But somebody obviously didn't love them enough to want to take care of them. They didn't even have the decency to take them to the Humane Society, where they could have been dealt with professionally. Instead, they just dumped the kittens on Goose Island.
Sad. But it gets worse. The cats have to eat. Even though they don't have the upbringing to automatically adapt to the wild, they do know how to kill. And kill they will try to do - it's their instinct to do that, even if they don't need to. But now, due to the terrible deed of some person, they have to kill.
Will they kill vermin? Pests we will be glad to be rid of? No. They are all resting right below the bird feeder on Goose Island, a place visited in fall by migrating birds and all winter by local birds that have learned that eager birdwatchers and photographers, including me, like to fill the feeder and enjoy the birds that come. But the birds are seriously imperiled by the presence of the cats, lying in wait below the feeder.
One kitten made an inept lunge at a junco as I watched. It missed. But don't worry. It will get better at killing. It has to, or it could starve.
Whoever dumped these cats did an unspeakably cruel thing to those cute little domestic creatures, but he or she also did inestimable damage to the bird population that frequents that area. They have also caused distress and loss of enjoyment to the many bird lovers who visit the spot. But, oh my, they sure are cute.
Obviously, the cats don't belong there. I am interested in hearing any suggestions on what to do to eliminate the problem. I have a few ideas, but I bet there are many possible solutions out there that we could act upon.
On a later visit, I noticed that someone has put out what I presume are feeding and watering dishes for the cats very near to the bird feeders. That is obviously very irresponsible to the wild birds in the area, to say the least.
The problem of feral cats has been brought up before, in this column and by the press at large. Unfortunately, many people got sidetracked, scoffing at and making jokes about a proposal to legalize shooting the feral cats in Wisconsin.
I won't get into that fray here, but clearly, we need to address the problem of rogue cats that act like unnatural and uncontrolled predators on ground-nesting birds and songbirds. The Goose Island cats aren't unique - there are thousands, perhaps millions of others like them out there overall.
Again, if you have suggestions on how to solve the cat problem on Goose Island, write me at jsolberg000@centurytel.net or call 782-2560. Please leave a name and how to return the call in case I need more details. Thanks!
On Oct. 25, a couple friends and I decided to have a picnic supper on Goose Island. We found the last picnic table still available on the north end of the park and enjoyed the orange glow of the setting sun on the colorful oaks nearby.
As we were finishing our meal, I was stunned to see a mosquito buzzing about. I actually caught the insect, so I am sure that it was really a mosquito and not some non-descript sort of gnat or something like that. Go figure!
I was happy to see that in spite of the new crop of destructive cats, the birds have returned to the feeder on Goose Island, where I observed them during the last winter.
Over the summer, the site was pretty quiet as I passed, but on the first day I visited last week, I saw (in order of abundance) nuthatches, chickadees, juncos, grackles, tufted titmice, bluejays, cardinals, red-bellied woodpeckers and sparrows. In other words, most of the usual gang.
They seemed quite enthusiastic about the seeds left around by a previous visitor, and some of them took chances getting pretty close to the cats. I was surprised that none of them became a victim while I was there.
Let's hope that the place can be a source of food for the birds and satisfaction for nature lovers instead of an ongoing and tragic battle of fur and feathers.
I talked to a couple bowhunters over the weekend and both reported whitetails appeared to be “at the peak of the rut." Tom Buss of Holmen described how he drew in a nice eight-point buck by imitating a buck grunting. He used a tube similar to but smaller than the one I described being used in September to bugle with a bull elk near Clam Lake.
This is cache, read story here
