If you're going to lecture me on something at least know what you're talking about.

[Opalin]

... dear lord some people's children. I've never understood people who think that responsible handling and tasks are wrong for an animal. People and animals like having things to do in general. Sure there are lazy people out there, but most of them will start going stir crazy if they have all their food and needs taken care of, but nothing to do.

On an unrelated note, I think I've learned more about horses over the past few months than I have over my entire life, but mostly re-affirmed my view that I got when I was a kid. "I do not have enough time or money for this". I love watching them, but they take so much more work than my pair of fat lizards.

[EricKei]

Gator tail meat is quite good

As for deer -- We got us some deer hunters 'round these parts, so, when the time comes, they go out for a couple weeks and hunt (up to their legal limit, natch) and have one of the many local deer processor shops do the hard work (these shops can't sell deer meat, only process it). Most of it ends up frozen, but I've gotten to enjoy the taste of deer sausage at community breakfast events Even with people hunting their limit, last I checked, the state was considering increasing those limits because the deer population has been growing out of control even with the hunters' intervention -- which could be disastrous once the critters run out of food. My town is quasi-rural (25K people or so) and it's just assumed that you need to watch out for deer crossing the road 24/7 unless you're on the highway.

[Nunavut Pants]

People and animals like having things to do in general.

I know that some dogs, especially if they are members of one of the "working breeds", can get really neurotic if they don't have a job to do! I've seen more than one "animal behavior" TV show where a dog that constantly misbehaved was significantly reformed once they gave him/her a task to frequently do.

Cats, on the other hand, are happy to nap all day and chase each other all over the house (and across Mama and Daddy) all freaking night long...

[dalesys]

... Cats... chase each other all over the house (and across Mama and Daddy) all freaking night long...

When I was a teen, sleeping out on the lawn, the blockdogs did this! I'll take being trampled by any cat over the stomping of a herd of 60+ pound dogs! Sleep paralysis is wonderful. You can hear them coming and can't move!

[workerbee222]

Re: cats and birds: My neighbor had a ballsy cat. Tangled with porcupines, once chased off another neighbor's Doberman. The cat's name was...Fluffy. (We called him Fluffy the Fierce) While we visited her, she sent her son out to set up a bird feeder. i was stunned, because Fluffy was no slouch. I looked at her and all I could say was, "But..Fluffy..." She looked at me and said, "They only get the weak ones, dear."

And I once knew a man who refused to put up bird feeders on the philosophy that it only helped the weak birds to get through the winter.

[paxillated]

I adopted a 4-month old puppy, a "grade" Plott Hound. After training her to be a good pet, it was obvious that she needed a job. Yeah, she's the one that brought me in to the dog showing world... I trained her up through UKC's Utility title. I didn't go for top points, but I did want the Utility title to mean something I could utilize... she could find my keys if I dropped them, pick up and bring me anything I pointed at, and some other cool stuff.

Once I was "proofing" her for an upcoming trial, in a park in Denver. That means having plenty of distractions for her to ignore - a popular park is a great place for this. Of course, she drew some attention. One guy asked me where he could get a dog like her. I told him, "Adopt a dog at the Dumb Friends League, and train it about 15 minutes a day for about 4 1/2 years, and you'll have a dog a lot like her!" Man, we had fun together. She taught me a lot more than I taught her!

[protege]

You could have an old black lab with no vision or hearing who can't even move but if someone touches him he could react with a bite.

Deaf cats will do that too. I had a deaf kitty name Snow. She was usually very sweet and playful. But, if she was sleeping and you startled her...she'd spaz the hell out. The sleeping white ball of fur would suddenly show claws and teeth The proper procedure was to gently rock her favorite chair so she'd wake up. Less chance of getting mauled that way.

[EricKei]

protege -- Lemme guess: said white kitty had blue eyes? Deafness is incredibly common with that combination.

[protege]

protege -- Lemme guess: said white kitty had blue eyes?

She had yellow eyes. From what I understand though, deafness is pretty common with white cats for some reason. That's why she was in shelter when I found her. Nobody would adopt her, because she was deaf. Their loss.

[wolfie]

Deafness due to a recessive gene is also common among Dalmations. Whenever (as responsible breeders refer to it) "That Damn Movie" gets re-released, lots of puppy mills rush to cash in on the demand, and deaf dogs are the result. Kids approach from out of the dog's sight, dog is startled, defends itself against the surprise threat. Kid gets bitten, dog gets euthanized.

Even "normal" Dalmations are a bad choice for a pet in a household with young children. They are VERY high energy dogs, and need a LOT of exercise (they were originally bred as "coach dogs", to run beside carriages in order to deter local dogs from attacking the horses - the prey "already being claimed" by one group of dogs would deter others, since in addition to bringing down the prey they'd have to fight the dogs that were already chasing it).

[EricKei]

pro - Yeah. White cats in general tend towards deafness, and, presumably due to interconnected recessive genes, blue-eyed white cats are significantly more likely to be deaf. Apparently, it's quite likely that a heterochromic white cat with one blue eye and one yellow/brown/etc eye could be deaf in the "blue eye" ear but not in the other.

[Racket_Man]

Cats, on the other hand, are happy to nap all day and chase each other all over the house (and across Mama and Daddy) all freaking night long...

Add in about 6 kittens and a couple of adults and you get Choo-Choo Train Speed Racer Obstacle Course that starts in the living room around the small bathroom into my bedroom under the bed over the bed (while said humans are asleep in said bed) but the dresser in said bedroom under the bed again and exiting to do another lap of said Choo-Choo Train Speed Racer obstacle course..


wash rinse repeat for 30 minutes.

AND the humans pray that their waterbed will NOT be full of leaks in the morning and will remember to TIGHLY close their bedroom door from now on. Kitties somehow learned that smacking into the bedroom door at full speed knocked the door open