Curse of the Cat People
Sep. 3rd, 2007 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urbpanReading through the comments to my last post, I'm detecting a certain recurring misapprehension about me, which is that I'm a "dog person" which, owing to rules of binary personality constructions, necessarily makes me hostile to cats and "cat persons." While it is true that I own dogs (and spend probably far too much time photographing them and writing about them) my affection for them does not preclude affection for other animals.
To be fair, my last post implied that I supported killing and stewing house cats, so I am guilty of putting forth a certain impression. But I share my house with a cat as well as my dogs, and I have owned cats for more years than I have owned dogs. My first wife's cat was a great companion whom I loved dearly; my current wife's cat and I get along quite well, especially if I oblige to put a trickle of water on the bathroom sink after she barges in on me.
Since I work with animals, often the question comes up: "What's your favorite?" I'm honestly stumped. Sometimes I say crows, but that's not even completely true. I really really really like all animals. I'm as delighted to see a centipede as I am to see a prehensile-tailed skink, an ocelot, hyacinth macaw, or pygmy hippo. Because I'm not horrified by arthropods (even the really horrifying ones) some people think of me as "the bug guy." That's okay with me, because then they call me if they find a spider or other cool thing.
I'm kind of amazed when anyone has strong feelings about a particular kind of animal, whether it is a phobia or an obsession. What psychology makes a person afraid of birds, earthworms, or moths? I'm only really afraid of an animal to the degree that it makes sense to be--with the possible exception of the gorillas. I'm afraid of them because of the way they look at you; it makes me really uncomfortable; too close to human. When someone is obsessively affectionate toward a certain animal type, I think it's even stranger. There's a reason for the "crazy cat lady" stereotype, though I've encountered crazy dog people, and crazy horse people as well. I'm sure there must be crazy ferret people, and (God help us) crazy sugarglider people out there, and I'll encounter them eventually. Maybe I'm too mentally disorganized to focus on one animal, too scatterbrained to learn all there is about a single species--or breed of a species.
What I do like, for sure: bulldogs, including pit bulls, english bull terriers (the target dog and spudz mackenzie), Bostons and frenchies, and english and american bulldogs; Ground birds, especially chickens, but also hornbills and ratites; large reptiles, especially crocodilians and big monitors; salamanders; arthropods of all types including the many many legged and the kind with pincers; monkeys (who doesn't love monkeys?); corvids. But I also find that whenever I work with a new taxa, my interest in it increases. I've learned a lot about pygmy hippos and zebras in the past month. I was fascinated to get a really close look at a kangaroo's foot while it was chemically immobilized (I love that phrase). I wanted to see more, ask more, know more--the weight is all on one digit, but are there two on one side of the big toe and one on the other, or some other arrangement? I never thought I'd care much about deer, but caring for them, at Drumlin, they became utterly amazing to me.
I also really like rats and cockroaches. All the urban survivor animals are awesome. Rats are some of the most amazing animals ever (and if anyone wants a small furry pet I always recommend a rat) except for possibly the cockroach. What a fascinating association these creatures have developed between themselves and humans. Our destinies are forever entwined, and they will always be part of our ecology. But it's my job to kill them, and that doesn't bother me. Animals should be respected and admired, but I don't believe it is immoral to kill them. There are many defensible reasons to kill animals, and for rats and cockroaches the reasons are plain and numerous. (As Bill Murray's character says in Caddyshack--making the distinction between killing "golfers" and "gophers," "Oh, we can kill the gophers--we don't even have to have a reason.") Alas, their success in exploiting our artificial environments is the reason we are compelled to kill them. (State-mandated Integrated Pest Management principles state that non-lethal and non-chemical methods of pest control are to be pursued first. Put lids on your trash cans first--if you still have rats, then kill them.) The same goes for Australia's feral cats.
For my part, some day I may own emus, but I don't think I'll ever be "the crazy emu guy," except that if you own emus, I think your neighbors will call you "the crazy emu guy" even if you have other animals.
To be fair, my last post implied that I supported killing and stewing house cats, so I am guilty of putting forth a certain impression. But I share my house with a cat as well as my dogs, and I have owned cats for more years than I have owned dogs. My first wife's cat was a great companion whom I loved dearly; my current wife's cat and I get along quite well, especially if I oblige to put a trickle of water on the bathroom sink after she barges in on me.
Since I work with animals, often the question comes up: "What's your favorite?" I'm honestly stumped. Sometimes I say crows, but that's not even completely true. I really really really like all animals. I'm as delighted to see a centipede as I am to see a prehensile-tailed skink, an ocelot, hyacinth macaw, or pygmy hippo. Because I'm not horrified by arthropods (even the really horrifying ones) some people think of me as "the bug guy." That's okay with me, because then they call me if they find a spider or other cool thing.
I'm kind of amazed when anyone has strong feelings about a particular kind of animal, whether it is a phobia or an obsession. What psychology makes a person afraid of birds, earthworms, or moths? I'm only really afraid of an animal to the degree that it makes sense to be--with the possible exception of the gorillas. I'm afraid of them because of the way they look at you; it makes me really uncomfortable; too close to human. When someone is obsessively affectionate toward a certain animal type, I think it's even stranger. There's a reason for the "crazy cat lady" stereotype, though I've encountered crazy dog people, and crazy horse people as well. I'm sure there must be crazy ferret people, and (God help us) crazy sugarglider people out there, and I'll encounter them eventually. Maybe I'm too mentally disorganized to focus on one animal, too scatterbrained to learn all there is about a single species--or breed of a species.
What I do like, for sure: bulldogs, including pit bulls, english bull terriers (the target dog and spudz mackenzie), Bostons and frenchies, and english and american bulldogs; Ground birds, especially chickens, but also hornbills and ratites; large reptiles, especially crocodilians and big monitors; salamanders; arthropods of all types including the many many legged and the kind with pincers; monkeys (who doesn't love monkeys?); corvids. But I also find that whenever I work with a new taxa, my interest in it increases. I've learned a lot about pygmy hippos and zebras in the past month. I was fascinated to get a really close look at a kangaroo's foot while it was chemically immobilized (I love that phrase). I wanted to see more, ask more, know more--the weight is all on one digit, but are there two on one side of the big toe and one on the other, or some other arrangement? I never thought I'd care much about deer, but caring for them, at Drumlin, they became utterly amazing to me.
I also really like rats and cockroaches. All the urban survivor animals are awesome. Rats are some of the most amazing animals ever (and if anyone wants a small furry pet I always recommend a rat) except for possibly the cockroach. What a fascinating association these creatures have developed between themselves and humans. Our destinies are forever entwined, and they will always be part of our ecology. But it's my job to kill them, and that doesn't bother me. Animals should be respected and admired, but I don't believe it is immoral to kill them. There are many defensible reasons to kill animals, and for rats and cockroaches the reasons are plain and numerous. (As Bill Murray's character says in Caddyshack--making the distinction between killing "golfers" and "gophers," "Oh, we can kill the gophers--we don't even have to have a reason.") Alas, their success in exploiting our artificial environments is the reason we are compelled to kill them. (State-mandated Integrated Pest Management principles state that non-lethal and non-chemical methods of pest control are to be pursued first. Put lids on your trash cans first--if you still have rats, then kill them.) The same goes for Australia's feral cats.
For my part, some day I may own emus, but I don't think I'll ever be "the crazy emu guy," except that if you own emus, I think your neighbors will call you "the crazy emu guy" even if you have other animals.
