給我自己 To Myself

#389【谷阿莫】7分鐘看完電影《高年級實習生》

人類

起源於一個無聊早晨的賴床，看到鄰居在 Nextdoor 社群網站哀怨自己的貓被 Coyote 北美郊狼咬死了，才驚訝的發現自家南邊的水溝 San Tomas Aquinas Creek 其實是郊狼的獵食公路，話說這一帶人口密度不低，竟然還有這類動物的生存空間。
之後，我的焦點轉移到社群的回應，有人好心提醒，最好把家貓留置戶內，尤其是在夜晚。隨即收養野貓的一派就斥之以鼻，因為野貓若被侷限則會顯得焦躁，終究必須放風。戶內與戶外的意見看似僵持不下，有人也趕緊跳下來提醒要尊重原帖的喪貓之痛。
莞爾的是，隔天另外有人又開一帖正經的討論到底該怎麼對待愛貓，接踵而至的回文當然又是公說公有理、婆說婆有理。我已經把整個討論串剪貼到底下，以供日後回味。
把來龍去脈交代完了，多年過後，我已忘記當初想寫這篇部落格的初衷了，可是自己的一些觀念應該沒變: 人類是多麼自我中心又自私的生物。貓與郊狼究竟誰可憐？動物一定需要具有「可愛」的相貌才值得維護嗎？沒有表情與誘人體態的魚類、昆蟲等等，其實終究無法上主流社群版面的，不是嗎？

在此套用留言裡，有幅漫畫網頁細說了，家貓到底殺害多少生命。
How much do cats actually kill? - The Oatmeal

... 三個家貓中有一個，一週內會殺害兩次性命，牠們，真的，如你想像的，那樣可愛嗎？


Coyotes and the Indoor/outdoor cat debat
https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=62956296
Dave Horwitz, Westmont

This is likely to be controversial but maybe worth airing out in a focused discussion. I just read yet another post about someone finding their cat had been killed in the night by coyotes. Very tragic very sad. They were unaware of the coyote situation in the area. Naturally the topic of indoor/outdoor cats was brought up (and maybe squelched as being wrong time and wrong post). I thought maybe a separate thread might be of value. I will start it off with my views (which I'm open to having changed since I'm not a naturalist/ecologist): I believe many, if not most, are aware of the coyotes. We live next to the foothills which is their natural habitat. Under various climate conditions they will range further for food. They naturally avoid humans but will overcome that for readily available, nearby food source. They have to work hard for food where they live and will get it elsewhere if it is more readily available or easier to obtain. They eat small animals. I think all that is a given and not likely to change in the near (or even distant) future. Someone posted a week or so ago that they had a friend who lived elsewhere where they had coyotes. They told of their friend buying roasted chickens at the grocery store and leaving them out for the coyotes and that the incidents seemed to abate. They were suggesting that we might try something like that... I'm sure they meant well but it was an eye opening post. (I had visions of truck loads of roasted chickens and fat and sleepy coyotes ... and an influx of mountain lions looking for coyotes). In short, my view is that letting your cats out (more so at night) is much the same thing. I think everyone agrees with this but the counter argument is that some cats are outdoor cats (like rescued feral cats) and would be unduly stressed if forced to live indoors. That they will have a better life even given the risk of it ending prematurely. I can understand that. On the other hand maybe this is not the area to have a such a cat? If the cat is part of the family already then your options may be harder. Moving, or making arrangements for another home for you family member might be difficult or out of the question and you're willing to take the risks with your cat. I can understand that as well. What I don't think most people consider is that, if you go that route, you are also impacting the community. More readily available food, more coyotes. Put bluntly but I did not intend it to be inflammatory.

6 Sep 17 · 35 neighborhoods in General