Feral Cat Infestation!

glenn57 wrote:

soo……. how many of these so called “feral” cats are just maybe farm cats looking for dinner??????

serious question!!!!!!!!

It’s usually pretty obvious right away when dealing with cats in traps. The wild ones go nuts. I’ve actually had a tame cat purring at me while in a foot hold trap one time. I was near multiple farms so it’s entirely possible it was just a farm cat but it was definitely tame and friendly. I’m not that cold hearted. I kneeled down, pet it a bit then released it from the trap. His foot was sore but not broken, I’m sure it was just fine. He scampered off to kill more endangered song birds or something.
I did have one fool me one time. It seemed really tame until it wasn’t….. luckily I was wearing heavy Carhartt bibs or my legs would’ve needed stitches.
Physically it’s generally pretty obvious if your handling a feral cat. They’re skinny and dirty compared to a domesticated cat and almost always have fleas.

We had cats on our farm but would not consider any of them tame. They were there for one reason. The only thing they got fed was a couple quarts of milk at the end of each milking. Sometimes we had up to 20 around. In all the years I think we only had one you could pet. It was my aunts before she moved off the farm. It didn’t stay tame for long. Only time they got handled was if we found a batch of kittens then dad would give them a distemper shot.
It sure was a hell of a time when me and my brother would let our 3 Chesapeakes in the barn at the end of milking. We would run them cats ragged till the ole man started yelling. Good times.

Ice Cap wrote:

Local police or sheriffs as they are the ones responding to any issue. I know a couple of local cops and from what they tell me is as long as I’m not discharging a firearm in city limits do what I need. The cats are a big issue and they are getting calls all the time.

Not cat related but about 9 or 10 years ago a local cop stopped over when I was in the front yard and asked me if I had seen a chicken running around. I told him it was in my neighbors yard. He said if I helped him catch it I could have it for dinner. I told him I tried to catch it and couldnt. I said if we could chase it into my backyard I could take care of it. The chicken never left my backyard. He just wanted it gone because he said like 5 people had called 911 because of a damn chicken.

JEREMY wrote:

He just wanted it gone because he said like 5 people had called 911 because of a damn chicken.

The people calling that in should be charged with being stupid and wasting an officer’s time.

A cat or dog is treated different than wildlife according to the police. They will charge you with animal cruelty if you are caught, and in our great state, a pellet gun is considered a firearm, so there’s another felony charge to deal with. I can speak from experience and practice the 3 S’s. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

Craig Sery wrote:

A cat or dog is treated different than wildlife according to the police. They will charge you with animal cruelty if you are caught, and in our great state, a pellet gun is considered a firearm, so there’s another felony charge to deal with. I can speak from experience and practice the 3 S’s. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

Better let me gimruis know that. And I’m only saying that due to how he likes to preach laws to any one breaking one. ( and no hate gim, I’d do the same )

Floyd Ragan the game warden in the Slayton area many years ago was on the record as saying he shot any cat that was more than a quarter of a mile from the nearest farm place.

steelslinger71 wrote:

Floyd Ragan the game warden in the Slayton area many years ago was on the record as saying he shot any cat that was more than a quarter of a mile from the nearest farm place.

I remember that from when I in that area in the late 70’s..

Craig Sery wrote:

A cat or dog is treated different than wildlife according to the police. They will charge you with animal cruelty if you are caught, and in our great state, a pellet gun is considered a firearm, so there’s another felony charge to deal with. I can speak from experience and practice the 3 S’s. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.

The hunting regs specifically state rules about dogs outside of hunting season.

If you have a link on rules about this can you please post it. Someone’s pet in the city is not considered the same as a wild free roaming version.

Also a BB or pellet gun is not considered a firearm in Minnesota. A quick search showed this. Unless something has changed.

A BB gun is not a firearm. And a pellet gun, airsoft or other air-powered gun isn’t a firearm either.

The Minnesota Supreme Court said:

“The issue before us in Haywood was not whether a “firearm” must be a weapon. Rather, the issue before us in Haywood was whether a BB gun that used “compressed air,” and not “gunpowder” or some other “explosive force,” was a “firearm” under Minn. Stat. § 609.165, subd. 1 (2014). 886 N.W.2d at 489-90 (stating “[w]e… hold that an air-powered BB gun is not a firearm”). We did not consider or decide whether a device must be a weapon to be a “firearm.” Today, we conclude that a device must be a weapon to be a “firearm” under Minn. Stat. § 624.713, subd. 1.”

State v. Glover, 952 NW 2d 190 (Minn. Supreme Court 2020)