Birds and cages

[Smallworld]

Indonesia's fondness for cats, and tolerance of stray cats, is also a problem for birds. Tried to rescue a little bird on my lawn this morning but it was already dead when the killer cat fled my boot.

I guess this is how nature works. It is not however the same as mass scale business described above.
The cats that wonder from time to time in my front garden are chasing mice, gekos, small chameleons... I have never seen them chasing rats but they do fight amongst each other.

 

[Bad_azz]

Cats that stray into our garden tend to get ripped apart by the dogs... sadly.
At my old house my dog would play with fledglings, sadly the baby birds didn't fare too well in the games- then the dog would sit & look at them waiting for movement, wanting to play again.

 

[Anglian]

I guess this is how nature works. It is not however the same as mass scale business described above.
The cats that wonder from time to time in my front garden are chasing mice, gekos, small chameleons... I have never seen them chasing rats but they do fight amongst each other.

The Rats are bigger than the cats round our way, and better fed

 

[Scooterindo]

We have a yellow canary called Kenny - he was bred to sell by the pet shop and would be lost outside of his cage.

 

[Minuteman]

If it is just the bird song you are looking for and you felt troubled by birds throwing birdseeds everywhere why don't you just get a dvd player with cd/dvd audio of birds singing run in a repeat mode? More clean and elegant solution.

C'mon man...when I was kid those things weren't even being dreamed of yet. Lighten up.

 

[Minuteman]

Indonesia's fondness for cats, and tolerance of stray cats, is also a problem for birds. Tried to rescue a little bird on my lawn this morning but it was already dead when the killer cat fled my boot.

It is nature...leave it alone!!!

 

[Minuteman]

I guess this is how nature works. It is not however the same as mass scale business described above.
The cats that wonder from time to time in my front garden are chasing mice, gekos, small chameleons... I have never seen them chasing rats but they do fight amongst each other.

Cats don't "wonder" (well, maybe they do about some things, but not on our level.) they wander!

 

[Minuteman]

We have a yellow canary called Kenny - he was bred to sell by the pet shop and would be lost outside of his cage.

Amen!!! Nothing wrong with pet birds!!!

 

[kimdub]

So, what is the problem?? Had parakeets and canarys in cages in the house when I was a kid. The canarys were trouble because they would throw birdseed everywhere, which it was my job to clean up on a daily basis. But the canarys had beautiful song.

We live in a remote area of only small villages surrounded by agriculture and forests. But there are very few birds or any type of wildlife. My wife tells me that growing up there were all types of colorful birds and different types of wildlife including monkeys in the trees.

Now, the only birds are in cages and monkeys terribly mistreated on chains.

 

[atlantis]

If that is the true then I can say Indonesia will become a paradise for mosquitoes and all mosquitoes transferred diseases.

The Manadonese are fond of bats, which taste rubbery and are full of bones -- and generally served in so much chili you can't sense what they really taste like.

We routinely eat bats in Manado/the Minahasa and we don't have more mosquitoes or misquitoes transferred diseases than anywhere else in the archipelago.

It's an OK food though I agree with Tupai's comment about the rubbery taste and the number of small bones. I however disagree with with the comment that the chili would forbid you to sense what they really taste like save perhaps if you are simply not used to eat spicy.

 

[Tupai Hitam]

Amen!!! Nothing wrong with pet birds!!!

By pet birds, do you mean caged birds? Do you think it is good to keep a living creature locked in captivity for its entire life?

 

[Tupai Hitam]

It is nature...leave it alone!!!

Stray, feral and pet cats are the biggest killers of birds in much of the West. I'm not sure whether cats, habitat destruction, disease or hunting is the main cause of bird deaths in Indonesia. Cats often kill for sport, leaving dead (uneaten) birds and lizards on the lawn. They are also scavengers, trying to get into trash bins and knocking them over. I do not appreciate cats crapping on my lawn, knocking over the trash, yowling and killing local animals for sport. I prefer to see (and hear) lizards and birds enjoying the garden. I would prefer that people defend Indonesia's rare feline species (under threat due to habitat destruction) rather than castigate me for throwing a boot at cats to discourage them from killing birds. Then again, perhaps the cats are just improving the bird gene pool by killing the slowest and weakest, but there aren't enough garden birds.

