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In a fight between a mountain lion and Brookline turkeys, which would win?

We ask because Winchester Police report:

A mountain lion has been sighted in Winchester. A resident reported seeing a mountain lion in the Dunster Lane, Pepper Hill Drive neighborhood off of Ridge Street. Massachusetts Environmental Police responded and viewed the animal’s paw print and stated the tracks strongly resembled that of a mountain lion.

UPDATE: The Globe reports officials now think the beast was a dog or coyote, not a mountain lion.

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Comments

Time to keep the cats in.

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I'd think the fact that your cats are killing machines would be enough of a reason to keep them inside.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/29/cats-wild-birds-mam...

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Do you really, truly believe this? Domestic cats? I had outdoor cats for most of my early life and I'd say that maybe half of them--the slimmer, more ambitious ones-- were "hunters" and bagged maybe a bird or two a month. The other cats had no interest or talent for it at all. And the hunters caught nothing but the standard varieties--starlings, sparrows, the occasional jay. I find the notion that letting your well-fed, belled feline outside is going to decimate the US bird population hard to believe--it seems like a huge red herring when the real problem is habitat loss, pesticides, etc. and who knows--maybe feral cats, but not fat old Felix who just had a can of Nine Lives.

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They should all kill themselves. Humans are the true invasive species.

Many of these same groups refuse to support trap-neuter-release feral colony initiatives, which have actually been successful in eliminating cats from sensitive areas like Plum Island over time (rather than trap and kill, which just opens a niche for more kitten producers, who are trapped and killed ...).

Notice how all these assessments extrapolate data on the cats who are hunters to all cats. Serious methodological shortcomings.

Then again, the value of cats as "killing machines" has its pluses when the winter is long and brutal and small disease vectors seek shelter and food in houses. Barn cats are also necessary in places where storage of fodder attracts rodents ... and shopkeepers in NYC would rather pay fines for having cats because they are far more effective and don't result in dead rats rotting in walls and under freezers.

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Probably a combination of several factors, but at the end of the day the numbers in the article are pretty clear and your anecdotal evidence doesn't mean much since I doubt you were watching your outdoor cats day and night.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cats-kill-more-one-billion-birds-eac...

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Gattaca's right. You are citing articles from peer-review studies. Rebuttal saying "my hunter-cat only catch 2 birds a month and other cats are too fat" is only anecdotal and not a rebuttal against something done rigorous enough to pass peer-review.

Neither is saying "notice they are extrapolating to call cats as hunters" as that is speculative at best. BTW, saying bird people should kill themselves seems a bit hostile.

Also as a second point the argument that cats can't be killing that much. It seems a separate study attaching cats to cameras is finding cats we think are not "hunter-cats" are hunter-cats. Along with other findings like only eating 30% of the time while leaving it on the ground 49% of the time. In other words, from that study, your cat maybe killing as much 10 birds a month if they are bringing back 2 birds back to you.

http://techland.time.com/2012/08/08/kitty-cams-reveal-house-cats-to-be-r...

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cast on these studies--just google it. For one thing there's no way to measure the number of domestic or feral cats in the US...but I'm not rebutting it--just saying that I find it highly, highly unlikely that domestic cats are the biggest threat to songbirds. I have no er...dog in this fight--we have one ancient indoor cat (formerly a stray) who does a good job of keeping the mice in check (a few try to move in every winter but she dispatches them pretty quickly).

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estimates 2.1 birds a week? How big an impact is eight birds a month really going to have?

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I prefer to skip the peer reviewed articles and go straight to the infographic/comic format. (I've had some well fed housecats over the years that were stone killers. I think it's great!)

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I love him too much.

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I don't own any cats now, but every one I've owned has gone outdoors. Every one I own in the future will go outdoors, too. That is what cats are SUPPOSED to do. Keeping a cat inside 100% of the time is AT LEAST as cruel as anything the cat might do to some birds (barring a true physical disability or other sane reason for not letting the cat out.).

Cats kill birds? Wow! You mean (*gasp!*) they eat (*shudder*) meat?!? Had I known that, I would have shoved every one of them I've owned down the incinerator, the lousy carnivorous bastards!

They also kill mice and rats. They have served this useful purpose for mankind since time immemorial. And it's not as though cats just now got a taste for birds and decided to despoil the avian population in order to spite us. If cats being outside meant sure death to birds, then there wouldn't BE any fucking birds. Cats have been outside, and birds have been hunted by them, for eons.

Fuck.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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... maybe you just haven't met one yet.

And did you ever consider that the _number_ of domestic cats in a given area might be out of sync with local avian populations?

Doing my best to reply politely, given your concluding F___.

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she is definitely happier indoors, and wouldn't fare well outside. but my two normal cats are indoor cats, too, and it works fine for them. there are a lot of sane reasons to keep cats indoors - they tend to live longer, and they tend to be healthier. i keep my cats indoors because it's better for them. i don't have to worry as much about FIV or FeLV, and i don't have to worry about them getting injured by a car or another animal.

i'm not saying that everybody needs to have indoor cats. i had outdoor cats growing up, since we lived in the country, and they were happy. but keeping my current clowder indoors is a personal choice, and it's not cruel.

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the lion! And what a lunch it would be.

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is non violent. The thought of violence will cause him to need additional sessions with his therapist. The Winchester Mountain is in no shape to fight as he spends too much time at that new Bistro in town. Better hit the gym.

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you've never been in a Brookline Turkey fight.

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We had a go at Starbucks where he attempted to cut in line. Flapped his wings and said he was late for surgery or I'd have gotten a couple of drumsticks. All gobble no play.

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But have you ever been in a fight with a Newton deer?

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hammered BC student with antlers on count?

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I had a bet going in the bears being the next new fauna in the area.

On the other hand, there has been a serious deer population explosion in the area as of this last summer and fall, so they are probably just following the food ... I don't know if black bears prey on deer, but the coywolves can't catch them all!

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I suppose only the bugs will get named that, not a whole release.

Meanwhile, coyotes and Mountain Lions help keep the Canadian Geese in check, hence well fed. Only if there were something to do about their hockey teams.

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A filthy human put it best,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNqL4zCVcpU

A mere mountain lion is no match for the power and numbers our righteous rafter of LIBERATION!

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The best comment on this subject was made by a wildlife biologist. He pointed out that in Florida, where they know they have a population of big cats, no one ever sees them. In Massachusetts, where they were without doubt extirpated long ago, sightings come in regularly. Nuff said.

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and arty events. Does that count?

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Frisco's .

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The answer to this:

In a fight between Mountain Lion(s) and Brookline Turkeys, which would win?

is clear as the light of day!

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