https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-just-classified-cats-as-an-invasive-alien-species-here-s-why/ar-AA101Qy7?cvid=62b4c2bb48fa41b88305caf26080b38d

Love cats but they can creep you out with that "I know who you are, and I saw what you did" all knowing aura they have about them. Cool animals.

A researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences said it's because cats have a harmful effect on biodiversity, killing birds (about 140 million in Poland each year) and other wildlife. Biologist Wojciech Solarz said the criteria for including the cat among alien invasive species "are 100% met by the cat."

How about Wojciech Solarz studying another alien invasive species, homo sapiens, who not only kill wildlife to the extent of extinction but also hangs their heads on walls as trophies.  Homo sapiens also does something cats don't do.  They kill each other by the millions in wars and random shootings.  Noel

Edited July 27, 20223 yr by birdguy

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

A researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences said it's because cats have a harmful effect on biodiversity, killing birds (about 140 million in Poland each year) and other wildlife. Biologist Wojciech Solarz said the criteria for including the cat among alien invasive species "are 100% met by the cat."

How about Wojciech Solarz studying another alien invasive species, homo sapiens, who not only kill wildlife to the extent of extinction but also hangs their heads on walls as trophies.  Homo sapiens also does something cats don't do.  They kill each other by the millions in wars and random shootings.  Noel

Yep, homo sapiens do all that. And beside that, they also make their own living place impossible to live on, by polluting it...and they are even aware they're doing that!! And the more they are aware of what they're doing to the planet, the more you can hear them talk about "visiting" Mars. Not about cleaning up their acts here, but "visiting" Mars for Gods sake.

 

Edited July 27, 20223 yr by Wildblue

38 minutes ago, Wildblue said:

Not about cleaning up their acts here, but "visiting" Mars for Gods sake.

Yeah.  Mars colonies.  Like a guy who trashes his apartment and decides it's time to look for a new place.

And he want's someone to find the transportation to take him there and make it livable for him.

"What fools these mortal's be."  Puck, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Noel

7 hours ago, birdguy said:

Yeah.  Mars colonies.  Like a guy who trashes his apartment and decides it's time to look for a new place.

 

Sometimes, when I look up at the night sky, when its actually possible to see that bright orange-red dot, I find myself contemplating in awe the flocks of birds that exist in the Martian sky, the hordes of Martian antelopes feasting on the Martian savannah. And the countless forests, oh the forests, with the huge diversity of animals, insects and countless other species foraging on the forest floor. Not forgetting the mammals of course, in particular the Martian tigers, I really like those Martian tigers with their mega sized canines.  I think its the Martian oceans that impress me the most though, especially that Valles Marineris, that 23,000 foot deep aquatic wonder, jam packed with creatures the size of a pin head to whalelike creatures feasting on the Martian equivalent of plankton. 

😏 That's right boys and girls, Mars is a cold barren rock. There's nothing there to trash. Of course, we may find one day that there's some form of bacterial life there,  but its not going to be bothered by anything we do. 

As for trashing apartments, better to mine the Moon, another barren rock than mine this planet with the damage that causes. 

 

7 hours ago, birdguy said:

And he want's someone to find the transportation to take him there and make it livable for him.

 

Not wants, "needs" is the word you are looking for. As we've discussed many times, being multiplanetary is about the survival of the human race, we wont, long term, unless we have our eggs in more than one basket.

 

Back on topic...

I find it ironic that certain entitles in Poland are complaining about cats killing birds and calling them an alien, invasive species... when it was human beings that introduced them in the first place.

In addition, I would like to know precisely how they calculate the figures for bird death. After having 9 cats over the years, I have found that mine are very good at catching rodents but not very proficient with birds. Most of the time the birds get away. I'm thinking this bird death figure is a guess. 

 

 

8 hours ago, Wildblue said:

the more you can hear them talk about "visiting" Mars. Not about cleaning up their acts here, but "visiting" Mars for Gods sake.

 

Not exactly. There's a huge movement here that talks about "cleaning up our acts here" and rightly so. And the entity developing the means to get to Mars is the biggest renewable energy company on the planet. We can do both. We must do both. Both are important. Its not one or the other.

 

Edited July 28, 20223 yr by martin-w

cat lovers close your eyes before reading...

https://www.tepagency.com/saving-australias-wildife

 

Edited July 28, 20223 yr by harrry

I was under the impression that dolphins were an alien species.  Did Douglas Adams* get it wrong?

 

* For those less knowledgeable about the reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Long,_and_Thanks_for_All_the_Fish

6 hours ago, martin-w said:

Most of the time the birds get away. I'm thinking this bird death figure is a guess. 

I once saw Starlight, our black cat, leap almost 6 feet into the air and bring down a dove.  And the bird bodies and feathers I find around the house from time to time.  My cats kill more birds than mice...but then I never see any mice inside the house.

Our cats spend as much time outside as they do inside.

Noel

6 hours ago, martin-w said:

There's a huge movement here that talks about "cleaning up our acts here" and rightly so.

I agree and am one of those voices.  But are there enough to drown out the multinational CEOs and boards of directors?

Noel

Stopping or not encouraging cats to hunt birds and rodents is cruel. They are born to hunt. It is what they love. Watch kittens pretend hunt as soon as their eyes open.

We can learn a lot from cats. Like how to live naturally, and in harmony with nature.  And that most certainly includes hunting for food. Instead of building tight cages that resemble cramped prisons to raise animals in for our meat. 

 

17 hours ago, birdguy said:

I once saw Starlight, our black cat, leap almost 6 feet into the air and bring down a dove

 

Starlight is on roids!!! 😁

One of my cats was particularly good at hunting and did catch a Magpie once... ALIVE! She dragged it through the cat flap into the garage (no idea how it fit through) and I found it flying around. Had to open the garage doors to let it out. Oh, and a squirrel, yes a squirrel, she caught a squirrel and brought that through the flap too. 

Not that many other birds from the other 8 cats to be honest. It might be because they were British. By the time they have said, "I say old chap, do you mind awfully if I catch you and utilise your body for my sustenance" the bird has flown off. 

By the way, we don't really talk like that and we aren't as polite as is often claimed, in fact Brits are often very rude.