DO NOT feed strangers cats. Water is fine. If you feed it, at best you're fucking up its diet, at worst you're basically abducting the cat.
this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
657 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
245 readers
94 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Pet cats should live inside, with plenty of toys and people that care for them, not out killing bird populations and risking getting run over, etc. Outdoor cats have much shorter life spans...
I can see the logic but it does feel like the cat’s already out of the bag on this one. There are so many free-ranging and feral cats that I wonder if it makes any difference at this point.
It does. Travel to a 3rd world country and look at the difference. Dogs and cats everywhere due to no cultural expectation to keep them indoors or neuter them.
Here is an article better clarifying the effect of our cute little killing machines:
That article seems very new-world-centric
Europe, Mainland Asia & Africa all have native small cats and so the birds and small mammals have evolved to deal with them, the issue is that in Australia & the Americas they haven't and so that's where all the risk of species actually being wiped out is - in the old world the cats largely just replace the larger predators that humans have killed off in the ecosystem
Even in the Americas we have wild cats though. Bobcats are slightly larger but not completely dissimilar. We even used to have ocelots across much of the US, and neotropical migrants will still encounter those for part of the year. So I find the claim that mainland birds are not able to handle cat predation to be a bit questionable. However I am not fully educated on this topic.
I’ve seen a lot of stats about cats and it seems very likely they have important conservation implications in island ecosystems where birds did not evolve with similar predators.
But I’ve not seen evidence of conservation impacts on the mainland where we do and did have similar predators in the past. Just stating that cats eat a lot of birds doesn’t mean they’re a threat to overall populations.
True, but that article says that over 350 of their prey species are at risk species, and that several of those are suspected to already be extinct.
I love cats—I think most people should have them—just be responsible with your furry murderers.
Again it would depend on where those are—threatened species are disproportionately located on those islands I mentioned. Furthermore it doesn’t assign any causation to cat predation.
Maybe cats are a serious conservation threat on continental areas but I’m just saying I haven’t seen evidence of this.
Here’s a study from Oklahoma State University specifically talking about the effects of mainland cats in contrast to island cats:
“Our review shows overwhelming evidence that, beyond causing island extinctions, where there were no native predators, and massive numbers of mainland wildlife deaths, cats can exert multiple types of harmful impacts on mainland wildlife species that are reflected at the population level,”
load more comments
(4 replies)
Maiq has heard its dangerous to be your friend.
Where I live there is practically no risk of them getting ran over. But yes they do catch 2-3 birds per yer.
My cat figured out the dog door by watching the dogs. She's inside 80% of the time but prefers to do her business outside if the weather's clear and goes out for an hour or so about twice a day besides that.
Of all things, my part basset hound mix is a bird killing machine despite the stubby legs, broken hip and arthritis. I don't know how she manages to do it, but lots of half eaten bird corpses started showing up in our yard right after we got her, but only in the back yard which she could reach via the dog door. Starting before the cat started using the dog door.
The cat is abducting itself. They’re not dogs. They’re rarely loyal.
Back when my cat was alive I got occasional reports that he would enter various other houses nearby and meow by the fridge until he was given a cold cut.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I have one cat and a doggy door so it can go in and out as it pleases. A stray cat figured out it could use the doggy door.
I have two cats.
Outdoor cats are responsible for the extinction of numerous bird species.
https://enviroliteracy.org/how-many-birds-killed-by-cats/
https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/
Outdoor cats are also at increased risk of contracting avian flu.
Yep
Further proof that if you're cute enough you can get anything you want.
Step 1:
Step 2:
I don't know about that human baby thing.
Yeah that seems really far fetched. Humans are generally bad at communicating with mostly body posture and scent. We have no tail to wiggle, no easily movable ears and no chance to use cat pheromones.
So naturally the cat has the best chance to get a response by using vocalication/sounds. It is just coincidence that their kittens do also mostly respond to sounds in their first weeks.
Right, but adult cats keep making those vocalizations well past that age.
