Gareth Morgan wants your cat dead

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#748962 22-Jan-2013 16:20

kiwitrc:
Dont think it makes any difference though, I check the lawn every morning and not a kiwi to be seen.

I would presume his wife isn't a cat lover either, or he has never owned a burmese cat. Many woman are great cat lovers, so I would think that that 75% of people in NZ in total would be against his idea.

kiwitrc

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#748963 22-Jan-2013 16:22

mattwnz:
kiwitrc:
Dont think it makes any difference though, I check the lawn every morning and not a kiwi to be seen.

I would presume his wife isn't a cat lover either, or he has never owned a burmese cat. Many woman are great cat lovers, so I would think that that 75% of people in NZ in total would be against his idea.

I think 75.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Talkiet

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#748964 22-Jan-2013 16:26

His site and the article are a troll, or he's a deluded nutcase.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

NZtechfreak

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#748972 22-Jan-2013 16:34

Damn, just lost a lengthy rebuttal proving he is utterly correct. Curse you work computer!

(Anyways, for anyone still wondering, I was absolutely not being serious. He is probably just trying to distract himself from the fear that has settled upon him after hearing about the #gaycrimewave)

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

kiwitrc

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#748976 22-Jan-2013 16:39

NZtechfreak: Damn, just lost a lengthy rebuttal proving he is utterly correct. Curse you work computer!

(Anyways, for anyone still wondering, I was absolutely not being serious. He is probably just trying to distract himself from the fear that has settled upon him after hearing about the #gaycrimewave)

Gareth Morgan is correct???

stuzzo

534 posts

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#748977 22-Jan-2013 16:39

I don't normally have much time for Gareth Morgan. He get's a lot of press because of his fame, wealth and "out-there" opinions but doesn't seem to have much common sense at times.

I live on a rural property and don't keep cats or dogs. I like the bird life which cats affect and! generally, I think domestic pets are a wasteful use of resources. Removing cats would aid bird numbers somewhat but most birds (including natives like Tui) have adapted to modern conditions although bringing back the rarer species would require the removal of such predators.

The main thing to encourage natives is to provide more food sources such as the nectar trees like bottlebrush.

As far as other predators such as rats, mice, stoats, they are easy to control if you are vigilant with traps. I wish it was so easy with rabbits.

muppet

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#748981 22-Jan-2013 16:44

Some idiot wants his name in the paper again.
People fall over themselves to ensure that happens.

Film at 11.

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ajobbins

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#748984 22-Jan-2013 16:46

My partners parents have a rural property in Kaipara, Northland on which they have planted a significant number of NZ native trees. The result of this has been a notable increase in the presence of native bird life on the property.

They also have 3 cats, and while they don't live on the property, the cats often go with them and they don't have any issues with the cats killing native birds.

NZ has a lot of introduces trees and bush as well, which native wildlife are not adapted to. Planting more native trees may well help the problem more than getting rid of the cats.

Twitter: ajobbins

mattwnz

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#748987 22-Jan-2013 16:53

kiwitrc:
mattwnz:
kiwitrc:
Dont think it makes any difference though, I check the lawn every morning and not a kiwi to be seen.

I would presume his wife isn't a cat lover either, or he has never owned a burmese cat. Many woman are great cat lovers, so I would think that that 75% of people in NZ in total would be against his idea.

I think 75.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I think it was either the Herald or stuff poll showed only 20% of people support the idea. So it is an extreme idea.

stuzzo

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

#748992 22-Jan-2013 17:02

ajobbins: NZ has a lot of introduces trees and bush as well, which native wildlife are not adapted to. Planting more native trees may well help the problem more than getting rid of the cats.

Actually birds seem to take food that they are used to as long as it is the right kind eg nectar. Tuis around my home mainly live on flowering gum and bottlebrush (introduced). I now have mature kaka beak and kowhai that they won't take because it is "foreign" to them.

John2010

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#748998 22-Jan-2013 17:27

ajobbins: My partners parents have a rural property in Kaipara, Northland on which they have planted a significant number of NZ native trees. The result of this has been a notable increase in the presence of native bird life on the property.

They also have 3 cats, and while they don't live on the property, the cats often go with them and they don't have any issues with the cats killing native birds.

NZ has a lot of introduces trees and bush as well, which native wildlife are not adapted to. Planting more native trees may well help the problem more than getting rid of the cats.

I think what you say fits the professional view.

There was some discussion a few weeks ago when some university guy (AUT, if I recall correctly, in which case a low rated university EDIT: With the benefit of further recall think it was the MIT of NZ

Manakau Institute of Technology so even further down the academic hill

) claimed cats were a danger to the native bird population. But his claim was dismissed out of hand in that apparently cats have little effect and in the wild their effect is positive.

What was said was:

The city environment where most cats are is not a very conducive habitat to most native birds due to lack of bush and competition from the much more common introduced bird species (which cats do prey on). In the wild, feral cats feed, in the main, on the rodents that are the main predators of native species, especially, but not limited to, rats and mice (rabbits were also mentioned, I suspect that a feral cat would give a mustelid a run for it's money but perhaps not with the intention of it being prey?). One comment from a field person (Landcare Research, if I recall correctly) who had being banding tuis for many years said that they knew of no instance where one of their banded birds had been lost to a cat.

It was also pointed out that the situation in Australia is the complete opposite to NZ so cannot be compared. Unlike NZ, which has no native land mammals (apart from bats), they have many threatened small rodents which cats do eat in preference to birds as they are easy to catch in comparison and so are a threat to them. Here, we actually want the rodents eaten by cats and the birds left alone.

mattwnz

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#749000 22-Jan-2013 17:31

I have never seen a cat attack a big bird like a tui or wood pigeon, and they also tend to stay in the trees. It is mainly sparrows they they seem to get, which are essentially rats with wings.

freitasm

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#749032 22-Jan-2013 18:33

ajobbins: My partners parents have a rural property in Kaipara, Northland on which they have planted a significant number of NZ native trees. The result of this has been a notable increase in the presence of native bird life on the property.

I see where Gareth Morgan is going with this now.

Instead of eliminating the cats he will propose a new scheme to the government. I can see he teaming up with the Green Party for this.

Pretty similar to the Carbon credits he will sell shares/bonds for people with cats at home. This money will be used to plant native trees and work towards hatching new chicks.

You can then feel greeny good as you have your cats but you're "offsetting" them with this initiative.

Like when you buy a round trip Air New Zealand ticket to Europe and get an offer to add Carbon Credits to the ticket. Not sure anyone has ever added that...

gzt

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#749033 22-Jan-2013 18:35

Well, I kind of like cats but I think Morgan is raising some legitimate concerns about the prevalence of cats in New Zealand. I don't really like this sensationalist attention getting media approach. With the position and resources he has available I'm not sure he is going about it the right way.

Keeping cats inside at night does mitigate the damage when they are most active. If you are concerned about the issue that is the best thing you can do next to not having a cat. This may require dirtbox training if the cat is older and not used to it. Cats do not bring home everything they kill so an individual owner will not necessarily know there is an issue. It is not as if they will keep their midnight snack to show you everytime.

mattwnz

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#749040 22-Jan-2013 18:46

freitasm:
Like when you buy a round trip Air New Zealand ticket to Europe and get an offer to add Carbon Credits to the ticket. Not sure anyone has ever added that...

Perhaps he will call it cat credits.Or perhaps taxes for having cats, or a cat registration /license fee, like for dogs, where the money is supposed to go towards DOC bird programs, but ends up going into a government consolidated fund,

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