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Conference misery::feline

Title:Meower Power - Where Differing Opinions are Respected
Notice:purrrrr...
Moderator:JULIET::CORDES_JA
Created:Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1079
Total number of notes:28858

419.0. "HUNTING SEASON help!!!" by LUNER::MACKINNON () Mon Oct 19 1992 14:36

    
    
    Hi 
    
    
    Well since it is now hunting season in our town I need some
    input on a situation.  The problem is that in our town a person
    can hunt only a mere 500 feet from a dwelling!!  Yup thats right
    only 500 feet.  Since my cat Dennice prefers to wander far
    beyond the safe zone, I am troubled about letting him out.
    I do not want to fight with him for the next month and a half
    about not going out.  I do want him to enjoy his freedom
    to roam.  Yet I am very afraid that some idiot will shoot
    him.  There is a guy two houses up the road that shoots the
    rabbits so I have no doubt in my mind that this particular
    person would shoot my cat.  Anyway, what I need are suggestions
    on how to deal effectively with this while letting him keep
    his freedom to go out and me to keep my sanity.
    
    What I was thinking about is getting him a collar with a bell
    on it.  Only letting him out at night is a thought too.
    Any suggestions??  How do other feliners deal with this
    problem?  
    
    Thanks,
    Michele
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419.1OXNARD::KOLLINGKaren/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca.Mon Oct 19 1992 14:383
    I would keep him in;  he should adjust in about two weeks  (I'd stay in
    myself, too.  People have been mistaken for animals in hunting season.)
    
419.2DSSDEV::TPMARY::TAMIRDECforms RoadieMon Oct 19 1992 14:574
If he just won't stay in, get him a day-glo orange collar, something very
bright and very visible. The reflective ones are best.  

Mary 
419.3JUPITR::KAGNOMom to the Wrecking CrewMon Oct 19 1992 16:027
    How about making him an enclosed area outside that will allow him
    access to the outdoors while maintaining his safety.  This might not be
    a cost effective solution, but it would work!
    
    Would you feel comfortable posting the town you live in, as a warning
    to other cat owners?
    
419.4YAMS::BBOOP::SCAERBoop-Boop-a-DoopMon Oct 19 1992 17:417
>Only letting him out at night is a thought too.

Night is the least safe time of day for a cat to be out 
because they are impossible to spot by drivers when
crossing the road.

...........................beth
419.5he might be mistaken for a pheasantLUNER::MACKINNONTue Oct 20 1992 08:3620
    
    
    re .3
    
    Holden Mass.  However in talking with others in the area, this
    seems to be a very common thing in the surrounding towns as well.
    I also know for a fact that Princeton has the same rules.
    
    As for enclosing him, I don't have the resources to build him
    something.  My landlady and I discussed this issue yesterday.
    She has been at this one house for a few years and has not
    had any problems to date with her cat.  But her cat is
    white and black.  My boy we think could easily be mistaken
    for a phesant or some game bird.  
    
    One side note is that they do not allow hunting on sundays
    so I think he might have one day a week to hang out with
    the outdoors.  
    
    Michele
419.6Martian necklace!!ERLANG::FALLONKaren Fallon "Moonsta Cattery"Tue Oct 20 1992 10:585
    Could you possibly get one of those collars that has the flashing
    lights in it? I don't know what colors they come in but a green one
    might tell them it is not a deer or pheasant!  Of course they could
    think it was a martian!!!
    Karen
419.7SUBURB::THOMASHThe Devon DumplingTue Oct 20 1992 11:3213
>  But her cat is
>    white and black.  My boy we think could easily be mistaken
>    for a phesant or some game bird.  
 
	I clay-pigeon shoot, and have been out with people who rough shoot, you
	really can tell the difference between a cat and a pheasant, and 
	anything else.
	If you can't see exactly what you're aiming at, you don't shoot, 
	because you'd probably waste a bullet and miss it, or you wouldn't be 
	able to get a clean shot anyway.

	
	Heather
419.8Not all hunters are so nice...STUDIO::COLAIANNITue Oct 20 1992 12:2649
    re: -1
    
    Heather,
    
     I'm sure the hunters you've been ot with are very responsible.
    However, not all hunters are this responsible. I know there are so
    called hunters out there that could care less if they waste a round of
    ammunition or not. They go out there pretty well drunk, and shoot at
    anything that moves, including their fellow hunters sometimes! 
    
     I know of hunters that bird hunt, that most of the time don't even
    flush a bird to flight before shooting! This is how cats and other
    small animals end up dead or injured during huntng season. It happens.
    It's unfortunate, because the number of bad hunters is so small in
    comparison to responsible/sensible hunters, but it's these bad ones
    that make the news and give all hunters a black eye so to speak. 
    
     I don't hunt, but I'm not totally against it, if the hunters are
    responsible, and accurate shots too. If the kill is then used for food,
    I can pretty much go along with it. I couldn't do it myself, but I do
    understand it.
    
     Another point I can make here, is an incident that happened to a good
    friend of mine during deer season. She has horses, and loves to ride,
    but is not dumb enough to ride during deer season. Except for Sunday,
    when hunting is prohibited. Well, she was out riding on a well defined
    trail, wearing a bright colored jacket, and got shot at! She was
    fortunate not to have been hit, but she said she heard the shot go by.
    She looked to see if she could see who had shot at her, but this "so
    called" hunter must have been wearing camouflage clothing (it being
    Sunday and all) and she never saw him. She hustled out of there fast,
    and after that never rode her horse during hunting season again. Even on
    the open road!
    
     So, as much as I'd like to believe human nature has changed, I know
    better. All hunters are not like your friends, unfortunately. Some of
    them are jerks.
    