It's not that far fetched that their neoteny is an adaptation to humans.
Adult cats will meow at kittens.
My dog yawning would make me yawn.
Evolution is stupid.
The resemblance to baby vocalizations can be rather unsettling with some cats. I suppose it's somewhat natural since they're about the same size as a newborn human, but specifically adopting somewhat human-like (and thus baby-like, because that's the one they can imitate the best) vocalization doesn't seem that far-fetched.
I mean, I'm not sure cats are out there observing human babies and intentionally imitating them. They have pattern recognition machines in their heads just like we do. "Make noise = human pay attention" is about as complex as this gets. The fact that we're susceptible to the specific timbre of their voices seems likely to be evolutionary coincidence.
If meows sounded anything like human baby cries they would give me an instant headache and the desire to get rid of the cat
it's literally just that cats figure out that making noise draws our attention, and even better if they make a cute noise.
Toxoplasmosis gang.
actually what they say is "I live here meow"
Doesn't work on me, I just shoo them away. Gotta evolve harder if they wanna try manipulating me.
😻mrow?
Shoo, shoo
😾 hissss
Did they model their meows, or did they have a trait that happened to work in a new environment and then pass it on?
From my understanding, wild cats only meow when little and domesticated cats keep this juvenile trait into adulthood
To my knowledge that's a lot of how domestication winds up being.
What I found interesting was a study when they tried to domesticate silver foxes for the fur industry (because basically they didn't take to being raised in fur farms well). So basically they were selectively bread for not being aggressive to humans.
Which worked, but the drawbacks were effectively... all of their childlike traits remained. IE their ears stayed floppy, and they stopped growing the silver coat that was the whole reason the fur industry wanted them.
Basically I think it could be said that effectively... most domestication traits are more or less, keeping childlike mentality for life in animals.
I can’t tell if I hate cats or love cats but they are never neutral. In fact there is a wild one in my house right now
I don’t even know why is he in my house or how it happened but at this point I think we tolerate each other pretty good. He gets the hose sometimes, I get his piss hose on the floor sometimes. He gets the snacks, I get the purr and fluffiness. I guess I can live with this chaotic balance.
I guess for someone who likes to control things cats could be a nightmare as they will never be some obedient pets but that may tell more about the owner than the cat.
Kinda sucks that my floor and sofa is ruined tho, it’s like a mini tiger, wildlife in your house. I guess this is the pleasures of completely feral cats. It’s possible that with this experience I could take on some caracal or serval. Of course I am not crazy nor I approve to do this but I have a glimpse of what mindset and work it would take
The Cat is also a menace that cannot stand sight of any other cat and goes straight for the throat. Little fluffy psycho, quite lovely
load more comments
(1 replies)
Would people really let some stray live with them? Can't imagine having a pet. They convert money and time into poop and stink and offer nothing in return. Never understood the appeal, yet I love all animals.
offer nothing in return
Warmth, company, fun...? Also, the experience of being responsible for and caring for another being can be very valuable.
Not to me, sorry. What benefit could i have from "caring for another being"? Me, personally? The other being, yes, maybe. But me? I could never care ADEQUATELY for any animal. they don't belong in my company/house. Just because we domesticated the fuck outta them doesn't make it better. And i also couldn't neuter them or feed them this disgusting shit we call pet-food. And also I don't want to take out the shit of others :-)
load more comments
(5 replies)
Twice*
I've been witness to the great cat distribution system.
Our current cat has moved house with us twice. The first house at lived at, we were on the ground floor of the place and this furball just waltzed in and took over. Much to the dismay of the cat we already had.
The preexisting cat was similar. She would hang out at a bus stop that my SO would frequent to get to work, didn't take long before she followed my SO home. She was a shit, but she was cute enough to get away with it. Rest in peace Zora.
Anyways, I would submit that the only reason we haven't had more cats distributed to us is that we lived on the fifth floor of an apartment for a long while. We recently moved into a house so that might change.
view more: next ›