I have a friend who lives just outside of Gettysburg. His neighbor across the road abandoned her house and the feral cat colony she was feeding. He adopted a kitten with some pretty serious disabilities that would have not likely survived. Over the course of two years, he managed to trap all her relatives and get them spayed. Whenever a new member of the pride appears, he traps and spays it. He's dramatically reduced the problem in his neighborhood. I have another friend in FL who does the same thing. She is also an artist with her own disabilities who does sculpture as a form of therapy. She was a foster mother and lost two kids early on, so she makes shrines to child victims of violence. Sometimes her neighbors drop bags of feces on the sculptures or deface them. It truly takes all kinds . . .

Thoughts and prayers. :-/

(Because heaven forbid we actually talk about what the problem may be, and what a solution might be.......)

So, tots and pears it is.

I love cats. And especially kittens. So I am not willing to sacrifice kittens for an abstract construct that doesn't do any body any good except for a few coyotes.

...eh it was probably my fault. It vexes me to see blame go to everyone but the coyotes.

One can hardly blame a coyote for trying to feed itself and its family . . . it's not like they had a choice of how to act.

In fact, coyotes and cats will never have the luxury of sitting down and figuring out how they can do the least harm, with the most benefit to the most coyote and kitten lives. I guess that's why I so much revel in and enjoy that aspect of being human, the ability to analyze, learn and act on future issues, not just what is immediately in front of my face. And why I like to belong to discussion forums . . . not just the kitten photos, but discussions on responsible cat ownership, etc.

Coyotes can't help it. That's why we should not elect them.

Which one of these cutesy wootsies to get for my sweet dreams, everything's gonna be just fine (I bet on Early Voting) cuddle comforts?

I must have been having a bad dream. Screaming, noises, just awful. Then I woke up and thought I was with normal, rational adults. Then (you know how dreams can go), everything changed again.

I probably need to get some cutesy comfort toys and find what mom did with my crib. Life is so much safer feeling with pink fuzzy kitties and my bottle. Geez, that dream was disrurbing. Guess its a good thing it wasn’t real.

PS My hunch is that elephant didn’t like being ignored

OOh Petalique, those kitties are awful!

better kitties that aren't super scary pink ones

The point is, any subject that is serious and could possibly have multiple aspects and that rational mature adults should be able to discuss from various angles, gets pulled. Which to me is just pathetic.

I will say this, my friend could have ignored the feral cat problems, or shot them or trapped and drowned them as some have done, but instead, he stuck his neck out and trapped them all, put the time and effort into doing that, found homes for the tame ones and even adopted one himself, and the problems is almost completely gone now, thanks to his action and efforts. Of course someone could abandon a random cat or two and the problems could start up again, such is human nature. But my friend already has a successful strategy in place to handle it. Cats and coyotes are not capable of that level of problem solving behavior. Humans are, which is why I think it is a waste of our God given talents to not put it to good use. But baby cats and coyotes sure are cute, I'll say it again!! It's called "neoteny" in science, having cute features that cause adults to want to love up on you. My dog Josie plays the neoteny card all the time . . .

I recognize Houzz's interest in having nothing more controversial than grey vs gray. I don't understand users being so delicate as to report a discussion, which I'm sure is what happened.

I also don't understand why not letting k*** being ****** in school is controversial.

(Catch, fix, and release/adopt programs for feral kitties have been pretty successful where I am.)

Maybe we can support curly-haired kitties, like in Florida.

Pink, please thank your friend for me. I wish I’d gotten to read your post and thread before it got snuffed. If you have a copy of it, I’d welcome a chance to read it. You can pm me or if youre out out energy, I will imagine your deep sigh. You taught me a new word, ’neoteny.”

Your friend is a highly intelligent, caring and evolved human. I welcome that sort of organically connected person. A breath of fresh air.

People who abandon animals and humans royaly peeve me, as do sappy shallow people. Or people lacking strength of character.

Your friend did a fine thing.

I wonder what would happen if someone, losing a child or loved one to violence or a mass shooting, should post about it here, thinking that we would all be kind and supportive in the way we are with so many other subjects. It’s getting to be a small world. I’ve met people touched by the unpleasantness of violence, crime and “even” a well know mass murder (“shooting” is a euphemism) at a school. Very similar to the latest.

Fori, nice link! Thank you!

fori, im pretty sure tptb at houzz arent the ones flagging.

Yeah, that's what I meant to say, although clearly not very clearly. :P

Err I mean I know TPTB are removing, but I assume they are prompted by reports.

Bpath, that speech was so hopeful. We need more cute little kittens stretching their fresh little paws to replace the crusty, nasty old cats running the show.

Feathers, there are some cute kittens out there who are pretty nasty.

Let's talk about cat ownership. Not everyone should own a cat. If you don't know much about cats, you should think twice before getting one. I mean, you might think you know about cats because maybe you play with toy cats. Maybe you have a whole collection of stuffed animal cats. But that doesn't make you an expert. Just try giving a belly rub to a real cat. It could be deadly. And nobody needs a pet tiger. There is just no reason to ever own one. They are killing machines not meant to live in your home.

Think twice about getting a cat.

Maybe the cat could be declawed. Many people find that abhorrent, but it keeps the furniture intact.

This also might be helpful to know:

https://onethingyoucando.org/#hero

which is fueled by this:

https://momsdemandaction.org/work/red-flag-laws/

I hate to type this, but the definition of politics is the art of getting things done. There are a million ways to get things done. My friend had only his own mind to wrestle with the problem and come up with a workable solution. Politics is not a dirty word. People are confusing it with privilege.

Jojo — the operative word is THINK.