 

[fastpitch17]

Stray, feral and pet cats are the biggest killers of birds in much of the West. I'm not sure whether cats, habitat destruction, disease or hunting is the main cause of bird deaths in Indonesia. Cats often kill for sport, leaving dead (uneaten) birds and lizards on the lawn. They are also scavengers, trying to get into trash bins and knocking them over. I do not appreciate cats crapping on my lawn, knocking over the trash, yowling and killing local animals for sport. I prefer to see (and hear) lizards and birds enjoying the garden. I would prefer that people defend Indonesia's rare feline species (under threat due to habitat destruction) rather than castigate me for throwing a boot at cats to discourage them from killing birds. Then again, perhaps the cats are just improving the bird gene pool by killing the slowest and weakest, but there aren't enough garden birds.

I believe man is a bigger threat to birds then cats. No, I do not like cats but if you ever watched people catch birds you would understand this. The birds caught healthy end up in cages, those damaged by their nets are just discarded.

 

[Tupai Hitam]

I believe man is a bigger threat to birds then cats. No, I do not like cats but if you ever watched people catch birds you would understand this. The birds caught healthy end up in cages, those damaged by their nets are just discarded.

Yes, it's terrible. Pramuka bird market is terribly sad, all those fetid cages, all those confined birds, so many illegally caught and traded. If the government cared about wildlife, it would shut down or clean up the market.

 

[Smallworld]

Cats don't "wonder" (well, maybe they do about some things, but not on our level.) they wander!

Thanks for a quick English lesson.

 

[Smallworld]

C'mon man...when I was kid those things weren't even being dreamed of yet. Lighten up.

I said this not in reference to what you had in the past ("Had parakeets and canarys") ... I said it to what is happening now in Indonesia on almost industrial scale.
If people in Indonesia want to have birds signing them all the time my solution described above would satisfy majority of them.

 

[Minuteman]

Thanks for a quick English lesson.

Necessary sometimes. One letter can change the entire meaning of the text. I do wonder what cats wonder about when they wander about. Just for grins...take it easy.

 

[Scooterindo]

By pet birds, do you mean caged birds? Do you think it is good to keep a living creature locked in captivity for its entire life?

A canary is to birds what gold fish are to fish - born and bred in captivity purposely to be sold as a caged pet. He cant fly that well and if you leave the cage door open he doesn't want to escape. I agree with your point on the capture and imprisonment of wild birds but Kenny the canary wouldn't last 5 minutes outside his cage.

 

[Minuteman]

A canary is to birds what gold fish are to fish - born and bred in captivity purposely to be sold as a caged pet. He cant fly that well and if you leave the cage door open he doesn't want to escape. I agree with your point on the capture and imprisonment of wild birds but Kenny the canary wouldn't last 5 minutes outside his cage.

Only Tweety Bird can do that. Even Sylvester can't win, especially when Granny is around.

 

[Tupai Hitam]

A canary is to birds what gold fish are to fish - born and bred in captivity purposely to be sold as a caged pet. He cant fly that well and if you leave the cage door open he doesn't want to escape. I agree with your point on the capture and imprisonment of wild birds but Kenny the canary wouldn't last 5 minutes outside his cage.

The "born and bred in captivity, so they deserve a lifetime incarceration" argument does not wash with me. I find it disgusting that humans take pleasure in imprisoning animals for life. If it's a source of food (meat or edible eggs), farming, or required for legitimate scientific studies, great. But if a person's only excuse for imprisoning a bird is because "it looks nice or it sounds nice", then shame on them. It's indicative of selfishness, cruelty and mostly, ignorance. Canaries can last more than 5 minutes when they escape. A chap at the end of my street has a massive aviary. One day, a bright yellow canary escaped. It was visible in the neighborhood for a couple of days but then -- no sign of it. Perhaps killed by a kitty or caught by some enterprising kid. If imprisoning all types of birds (because they look nice and/or sound nice) became socially unacceptable, then native and endangered species should flourish, provided we can stop habitat destruction and avoid an overpopulation of cats.