The Secret Life of the Cat

So we have had dogs and their secret lives. A few of you mentioned wanting to see what cats are about…here you go.

For one week 50 cats were armed with cameras and GPS systems to show what they actually get up to when they go out their cat doors. It was one heck of an operation getting all the data together to paint a picture of these cats and what they get up to.

I was fascinated. Cats are changing how they behave. But why ???

Related post: The Secret Lives of Dogs

We do have some certifiable people here in NZ. And certifiable when backed by millions tends to make these people even more crazy in my opinion. They think they know the answer to everything.

Take our Mr Gareth Morgan. Now that he has loads of money he has decided to tell NZ what to do about a whole range of issues, because of course, he knows ALL the answers.

One of his nutty ideas is to rid NZ of cats. No…I kid you not. He has his own website dedicated to educating the dumber NZers on why this is a great idea. Called…wait for it…Cats To Go.

According to Mr Morgan: “That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer.” Mr Morgan asks us to imagine a NZ without cats.

What NZ looks like without cats

Imagine a New Zealand teeming with native wildlife, penguins on the beach, Kiwis roaming about in your garden. Imagine hearing birdsong in our cities.

Sure, we are seeing more tui and kereru these days, thanks to some good work on rat and possum control in some areas. But many other species are still endangered; such as the cheeky kaka, beautiful kokako and curious weka. These birds once ruled this land. Some species can’t coexist with cats and rats at all, such as mohua, saddleback and robins, so they rely on a few pest free refuges for their survival .

The returns are not just beautiful but there are also economic advantages as well. New Zealand has an image of being 100% pure. In reality this marketing tag line could not be any further from the truth and the world is finding out. In order for us to continue being a premium clean, green tourism destination we actually need to start making steps in this direction. Whilst there are many issues to address, getting one step closer to being a pest free New Zealand would most certainly be a step in the right direction.

What Mr Morgan doesn’t mention is that NZ also has rats, stoats, hedgehogs, possums and mice. Now I am not sure if the local moggie could take down a hedgehog, but they can and do keep the rat, stoat and mice population down. In areas where previously some fool has worked on offing the cat population, decimation of the local bird population has actually increased. Completely getting rid of one ‘pest’ species changes the balance that nature has adopted.

Yes, we do need to address the feral and stray cat problem in NZ. But it needs to be done in conjunction with other pests that harm our wildlife.

The simple truth is that introduced species do affect the balance of an ecosystem. But the horse has already bolted Mr Morgan. There is no way to go back to a New Zealand free of introduced species. If that were the case then we also need to eradicate all humans from these islands. We as a species do more harm, with our introduction of farming animals and practices that rape and pillage native forests, than any other species around. We humans have forever changed New Zealand. FOREVER !!!!

We have torn down forest to build cities and towns, our waterways are polluted from farming and industry. One small town in New Zealand is going to have to boil their water for the next 12 years !! The video on this page will shock you ! So maybe we should start by eradicating humans from New Zealand before we do any more damage.

After watching this video I actually think it may not be too long before cats change so much that they lose the natural hunting instinct to such an extent that this might no longer be a problem. But if Mr Morgan has his way…the moggies of NZ will already be gone.

Oh and BTW…we do get penguins on beaches. This idea of having Kiwis in our gardens though…God saves us from fools who spend too much time in the midday sun !!!!

Just to really cheer you up…what about Kevin Bacon and some dancing. This 55 year old still has it as far as I am concerned.

Can you believe

1. that it is 30 years ago the movie FOOTLOOSE came out
2. that a 55 year old still has moves like that

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• On Morgan and cats

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