54 minutes ago, W2DR said:

Scientific expeditions have never been allowed to bring any type of animals there.

 

They were before the International Antarctic Treaty. Whalers took them there. 

 

Quote

Animals played an important role in the life and morale of research bases, especially during the isolated winter months; but under the terms of the international Antarctic Treaty system, and to protect the fragile environment, ecology and indigenous wildlife, non-native species are no longer permitted. This includes pets such as cats and dogs, as well as live poultry and plantlife, including houseplants. For this reason huskies, introduced from Labrador in 1945 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS, the predecessor of the British Antarctic Survey), and essential for inland travel, exploration and mapping at that time, have also disappeared from Antarctica. In practice the necessity for their use as sled-dogs had largely ended in the mid-1970s on being replaced by planes, snowmobiles etc; but some remained and were still used — latterly recreationally and for companionship — the last being based at Rothera station.

 

54 minutes ago, W2DR said:

The climate prohibits the possibility of cats living in the outdoors there.

 

Antarctica is a big places, lots of associated islands not so far south. 

Edited April 16, 20215 yr by martin-w

10 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Nope, not true Mathew. the cats I mentioned that were abandoned at the Antarctic base were thriving. No issue with the cold. Probably wasn't pleasant for them, but cats are quite remarkable at coping with the cold. In fact there are native cats that live in the Antarctic and there is actually a feral cat population now. 

 

That's crazy, some of those bases look like junk yards now anyways so no surprise, humans bringing all kinds of junk into Antarctica for well over 100 years now

Edited April 16, 20215 yr by Matthew Kane

12 hours ago, Matthew Kane said:

However in Antarctica they wouldn't be as much of a threat, if you left them out to wander they would freeze to death, therefore they would never get the chance to establish themselves as an evasive species. 

Our six cats become very evasive when my wife shows up with a flea comb 🙀

21 minutes ago, Mike A said:

Our six cats become very evasive when my wife shows up with a flea comb 🙀

How about the flea/tick repellant in those tiny plastic squeeze tubes where you dribble it just behind their necks?  The cat I was taking care of ran like hell when she saw what I had ready to zap her with.

Sunset?  Me.. Glenpark 😃

When it's cold outside here in, the teens and twenties, our cats go in and out all the time.  The cold doesn't seem to affect them.  The do their business outside.  We have a large yard and lots of dirt their can dig their holes in so we don't need a littler box inside the house.

Noel

Martin - Let's see if this clarifies this muddied mess I seem to have made. The Antarctic Region includes both the continent of Antarctica as well as a bunch of island territories. These islands are, therefore, a part of the Region and not Antarctica proper. I jumped to the conclusion that the "remote Antarctic base" was on the continent of Antarctica. Everything I've said above is correct under that assumption. If, however, that remote location was not on the continent proper then no conclusions can be drawn until the exact location is ascertained. I think it can be safely said though that, under any circumstances, a bunch of whalers do not a scientific expedition make. Can we at least agree on that 🙂?.....Doug 

I absolutely love the Maori song. 

5 hours ago, 188AHC said:

I absolutely love the Maori song. 

They now have a documentary about it, it is awesome:

 

Also this page too:

https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/poi-e-story-our-song

12 hours ago, W2DR said:

Martin - Let's see if this clarifies this muddied mess I seem to have made. The Antarctic Region includes both the continent of Antarctica as well as a bunch of island territories. These islands are, therefore, a part of the Region and not Antarctica proper. I jumped to the conclusion that the "remote Antarctic base" was on the continent of Antarctica. Everything I've said above is correct under that assumption. If, however, that remote location was not on the continent proper then no conclusions can be drawn until the exact location is ascertained. I think it can be safely said though that, under any circumstances, a bunch of whalers do not a scientific expedition make. Can we at least agree on that 🙂?.....Doug 

 

There was a cat at the Halley Research Station on the Brunt ice shelf. That's pretty far south. I didn't say they were licking the North Pole. 

 

😁

 

As for scientific expedition, the above was. Also see the article I linked to and quote. " Animals played an important role in the life and morale of research bases". 

Scott had a cat with him too by the way. But they were so far south the cat lost an ear to frost bite and became very grumpy.

Edited April 17, 20215 yr by martin-w

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

I didn't say they were licking the North Pole. 

Were there cats on the Arctic expeditions too?

Noel

17 hours ago, charliearon said:

How about the flea/tick repellant in those tiny plastic squeeze tubes where you dribble it just behind their necks?  The cat I was taking care of ran like hell when she saw what I had ready to zap her with.

Sunset?  Me.. Glenpark 😃

 

Yep, Just had to do it. The "spot on" treatments are very effective. Its important to contact the vet though and ask which particular drug is working at that time because the pesky fleas do become immune. Essential to spay the environment too, or the little devils just hang out in the carpets till they can jump back on. 

53 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Were there cats on the Arctic expeditions too?

Noel

 

Yep. In fact the story I told (that naughty people dispute) may have occurred in the Arctic instead of Antarctic. I read it twenty years ago so may have got the location wrong.

 

Halifax
of the North

Arctic adventurer

 

 

This was 1994. Explorer and adventurer, not scientist. And no, they weren't that far North that the cat was rubbing his scent on the North Pole and doing a little cat tinkle up it.  😼  Halifax the cat wintered on the ice of the high Arctic. 

 

http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/adv09.html

Edited April 17, 20215 yr by martin-w

Ernest Shackleton also took a cat on his expeditions. 

 

Quote

 

Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat

 

The carpenter has a very fine cat who is known as "Mrs. Chippie"...
-- from the diary of Commander F. A. Worsley, captain of Shackleton's Endurance

 

 

 

Quote

Mrs Chippy was a male ship's cat who accompanied Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Chippy

 

 

I don't know how much cold a cat can endure but I have a 7 year old black cat (Blackie was born in our basement) who doesn't mind clod weather at all.  It will be in the lower 20s in the winter sometimes and I can find him curled up asleep on the back patio on one of the chairs.

Noel 

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

Ernest Shackleton also took a cat on his expeditions. 

 

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Chippy

 

 

I think it's important to note, though, that Mrs. Chippy was killed while Endeavour was trapped in an ice pack. Ice packs, by definition, are floating objects in the ocean. The ice pack which trapped Endeavour was located in the Antarctic Region and, as such, was not part of the continent of Antarctica, per se. Therefore, Mrs. Chippy was never in Antarctica.

Edited April 17, 20215 yr by W2DR