     Sorry to have rambled on, but I didn't want people to think that all
    hunters know what they are doing, or are supposed to do to avoid
    accidents. 
    
     I mean Greg LaMond the bicyclist was shot by a relative while out
    hunting! And they all knew who was out there! Makes you think, doesn't it?
    
     Thanks for listening.
    
     Yonee
     
419.9OXNARD::KOLLINGKaren/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca.Tue Oct 20 1992 12:595
    There was a lady who was shot and killed in her backyard by a hunter
    who mistook her for a deer sometime in the past few years.  There was a
    big court case about it.  Not to get into a flame war, just to say Be
    Careful All Life Forms.
    
419.10BUSY::MANDILEThat's L-y-n-n-e with an E!Tue Oct 20 1992 13:071
    Yeah...her family lost the case. ):
419.11ERLANG::FALLONKaren Fallon "Moonsta Cattery"Tue Oct 20 1992 13:486
    I remember that case quite well. It was (well, a little cell loss
    here8')) in New Hampshire, right?!  She wasn't more than 150 feet from
    her house.  When I used to visit for Thanksgiving as a child, my aunt
    in N.H., I was always made to wear a bright red jacket.  The hunters
    used to go right through her yard!
    K
419.12Maine, NH same difference :-)SALEM::SHAWTue Oct 20 1992 14:4310
    
    Just for the record the lady that got shot was in Maine. 
    But agree with everyone else. That not all hunters are responsible. 
    There are some that go through a couple of six packs before they 
    go shooting. 
    
    I wish there were better laws to protect us, from these triger happy
    hunters.
    
    Shaw
419.13SANDY::FRASERAre you unpoopular?Tue Oct 20 1992 14:5614
	Fwiw, a 17-year-old boy was killed by a hunter in Seabrook, NH
	last year or the year before.  He was in the woods near his home
	when he was shot.  I believe the hunter was prosecuted for negligent
	homicide.

	Last year I remember seeing in the paper an article about some kids
	in Concord, NH (the state capital) being shot at in their own back
	yard.

	IMO, I'd keep the cat in for the duration - he or she may not be
	happy about it, but unhappiness is a lot better than the alternative.

	Sandy
419.14STUDIO::PELUSOPAINTS; color your corralThu Oct 22 1992 09:001
    what about a loud bell for the cat that has to go outside?
419.15Keep him jailed...BPS025::EGYEDPer aspera ad astraThu Oct 22 1992 10:364
    Keep him in, a bell collar does not help. A jailed cat is better than
    none.
    
    Nat
419.16SUBURB::THOMASHThe Devon DumplingMon Oct 26 1992 05:5019
	Is it really that bad? we have to be interviewed by the police before 
	we are given a shotgun licence, and you have to have a magistrate, or
	someone similar to sign it, to confirm they know you, and they believe 
	you are reponsible.

	Shooting is only allowed with permission from the landowner, and any 
	game shooting has to have an additional licence.

	You wear camoflauge gear because otherwise the rabbits/geese etc., would
	be gone before you could get it.

	The only shooting accidents I know of are with the traps that let out 
	the clay pigeons, peoples hands getting caught in the springs.

	Ahh well, if it was that bad I'd take a couple of weeks off, and stay
	indoors with the cats too.

	Heather
419.17Better...but not greatSTUDIO::COLAIANNIMon Oct 26 1992 10:3414
    Heather,
    
     Things actually do seem to be getting better, but just because there
    are rules to hunting, doesn't mean everyone follows them. If this were
    true, there would be no poaching problems. But the problems do exist,
    and I tend to take the attitude of better to be safe than sorry. I take
    precautions as though all hunters were idiots, although I know the
    number isn't really that large. That way I don't tend to put myself in
    a position that would get me killed if the one I encounter is one of
    the bad ones.
     
     I think it makes sense. For me anyway. 
    
    Yonee
419.18for whom the bell tollsPROXY::HUTCHESONthe revolution will not be televisedMon Oct 26 1992 10:579
A loud bell is definitely not a good idea. A cats hearing is very acute and
something that sounds reasonable to us is very loud for the cat. My neighbor
put a small cowbell on his cat's collar. I think the intent was to prevent her
from birding but the beel was loud even to me. The poor creature always moved
very slowly, so as not to make too much noise (I presume). I was very relieved
when she turned up one day sans bell.


                                    Susan
419.19some shoot at anything that movesGRANMA::JBOBBJanet Bobb dtn:339-5755Tue Nov 10 1992 13:2125
    I live in Maryland, but have a similar "hunting" problem. 
    
    The house we live in now has substantial "open" acres adjacent to our
    yard (we have just under 5 acres). It's beautiful walking and I know
    there is lots of wildlife - we see hawks,rabbits,etc  all the time, and
    have a deer and fox in our backyard. The land next to us is federally
    owned land and hunting is not permitted. However, starting mid-October
    and through Christmas, sometimes later, you can hear gunshots almost
    every weekend.
    
    I never go walking in the woods during this time of year (even on my
    property) anymore. I used to go, and just make lots of noise (talking
    loudly, music) but now I've decided it isn't worth the risk.
    
    It's not the smart/conscientious/fill_in_the_blank hunter I worry
    about. It's the stupid/drunk/fill_in_the_blank idiots that scare the
    stuffing out of me!  If farmers have to paint "COW" on the side of
    their animals, and a woman wearing white mittens (lady in Maine
    referenced in this note) can be mistaken for a deer  - a cat doesn't
    stand a chance.
    
    Keep 'em in. And buy lots of catnip toys... :^)  ... then they won't
    notice the inconvenience!
    
    janetb.