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You are here: Home / Archives for cats

July 25, 2020 by Stephen M. Vantassel

Too Many Cats

Too Many Cats?

Do you have too many cats rummaging around your property, spraying in your bushes, defecating in your garden and killing your birds? If your answer is “yes” then you are not alone. Lots of people and property owners struggle with the nuisance, smell and destructive actions of free ranging cats. If you are looking for help on how to handle the challenge of too many cats, then you will want to pick up a copy of the Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats by Stephen M. Vantassel.

To learn more about this book, watch the YouTube video below. It will explain what you can expect to learn and gain from getting your copy of the book. Stop suffering. Get the information you need to control feral and free-range cats and get your numbers down to a tolerable level.

Be sure to follow all state and local laws regarding cats and their control. In many areas, cats are considered private property and assumed to be owned even when they are not. Get the facts before you initiate control efforts.

 

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Click the links for past {shows} and {interviews}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

Filed Under: house cats Tagged With: cat control, cats, feral cats, house cats, Stephen M. Vantassel

January 14, 2019 by Stephen M. Vantassel

Book Review: Among the Pigeons

Book Review: Among the Pigeons: Why Our Cats Belong Indoors by John L. Read. Mile End, South Australia:Wakefield Press, 2019. Pre-Press.” Expected publication 2019.

 

As the habitat for many creatures has been fragmented by human activity, the introduction of protected, fed, and indiscriminate predator, the house cat, has greatly multiplied the threat to the survival of many native species. John L. Read is a trained ecologist who hails from Australia, a continent that has struggled mightily with the negative environmental impacts of non-native animals like the house cat.

I learned of Read through a social media page of people dedicated to fighting the scourge of free-range cats. Read was kind enough to send me a pre-publication version of his book, Among the Pigeons. My comments will be on this pre-publication version.

House cats are everywhere as seen by the tracks on this vehicle window. Photo: Stephen M. Vantassel.
House cats are everywhere as seen by the tracks on this vehicle window. Photo: Stephen M. Vantassel.

Among the Pigeons belongs to that genre of books that can be entitled as narrative science. It’s a scientific book in that Read has done yeoman’s work sifting the published literature. He deftly and smartly weaves that information throughout the books, 300 plus pages. But the book is narrative in that Read tells stories, lots of stories from his personal visits around the world with people involved with cats. He discusses meetings with people from Australia, Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Africa, Spain and Pacific Islanders. Throughout, Read avoids creating straw men or demonizing people who have different views about cats than himself. But nor does he let them off the hook for the consequences and impacts of their actions and choices, and sometimes lack of action. In this way, the book also delves into the social-cultural aspects of the cat debate. He rightly understands that facts don’t change people who don’t have the moral fiber to integrate those facts into changing their behavior.   

If the book sounds complex, it’s because the subject he is dealing with is. Frankly, I found myself quite depressed at times. Read tries to soften the blow but the news is not good, though there are glimpses of hope. I particularly appreciated learning about the research being done in finding new methods to control free-range cats in the field. As a professional in the wildlife control industry, I do think he was a bit too negative on the efficacy of traditional controls. I understand that agents have had difficulty catching the last few cats in various locations, thereby casting doubt on the benefits of traditional methods (e.g. hunting, trapping). I just wonder if part of the problem is the rules governing control methods were too restrictive. I have said, hunting is easy, legal hunting is hard. Readers should not take my slight criticism here as a reason to avoid this profound book.

If you want to learn more about the impacts of cats, how people are working to manage the problem (or not) and insight into the psycho-social complexity of the problem, then this book is for you. You can learn more at Johnlread.com

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Click the links for past {shows} and {interviews}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Click the links for past {shows} and {interviews}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

Filed Under: book review, cats Tagged With: book review, cats, house cats

March 7, 2014 by Stephen M. Vantassel

Foot-long worms infecting cats in the United States

Foot-long worms are infecting cats in the United States

Free-range house cats a source of zoonotic disease, such as parasitic worms. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.
Free-range house cats a source of zoonotic disease, such as parasitic worms. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.

Readers know that free-range house cats not only kill millions of native wildlife each year in the U.S. but also pose serious disease issues to the environment and people. Typically, these disease threats focused on rabies and toxoplasmosis. Now it appears that worms, foot-long worms, are yet another issue. To learn more visit the research that was done at Cornell University Cornell University Original Study.

I can only imagine how the free-range cat lobby will respond to this latest evidence regarding the potential presence of foot-long worms.

About the Author

Stephen M. Vantassel is a Certified Wildlife Control Operator (CWCP®) who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.

If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.

Copyright

All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

Filed Under: cats, zoonotic Tagged With: cat lobby, cats, Cornell University, diseases, free-range, house cats, Stephen M. Vantassel, worms

May 2, 2013 by Stephen M. Vantassel

From the Hate Mail Bag

From the Hate Mail Bag

As someone who believes in the consumptive use of wildlife, I am subject to some rather critical (to put it mildly) e-mails from those who disagree. You know, members of the animal rights protest industry activist movement. Part of the reason why I enjoy getting hate mail is that it gives me some insight into how other people think. Unlike animal rights protest industry activists, I actually read material that I disagree with because I was taught that before I criticize I must understand. Regrettably, many of my critics don’t follow the same advice which makes reading their uniformed hate mail somewhat entertaining because they frequently accuse me of things I haven’t said nor believe.

