How is a cat eating a warbler any more unnatural than a coyote eating a cat? Both are a predator-prey interaction between a native and a nonnative species, the only difference is that in one the non-native species is the prey and in one it is the predator
I don’t think roadkill is any more wasted life than prey is, the roadkill will become food for scavengers, it won’t go to waste. That said, I do think that human development can have negative ecological effects, and I can see where roads increase the number of certain species that are killed, and that this could disturb the natural balance of the ecosystem
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Why do cats eating a bird disturb me? Maybe because it is estimated that feral cats kill billions of birds in the US each year. That disturbs me. Yet, a cat does provide a good meal for one of our neighborhood coyotes, that doesn’t bother me a bit, although maybe it should because it is sort of like the coyote stealing dog food from ones backyard food bowl. Likewise, roadkill is a wasted life. We had two gray fox killed within about a quarter mile of our house in the past year and I haven’t seen one since. Same as the problem with feral cats killing birds. It is hard enough for wild animals surviving given the reduced natural spaces, much less making them risk their lives every time they come to a road. Also, roads and highways create genetic islands for many animals - we observed this problem in the SF Bay area with mountain lions due to the major highways. And it is happening here where I now live which, until recently, was much more rural. It all contributes to the sixth extinction. That is what distresses me.
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I think I get what you are saying now, I had thought you were referring to the suffering and loss of life of the individual animal, but now I see you are referring to the larger scale ecological impact of these kinds of things.
Personally the death of the cat I see as a bad thing because it was someone’s beloved pet, but I’m not claiming it is any sort of ecological problem (although coyotes coming closer to people could be a sign that something has happened to their normal habitat)
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Yes, I do feel for the owner of the cat the coyote ate, and I also recognize the pain and suffering. I had an epiphany once while driving when a bobcat ran out in front of me with a small animal in its mouth (I did not hit it). At that moment, even though I had known it for years, I had a very fundamental realization that almost all creatures in nature are eaten and that it is painful. I once saw a Cooper’s hawk snatch a sea gull mid air, take it to the ground, pin the gull on its back and eat it’s chest muscles while it was still alive. I similarly saw a pair of sea gulls pin a coot and do the same thing. Yes, it affects me, but it is the natural order. Sometimes one just has to accept that is the way it is, maybe it is beautiful and we are taught that it is not. I don’t know.
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Ours is around 2006, but they are building here east of Sacramento like crazy. Fortunately, they are setting aside some lands for “mitigation”.
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What gets me is when the instructor of a defensive driving class advises people to go ahead and hit animals in the road instead of trying to avoid or stop for them. I’m sure that in their minds, they are trying to reduce the risk of vehicle collisions; but all I hear is them advocating violence against animals. I have difficulty seeing them as any different from Michael Vick.
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In drivers ed I was told not to swerve or slam the breaks aggressively for animals small enough that they would not injure me or cause loss of control if I hit them, the reasoning being that swerving risks loss of control of the vehicle leading to serious injury or death for you, your passengers, or pedestrians and drivers near you, and that it is better to kill a squirrel than yourself or another person.
I have never heard of driving instructors advocating hitting animals, only saying that it’s not worth driving in ways that endanger human life to avoid animals
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This is veering pretty off topic from iOS features, the original poster has not responded, and staff already shared they’ll be adding a flag feature to the new iOS app, so I’ll close this topic.
If there is a tangential discussion you want to have please use the “reply as linked topic” feature or use direct messages instead.
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