I saw that article very shortly after it was posted, and it already had 589 comments. So, if by <i>preteritio</i> you mean <i>troll bait</i>, I'd say you've got a bit to learn from Ms. Angier.<br /><br />I would also like to observe that in the day or four following publication, Ms. Angier competed for #1 on the Most Emailed List with that other tedious thing about bjkeefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967912817595826059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-39996953633925644042013-01-31T21:51:56.813-05:002013-01-31T21:51:56.813-05:00We have a big house with lots of things to keep ca...We have a big house with lots of things to keep cats entertained, so we keep our 3 cats inside; we're in a heavily wooded area in the Pacific Northwest with lots of bald eagles and coyotes, who are generally hell on outdoor cats.<br /><br />We just adopted a stray that had been hanging around our yard for about 3 months. After surveying the few neighbors within roughly 3/4 mile, it was clear Calming Influencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15604442570012939784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-48530861393818455102013-01-31T21:46:12.200-05:002013-01-31T21:46:12.200-05:00Thanks for this lovely piece. I've had cats as...Thanks for this lovely piece. I've had cats as pets for nigh on 60 years, all indoor/outdoor animals, and their kill count wasn't high. If we found the last two cats with anything dead, we figured they'd bought it off some other cat. They were klutzes.<br />I figure this recent attack on cats is just another rationalization for carrying assault weapons.isabelitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04175928587455507236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-58918403806602532962013-01-31T18:16:04.605-05:002013-01-31T18:16:04.605-05:00Mine, back when I had cats who I let roam, would r...Mine, back when I had cats who I let roam, would routinely cath birds. She'd catch 'em, then bring them into the ^^@#%@$ house for a canned hunt which would inevitably end up with an explosion of feathers and bloody bits in the middle of the floor when she decided to go for the kill.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-90980528146327612722013-01-31T17:27:41.036-05:002013-01-31T17:27:41.036-05:00I dunno. If cats are really killing 15 billion cri...I dunno. If cats are really killing 15 billion critters per year, they are probably doing us a favor. Otherwise we'd be overrun with... varmits, vermin, and the Bird Flu epidemic would have been much worse.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-13488619363754737142013-01-31T14:55:44.900-05:002013-01-31T14:55:44.900-05:00I'm okay with the study, but deeply suspicious...I'm okay with the study, but deeply suspicious of the Times article. We get all the way to graf <i>12</i> before the author admits her sleight of hand: the image of a bright-eyed, well-fed cat and the lede invoking housebound pets on YouTube have essentially nothing to do with the issue.<br /><br />The study's conclusion is almost undoubtedly this: feral cats potentially have a much Robert M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-7317913591782318072013-01-31T14:12:08.628-05:002013-01-31T14:12:08.628-05:00Our cat took a low flying bird a couple of times, ...Our cat took a low flying bird a couple of times, too. It's not unheard of, although I agree it is unlikely to be an epidemic.<br /><br />Of course, overlooked in this is that over the centuries that cats have co-existed with humans, they were prized FOR their ability to control pest populations. They are small, easy to maintain, and effective. Why would that change just because most of zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11211639.post-1535675892245735852013-01-31T14:05:06.636-05:002013-01-31T14:05:06.636-05:00Had a cat once that took birds down while they wer...Had a cat once that took birds down while they were flying low. Fairly awesome skill, that.robonoreply@blogger.com