The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats
The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats

A friend of mine recently sent me this link http://catdefender.blogspot.com/2011/07/evil-professors-have-transformed.html, where I along with a host of other people were vilified by someone with the moniker “Moonraker”. I admit I didn’t read it that closely. It is a rather long post. Nevertheless, I was amazed at the number of factual errors the document contained. I shouldn’t be surprised. Animal rights protest industry activists frequently get the facts wrong either by distorting the context containing the fact or by ignoring it all together.

What was amazing about this “Moonraker” was that it (I don’t know the individual’s gender so Moonraker will be called “It”) appeared to argue in an intellectual manner. It quoted all kinds of documents and listed names and used graphic language. The brunt of Its tirade focused on academics who oppose the presence of free-range cats on our landscapes. Free-range cats are effectively a protected predator but beyond that they are invasive in that they were introduced to the North American environment. So their predatory habits are devastating to our wildlife.

On its face, it sounds like a thoughtful (but angry) and researched person. But upon closer inspection, you find out this individual held several seriously mistaken ideas.

Permit me to list a few of the errors.

  • I was mentioned as the first author of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln publication on feral cats, but in fact I was the second author.
  • I was described as a pest controller for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Not true. My job is educating the public in wildlife damage management. In other words, I was hired to transmit information, not control pests.
  • Moonraker argued that cats play with their prey because of their “poor eyesight”. That comment is just downright funny. Really? Cats have bad eyesight. Wow.
  • Moonraker excoriated the various research projects on cats, which is to be expected from an animal rights protest industry activist. However, Moonraker made no mention that Land-Grant Universities have to follow Institutional Animal Care and Use Guidelines. But then again why let facts interfere with a good hell-fire and brimstone sermon?

I’m sure I could go on. But these are enough and I have already given Moonraker way too much airtime.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Click the links for past {shows} and {interviews}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

Filed Under: Animal Rights, cats Tagged With: animal rights, animal rights protest industry activists, cats, criticism, free-range cats, hate mail, Moonraker

March 25, 2013 by Stephen M. Vantassel

Nature Wars by Jim Sterba: A Review

Sterba, Jim. 2012. Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards in Battlegrounds. NY, NY: Crown Publishers.

Nature Wars by Jim Sterba. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel
Nature Wars by Jim Sterba. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel

Jim Sterba is a veteran reporter for America’s premiere financial newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. He has written numerous articles on wildlife issues and did so in a manner that was remarkably fair to supporters of the consumptive use of wildlife (i.e. fisherman, hunters, and trappers).

Nature Wars is essentially a sociological history of humanity’s relationship with nature in the area that became known as the United States. Part 1, Forest People, surveys the history of America’s forests and how its resources were exploited and used to build the country. But it is more than a narrative of abuse, it is also a story of renewal. Sterba explains how the forests that were originally cut down for firewood and for raising crops, ultimately grew back, thereby allowing wildlife to return in its wake. Sterba continues showing how after WWII, the housing shortage spawned a new phenomenon in America known as the “suburbs”. These suburbs caused and were related to a cultural change of mechanization, urbanization, and modernization that allowed people to become less connected to the earth and nature.

Part 2, Wild Beasts, takes up five species (beaver, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkey, and bears) that have thrived in the new landscape and eventually became a nuisance for those suburbanites. For each one, Sterba details how the return of these species spawned a debate between the protectionists and the managers.

Part 3, Denatured Life, is perhaps the most important part of the book. It is here that Sterba explains how American culture became disconnected with nature and its realities. He details how we have become schizophrenic in our attitude toward nature. On the one hand, we work to protect animals at great cost, but on the other do nothing to stop the rampant killing of animals on our highways and by our free-ranging cats. He illustrates the utter senselessness of our continued consumption of wood products (which may be harvested from overseas) while protesting the cutting of a managed forest nearby. He decries our illiteracy of nature and demonstrates how this ignorance harms the very nature we say we want to protect.

The book is well written. Sterba has a way of describing events that will make you smile but are short of ridicule. Trappers and sportsmen and women need to read this book to help them understand why their perspective is so out of sync with modern America. If we hope to change minds, we must first understand the mind of the urbanite.

While much can be praised in this text, Sterba should have included the role religion plays in the nature wars. The fact is that the decline of historic Christianity in the U.S. created an intellectual vacuum that had to be filled by an alternative ideology. His neglect of this fact was a significant oversight in his otherwise excellent book.

Bottom Line: Nevertheless, the book is well worth reading. Sterba has included so many background stories (such as where kitty litter came from) and statistics of wildlife damage and activities, that the book could be seen as a miniature resource. Readers will not regret reading it.

Nature Wars is available through major book stores and online book retailers.

 

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Click the links for past {shows} and {interviews}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

Filed Under: book review, environmentalism Tagged With: beaver, book review, cats, environment, Jim Sterba, Nature Wars, Stephen M. Vantassel

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