Cat and kittens update

Oh yes: now it turns out a vulture or buzzard has also been seen flying off with either live or very freshly killed cats. Since they are protected, can't do anything about that.

Coyotes I can.
 
Rusty said:
Oh yes: now it turns out a vulture or buzzard has also been seen flying off with either live or very freshly killed cats. Since they are protected, can't do anything about that.

Coyotes I can.
Click to expand...

:eek: Geeze, I've never heard of vultures carrying off live prey. What kind of vultures do you have where you live, Rusty?
--Josh
 
yes Josh, most species of vultures also take live prey. I was surprised when I first learned this too.
as for what kind of vultures near Rusty do this? The Hungry kind.


munk
 
Couple of years ago maybe 6 miles out of town on the south end, paved 2 lane state road, saw a buzzard on the opposite side of the road maybe 10 feet off the pavement. It just sat there as I approached on the road, When I drew up flush with it and my window down, I expected it to take off. It didn't. Ugly.

Edit: From a brief search of the web, what I saw must have been Turkey Vulture, Only thing uglier than the Black Vulture ( aka Buzzard )
 
Vultures will take live prey, and hawks and eagles will eat carrion. I can't tell you how many research abstracts and field reports I wrote about raptors in college. :eek:

As for coyotes- here in the midwest, we seem to be witnessing a new phenomenon. Coyotes are interbreeding with feral dogs, and giving rise to some very strange-looking, and very bold coyotes. I don't know if this is happening anywhere else, but the northern Ohio-Mississippi valley is the only place I've heard it reported so far. There was a time when researches could only get coyotes and dogs to breed in carefully controlled conditions. Their standards seem to have dropped along with their human neighbor's. :rolleyes:
 
Isn't the "Red Wolf" a kind of hybrid between Wolf and Coyote and maybe a little dog thrown in?

Coyotees almost never attack humans. ( but they have, and have killed) I'm less assured about a coyote dog mix.

A domestic dog is a lot like a man- without rules and guidelines to follow both can be currs.


munk
 
"What kind of vultures do you have where you live, Rusty?"

beaky.gif


...that would be 'watcha call your 'Nevada Buzzard' there Josh. Part scavenger, part predator and quite adept at dealing BlackJack from the bottom of the deck.
 
Coyotes have just moved into our area. The OH river kept them from here for a long while. I think they came from the east to us this time.

Most nights Ms. Hollowdweller and I hike about a mile back into the woods up to an old vineyard my absentee neighbor owns. It is great exercise cause it is straight up a hill the whole way. Anyway we were up there recently at night with 2 of my dogs and our one big cat. Coyotes started howling all the way around us. The dogs moved closer to us and our cat immediately climbed up to the top of the biggest brush pile he could find (he's declawed-not by us).

My dad saw a coyote pup turkey hunting back on the power line right of way that backs up our place recently.

I always try to keep the kitties inside when I'm gone even though we have 3 guardian dogs.

Rusty,

You're OWNED now. Soon they will be licking *ss on the pillow by your head at 3am.

Munk,

You mentioned rattlers. Used to be tons of them in our eastern counties here, and after the late 70's they are scarce. Nobody seems to know why. I have always speculated enforced litter laws cut down on the number of rodents and the food source dried up.
 
Isn't the "Red Wolf" a kind of hybrid between Wolf and Coyote and maybe a little dog thrown in?
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Hmm...mating of Wolf and Coyote...what the little dog for? An after snack? :D
 
instead of a cigarette, huh?



- of rattlers- I learned last night on the TLC or Discovery that adult squirrels are allergic to Rattlesnake venom. That's wild.




munk
 
One thing I love about this forum is that I learn something new almost every day. We have tons of turkey buzzards around here, and I've never heard of them taking live prey. I thought that the design of their beak prevented them from eating fresh meat.

--Josh
 
Did you think they sucked the corpses up with a straw?

But Beaks, Teeth and Feet do make a lot of difference, deciding whether you're grazing on Dandelions or chewing on a Kansas Steak.



munkmetal
 
Josh Feltman said:
We have tons of turkey buzzards around here....

--Josh
Click to expand...
If you shoot em you can watch 'em puke :barf: when the bullet hits, especially in the gut area.:eek: :rolleyes: :barf: ;)
Of course you don't wanna get caught shooting them, but a lot of them die this way here every year. Sad because they are a bird of peace.:(
Except maybe when they eat your kittie's momma.:grumpy: :(
There are literally Hundreds of them out by Keystone dam, lots of dead fish to feed on and keeps the banks of the Arkansas cleaned up.:D
 
Yvsa--I'd never shoot one. In fact, I've always been a bit fond of them. They're not much to look at up close, but they are beautiful in flight, and they serve a very useful purpose in the ecosystem.
--Josh
 
Josh Feltman said:
Yvsa--I'd never shoot one. In fact, I've always been a bit fond of them.

--Josh
Click to expand...
Me too. Perhaps someday I'll tell y'all the Cherokee story of how the Turkey Vulture got its bald head.:eek: ;) :D
I'll have to do it in Word and then c&c to here as it's too long to try to do all at once with all the mistakes I make.:footinmou ;)
I'll try to do a shortened version for here anyway but that's difficult to do and get it right....
The Old Ones prided themselves on the accuracy of the stories and oral traditions.:D
 
Josh Feltman said:
One thing I love about this forum is that I learn something new almost every day. We have tons of turkey buzzards around here, and I've never heard of them taking live prey. I thought that the design of their beak prevented them from eating fresh meat.

--Josh
Click to expand...

It's not their beak, its their digestive system. They do not produce the necessary enzymes to completely break down striated muscle protein. Like most predacious animals, though, the first thing they eat is the organs. Then if no other creature steals their kill before it has time to rot a little, they'll go back for the "aged" prime cuts.

They are probably among the most skillful soarers in he world, and are beautiful to behold ~from a distance. ;)

Getting back to cats: Does anyone have any experience with introducing a strange adult dog to a strange adult cat to help ensure they get along? Or is it just a risky (or even bad) idea? :confused:
 
Yup...allow the resident one free reign as usual in the house, put the other in a separate room, only allow them to sniff (okay, this may result in a few door scratches). Then (hours, days) put the one that will fit in a cage out in the open. A lot of growling, barking, hissing, etc, but sooner or later, it will get old and they'll be bored. Make sure the cat gets some free time to roam the house with the dog secured in a room or outside to mingle their scents as well as allow the cat to find safe spots (high or too small for the dog to get into).

Eventually, you will get careless and they will suddenly be in the same room. After that, all bets are off and karma takes over.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
 
BTW, I grew up near Cleveland, Ohio and there is an annual sort of festival when the Turkey Buzzards return each year to Hinkley, Ohio. There's a big pancake breakfast and all...never could figure out why except that most of the Buzzards meals look a lot like pancakes. :barf: :barf: :barf:
 
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