Topic: A Pyrrhic victory ? (Read 4615 times)

Mark · « **Reply #25 on:** September 25, 2009, 20:35:38 PM »

It is depressing. I sat through a lecture today where we were debating about culling elephants and he convinced us in the end that it is the only proper thing to to. He explained all the other methods and problems that would be caused using them -ie contraception and how baboons would ingest it when they drink elephant wee and nuts & fruit from elephant poo and they in turn would pass it on. I Suggested castration but he said it costs £4000 to castrate and elephant

I walked away totally depressed by it. Then saw something horrible on the way home (if I take the country route to avoid motorways, I see 100+ roadkill on the way back but I drove over (not on) a squirrel in the middle of the road that didn't look damaged and was possibly alive but I couldn't stop as the road was really busy

Also, one of the roads I drove along was really narrow and I had to drive with one wheel on a bank. As I went along, I saw something pale and fluff and was convinced it was a rabbit and I had squished it

- I turned at a farm entrance and drove back - I saw it again and slowed right down. When I got close, it darted across the road and into a garden - it was a cat!!!! - and luckily unharmed

I am trying to harden myself up but its difficult

Bazsmum · « **Reply #24 on:** September 25, 2009, 16:42:41 PM »

I used to dread driving the Yorkshire Moors....So much wildlife having to dodge so much traffic at such high speeds....

Us humans have a lot to answer for.....but its the hurtfull ones who will eventually pay the price!

Teresa Pawcats · « **Reply #23 on:** September 25, 2009, 16:30:06 PM »

I wasnt blaming Pedro I know its nature, it was more a thought of the huge amounts we humans change the path of nature without a thought, and then thinking of tiny Pedders when he was at deaths door last year, I never saw him as a preditor just an innocent bundle of fluff.
I bottlefed 4 baby grey squirrels once and think they are beautiful and Liz I love pipertrelles, and foxes.

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #22 on:** September 25, 2009, 16:02:47 PM »

Quote from: Teresa Pawcats on September 25, 2009, 12:53:09 PM

Had there been no Pedro that squirrel would be alive and happily gathering nuts,

That's a bit of a leap Teresa

. How could you or anyone know what the effect of Pedro surviving had on anything or anyone, let alone the poor squirrel. Had you not been ministering to Pedro's many needs that sunny Wednesday morning and walked outside instead, that big red bus wudda got ya and wot wudda happened to all the furries that followed Pedro

Butterfly effect n all dat .....

Christine (Blip) · « **Reply #21 on:** September 25, 2009, 15:22:22 PM »

It is in the nature of predators to hunt - this is just one way that evolution by natural selection works, as the weakest of the prey animals are removed from the gene pool. We humans dwell on this but we shouldn't: it is simply so.

In the wild, predators and prey live in balance: too many lions mean not enough wildebeest to go round, so higher mortality among lions. Arguably it is the keeping of animals as pets that first distorted the natural order of things but that die is cast now as, of course, domestic animals depend on us for their welfare.

I think your exhaustion is causing you to have these thoughts, Teresa

Liz · « **Reply #20 on:** September 25, 2009, 15:01:41 PM »

T Nature is a wonderful lady who has an agenda on how to live and if not Pedro someone else may have got squirrel

We have red squirrels in our woods and our neighbour shoots the grey ones they are vermin here along with rabbits, deer for eating crops and badgers for the transfer of BSE the list oges on

Us country folks seem to accept the status quo of mother nature better than townies - no offence intended

This morning before 7am I had 6 mice, 2 rabbits and a lot of feathers from my mob - got all the mice - the rabbit hunters legged it in to the woods so worming is on my agenda!

We have also had kills this year of Pipestrelle bats (Protected species but don't tell anyone!) and several moles, frogs and bits of other things have been found

It is in the nature of the hunters to hunt - ours do but we don't have an awful lot of birds and both nests of swallows made it off to the south for the winter sespite the clans best efforts!

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #19 on:** September 25, 2009, 14:47:29 PM »

How much love do you think he has he generated by being alive Teresa?

Bazsmum · « **Reply #18 on:** September 25, 2009, 14:02:35 PM »

....And surely a cat would not know they are protected!

Sorry for the "sidetracking" T.....But surely by the response's to your question should let you know inside that the natures of this world are not down to you or the likes of you!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #17 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:59:26 PM »

Just read the article and sound s like Sues nurlger, cept she is way up north.

I do not understand if grey squirels are seen as non resident vermin, how the Glis Glis is protected

Daisymac · « **Reply #16 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:56:21 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 25, 2009, 13:52:43 PM

Oh my that is cute but so sad they do so much damage and really feel for the old lady,

I am sure there must be some sanctuary or something who would come and remove them to the outside again and this maybe even somthing that the RSPCA would do

Problem is that although they are protected there are hundreds and hundreds of them, no one wants to know, they are essentially a Rodent so a difficult one, I think I will just lend the old lady Teabag for the weekend

CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls · « **Reply #15 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:55:59 PM »

My Harry is a killer, he has killed a couple hundred birds in his lifetime Im sure

but for me to stop him going out would be me taking his life away, this is how I see it

I think the matter here is about roaming space, if Pedro were to be enclosed he wouldn't be able to kill. Thats if it was a one off of course, my Harry goes out to kill

Bazsmum · « **Reply #14 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:54:36 PM »

Oh my! I did'nt know they looked like that!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #13 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:52:43 PM »

Oh my that is cute but so sad they do so much damage and really feel for the old lady,

I am sure there must be some sanctuary or something who would come and remove them to the outside again and this maybe even somthing that the RSPCA would do

Daisymac · « **Reply #12 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:47:37 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 25, 2009, 13:43:08 PM

What is a Glis Glis I have never heard of them?

