On Mon, 25 May 2009 22:27:45 -0700, the infamous "Roger Shoaf"
scrawled the following:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .

Nah, not with two females to start, ten more at the first litters, and
running exponentially from there. I give her 4 years, including the
natural fallout figures. Just Say SPAY!

The lady who used to live next door to me had 13 cats. She took only 6
when she moved. Some are still peeing on my shrubbery, marking their
territory. I _used_ to like cats, even though I'm slightly allergic to
'em. sigh


Larry,

I agree with you to the point that in suburbia one ought to limit the cat
population to two per household and spaying is a great idea. But Gunner and
Karl live in rural environments and as such are not really the problem you
perceive in your neck of the woods.

I'd purely -hate- to be Gunner's closest neighbor, with a dozen
barking dogs 30 feet away. They "welcomed" me loudly when I visited
him. Karl sounds like the most rural of the 3 of us.

As to not being a problem, "They're just cats." doesn't cover it.
Please view these links I found Googling "feral cat damage". (3 from
the first 6 the first page of Google's 84,200 hits.)

http://www.extension.org/pages/Feral...age_Assessment

http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/FeralHouseCat.asp
"Feral cats produce 2 to 10 kittens during any month of the year. An
adult female may produce 3 litters per year where food and habitat are
sufficient. Cats may be active during the day but typically are more
active during twilight or night. House cats live up to 27 years. Feral
cats, however, probably average only 3 to 5 years. They are
territorial and move within a home range of roughly 1.5 square miles
(4 km2). After several generations, feral cats can be considered to be
totally wild in habits and temperament."

Karl's 2 female cats can produce up to 60 kittens per _year_.
Scary, wot?

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/speaker3.html



Farm cats are there to control the
unwanted rodents and are likely to earn there keep. The cat ladies are a
problem that has nothing to do with farm cats. On the farm the cat
populations tend to self regulate.

I'm 3-1/2 miles from the city limits of the vast metropolis known as
Grants Pass, population 30k. Next to me, on 12 acres, are 5 steers
every couple years. Behind me are 2-4 horses on 4 acres. Across the
street is a small orchard on 2 acres. Next to me are two barking dogs
too many.

So I'm rural, too. Kitty (yes, the cat lady's actual name) lived where
the dogs do now.

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