Stray Cats Guard Chicago Brewery, Protect Precious Beer Grain From Rats

[magical thyme]

79. and I wrote indoors or out, depending on the situation.

Feral cats don't necessarily make good pets, but they can make good workers. They can be left alone, to continue to reproduce, which would not be a good thing, or they can be captured and neutured, so they can't reproduce. Do a thorough enough job of trapping and neutering, and their numbers will go down dramatically.

Feeding feral cats also reduces their desire to kill; they have enough to do avoiding being prey to coyotes, coydogs, fisher cats and cars. I have 2 right now; one is tame enough to be an indoor cat but won't use a litter box consistently enough to live indoors to the shelter gave him to me as a barn buddie. The other fears humans too much to live indoors, but does come into my barn at night to eat.

Shelters I'm familiar with capture and neuter them. They then give them as much time as possible to acclimate to humans. Some end up as great indoor pets. Others simply never trust humans enough to do so. Those they give away to keep mice and rats out of barns where they don't belong, and in the woods where they do.

This program is an excellent way to reduce their numbers and put them to work. Unchecked, mice and rats become a serious health problem in cities and on farms. Providing feral cats with shelter and a job, reduces the poisons put into the environment.

One of the 2 cats I just took in will never trust humans enough to become a pet. The other one rarely leaves the barn or immediate area around the barn; he's very tame but refuses to use a litter box.

Btw, neither lizards nor burmese pythons are mammals.

Burmese pythons are not small, and they are not native species. And they are a threat to birds, coyotes, pet dogs, toddlers and endangered native species in Florida. And they don't have any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

"I won't even talk about the assholes who dump their cats/kittens in a remote area because they are irresponsible."
On this we are in complete agreement.