Curse of the Cat People

[urbpan]

Reading 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.

Comments

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

Dude, emus can seriously Mess. You. Up. They're kicky and bitey and rather like velociraptors without the extra disemboweling claw.

Fascinating to be sure. And there's folks who farm them out here for meat, oil, and eggs.

But I guess you'd be the sort of person to know they're not just big chickens. (And a rooster can be a vicious little bastard and dangerous, too!) lol!

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I love our cats all to pieces (and I'd definitely consider myself a "cat person"), but I don't think they're little people, either.

/agrees there's something not quite right about people who intensely fixate emotionally on certain animals, to the point that they THINK they're "saving" all the feral cats in the neighborhood but actually leaving them in overcrowded, deplorable conditions

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

"Grizzly Man" comes to mind, suddenly. ;)

[somniferum.livejournal.com]

I find it entertaining that people will automatically assume I am a "dog person" just because I work with dogs. Dogs are great! But at the end of the day, I'd rather chill with a cat. Funny enough, when people ask about my pets and find I have neither cats nor dogs, but a snake, they almost universally say "......oh." I guess snakes aren't fuzzy enough.

I can appreciate not being able to pick a favorite animal. It's a sort of universal facination for things that are alive and breath and do things. Birds are a more specific interest for me, I find their movements amazing and will watch them all day. I can't get into the singular drive for finding birds to tick off a list that many bird-watching groups have, though. But even among birds, I couldn't choose a favorite.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Heh, I seem to be the only cat person who wasn't outraged by your last post.

Was I the only Aussie who responded? I guess actually working with these animals that are on the brink of extinction somewhat due to the impact of foxes and cats, I can see it all from a different angle.

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[urbpan.livejournal.com]

So far you are the only Aussie who responded. wirrrn and stonelizard (ex-pat brit in oz) have been mum.

I greatly appreciate your input, by the way!!

[teratologist.livejournal.com]

I wasn't outraged, I just think that cat cuisine won't work.

The animals I'm obsessed with are mostly extinct birds, so I can definitely see the downside of roaming cats.

[weofodthignen]

Well, it's your blog . . . and your area of expertise and lifelong interest.

But I did find it puzzling and disappointing that you posted such an entry. I think it's overly simplistic to fall back on the stereotypes of "crazy cat lady" and "sentimental." Of course emotions are involved in our relationships with animals, especially pet species, and where on earth does one draw the line between "doting" and "crazy"--5 cats? 6? And disingenuous in this post when you claim you have no favorite kinds of animals--and then go on to list those you do, indeed, prefer. In fact the icon you used on the last post plays the favorites game.

There are no pristine ecospheres left on this planet. The demise of that species of bird done in by the lighthouse keeper's cat--the dusky sparrow?--was tragic. So was the passenger pigeon, and the dodo, and all the other critters humans killed directly. But some places have far more fragile ecologies--and species--than others; and domestic cats were not simply bred as companions (or objects of veneration), but developed as a subspecies in response to human agriculture--the feral cat is more likely to predate the domestic cat than the feral dog the domestic dog, and their relationship with humans has been a partnership from the start, just of a different kind than the dog. One commenter gave a splendid example of an ecosphere that needs loose cats. Again, you're the expert, but you seem to me to be oversimplifying based on the cat's heritage of living on the farm rather than in the farmhouse.

So the entry made me consider you less of a pantheist, yes. Rather sad about it, but here's a belated account of myself.

M

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your well-thought out and articulate response.

[the-icequeen.livejournal.com]

I was reading this post, and was surprised to see you mention prehensile tailed skinks!
I share my home with a prehensile tailed skink. Her name is Dill. Because she looks like a giant dill pickle, of course.
A number of years ago, I came across her languishing in a pet shop. Her toes were dropping off, and the tip of her tail really wasn't far behind them.
I bartered with the shop owner, and purchased her for a total of 250 dollars.
I had been in contact with a couple people from the southern U.S. who were trying to build colonies of corucia. So, my intention was that Dill would go join them. Since they are a social lizard, I felt that was important.
Of course the pet shop could not prove she was captive bred and born. There were at least 3 different stories of how she came to be in that pet shop.
Since I could not prove that she was not an illegal import, and since Corucia were listed by CITES as Appendix II, she could not cross the border legally.
My dreams of her joining a colony were dashed. But, we do the best we can for her. Hopefully she's happy here with us in her own lizard way.
Here she is in all her green glory:


This doesn't really have anything to do with anything, I just wanted to share my skink story. I hope you don't mind.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I like your skink story! Thanks :)