They looks cute, but they attack !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-406658/Invasion-glis-glis.html

Bazsmum · « **Reply #11 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:44:45 PM »

I think that old lady needs a companion.....a cat maybe?!

A small doormouse kinda thing methinks....I remember that thread!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #10 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:43:08 PM »

What is a Glis Glis I have never heard of them?

Daisymac · « **Reply #9 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:41:15 PM »

I posted a while ago that Teabag had killed a Glis Glis, I wasnt happy with him for doing it, but now the old lady down the end of our lane has Glis Glis that have got into her house and they are literally eating away the plaster and wood which is making her house unliveable in some rooms and she cant get rid of them, she cant get the council or anyone into remove them as they are a protected species, she can put down humane traps and get rid of them that way, but she is 86 years old, how on earth is she supposed to get in the loft, lay down numerous traps, check them daily and then transport the trapped animals at least 5 miles away so they can not track back to her house again ! She has a quote from a pest removal firm and it is going to cost her over £500 to get them removed

Bazsmum · « **Reply #8 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:32:24 PM »

....And whats not to say that squirell had far more evil deeds yet uncompleted!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #7 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:29:36 PM »

We also have red kites and love to see them fly overhead and the amount of wildlife killed on the roads around here is massive and apart from attempting not to drive over any, one just tries not to see.

If one part of natures life chain goes down then life for us will also eventually die.

The chain is immense and so complicated so we should not blame Pedro or any of our ctas for the small amount of hunting they do.

We have the biggest fattest and many very handsome magpies around here, also 100s and 100s of Jackdaws. There is often a queue on the fence waiting to get a turn at the feeding station, no wonder Sasa loves hiding and waiting her moment LOL

Daisymac · « **Reply #6 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:21:55 PM »

We have to look at it from another angle as well, my cats kill and I am not proud of it, but the farmer loves them for doing it because the rabbits ruin his crops, the mice destroy the hay, the rats destroy just about everything and the squirrels kill other wildlife like Dancer said. I truely didnt realise the impact that nature has until we lived on a farm, when we first moved into our house I found a magpie trap had been placed by the gamekeeper in the field out the back of our house, I was horrified and freed the poor magpie that was trapped inside, swore I was moving out and generally threw a hissy fit, but then after speaking with the gamekeeper and doing some research I find out that Magpies are one of the biggest killers of this countries lovely Song Birds, it is all meant to be and if mother nature hadnt intended cats to kill she wouldnt have given them the sharp teeth they have and the claws they have.

As Dawn says we have a massive population of Red Kites in our area and I am sure that the kills my cats make and leave are feeding most of that population !, the red kites are wonderful birds but they are not birds of prey and will only passive hunt which means they will only eat already dead animals, I get really upset about my cats killing animals but in all seriousness it probably is what keeps the Red Kites fed.

Dawn F · « **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:10:52 PM »

T I think you are being a little too introspective because you are feeling low - if we killed all the people there would be no wars but we can't - if he had made it on his own he would be hunting daily to stay alive - I always see things killed on the road in the morning going to work, its horrible but without it the red kites that we are lucky enough to have around wouldn't eat

Feline Costumier · « **Reply #4 on:** September 25, 2009, 13:08:50 PM »

If it was a grey squirrel Pedro is doing nature in the UK a favour non native red squirrel destroyers!

Bazsmum · « **Reply #3 on:** September 25, 2009, 12:59:35 PM »

Its a life path T.....everything that happens is meant to be!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2009, 12:59:00 PM »

I dont know what that word means Teresa

However I dont think we should try and outthink nature in this way.

Pedro is doing what comes naturally to him as sad as that maybe for us or the squirrel and one could look at it from another angle which is how many have saved their own life by running away and saving themselves.

I was amazed to read about the squirrel and have never heard of a cat going for one or indeed catching one before.

Pedro is full of the happiness of a young cat in his prime and flexing his muscles a bit with the exuberence of being alive

Teresa Pawcats · « **Reply #1 on:** September 25, 2009, 12:53:09 PM »

After receiving an update about Pedro and how he fought and killed a squirrel, I have been wondering just how much of an affect saving one animals life can have on nature. Had there been no Pedro that squirrel would be alive and happily gathering nuts, how many lives will Pedders take and how many lives are destroyed every minute because someone fought for one little life, I would fight for Pedro over again but how many deaths will I be indirectly responsible for; is it a victory at too great a cost to nature ?

Author Topic: A Pyrrhic victory ? (Read 4615 times)