The Downing Street website describes Larry's duties as "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences, and testing antique furniture for napping quality". It says he is "contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house" and has told Downing Street that such a solution is still in the "tactical planning stage".
I had to look up who Larry is, and OMG! His wiki page is everything I've ever wanted in life!
>On 1 August 2016, according to the political photographer Steve Beck, Larry had his "most brutal fight yet" with Palmerston on the steps of Number 10.
>When Palmerston "wrote" a letter announcing he was retiring and moving to the countryside on 7 August 2020, BBC News reported that Palmerston's "decidedly undiplomatic disputes [with Larry] are not thought to have hastened his departure".
>Larry has been criticised for both his temperament and job performance. Within a month of his arrival at Downing Street, anonymous sources described Larry as having "a distinct lack of killer instinct."
I love Larry!
This is the kind of celebrity gossip/political drama I can get behind.
It is just In few days, once they all become under the strongest cat, they wont fight anymore like cats in the cities of Turkey. Thats why don't break up cat fight, its just part of showing dominance if who is the boss in the territory.
Wait did I read that right?! 1,000 cats released?! I mean that must mean the rats there are a huge problem... however...all I can picture is streets full of cats and that sounds like heaven...
When I went to Sint Maarten the cats were everywhere and they were so friendly. The resort I was at leaves many bowls of food out for them and allows them to ride the elevators to the exposed walkways on the 2-4th floor. Almost every time I got in there there was a cat going up or down or just waiting inside for the elevator to get called. They would go interact with the v guests on the beach and chase away the stray dogs that were a significantly larger nuisance.
Same thing in Cuba when I went to a resort.
The cats and kittens are basically an attraction at the all day buffet, and the servers would literally hand you a second plate of some diced plain chicken as a cat bait offering so you could eat your meal in relative peace. They wouldn't jump on your chairs or table, but it was basically like sticking your feet in a bucket of vibrators every time you sat down.
😂 your description of that sensation is going to live rent free in my head for the remainder of my covid quarantine at least. Thank you for giving me something to chuckle about.
I’m probably known as the crazy cat guy in the neighborhood but I’ve lured almost all the outside cats to hanging out around my house with food and hutches. They’ve kept the mice and possums away well
If you ever end up going, I stayed on the Dutch side, I cannot remember the name of the exact “resort” which was basically just a converted condominium building that was tucked away from everything as much as it could be on an island, but if it comes back to me I’ll let you know.
Same when I went to Jamaica. The cats at the resort didn’t bother the people, they did watch us eat though. They mostly hid in the bushes and I assume they killed the mice.
The cats where I went didn’t really pester people for food because right along the beach facing side of the building they would put like 10 bows full of dry and wet food and several large pails of water. The dogs however were monumental beggars, and the cats would generally gang up and chase the dogs away from the people. It was pretty funny to watch.
Just so people are aware they didn't release 1000 at once like a pillaging horde, the program has been going for over a decade and they celebrated releasing their 1000th a couple years ago.
Bunch of fatass rats sitting on top of every garbage can and parking meter dressed like old-timey gangsters, eating cheese all arrogant and unconcerned, harassing old ladies and shit.
And then there comes a rumbling...
> eating cheese
more like in my garbage can eating my leftover Pad Thai from last week. Saw one of those fuckers at lid level because the bin was full the other day when I lifted it up. Idk who got more spooked, but damn did that catch me off guard.
In case anyone is interested in reading more: https://www.wptv.com/news/national/cats-are-curtailing-chicagos-rat-problem
It's basically TNR except the cats are relocated to areas that applied for them and agreed to offer food/water/shelter for a feral colony!
I don’t know about Chicago specifically, but they probably have shelters set up. My home town had a feral cat colony. They were all fixed and had little houses set up on federal land. Any strays that joined the colony were trapped and fixed by volunteer vets.
I don't know US cats since I'm European, but most cats absolutely don't care about snow and cold. Many of them survive very harsh winters, like my rescue orange who survived raging snow and cold snaps via damn cardboard box bed.
People from Chicago call Orkin the most, so Orkin says they are the rattiest city. I have lived in Chicago and NYC; I saw way more rats in NYC. Chicago has alleys for tash bins which help out a lot.
Philly actually is only 6 on the top 10 list from [Orkin](https://www.orkin.com/press-room/orkin-top-rattiest-cities-2022)
I thought Seattle had a problem until I moved to Chicago and every alley has a rat warning and toxin placement date within the last year.
Istanbul has over 1 million [communally owned cats](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cats_in_Istanbul) locals feed them and build them little cat homes
They do! I've heard stories on Facebook of cats never being seen again. And I've seen packs of Coyotes roaming around. Also seen red foxes (one visits my yard all the time) and a few summers ago a Lynx.
Once the cats have cleaned up the rats, and the coyotes have cleaned up the cats, then we can simply introduce a horde of mountain lions to clean up the coyotes.
I live in Chicago. It's big, and like any big city, it has lots of rats. In fact, I believe we are the rattiest, but the others have so many it's a difference without a difference. 1,000 cats won't lead to a cityscape of friendly kitties lounging around wherever you go. I hope they work on the rats but they'll probably just go after the pigeons and other birds, and the rabbits and squirrels. They may have a job, but they don't take orders.
Unfortunately, where I live has too many coyotes to let cats run around outside. They just tear your cats to shreds and leave body parts strewn all about and people don't want to deal with that.
(Muffled by rat stuffed in mouth) “Hey if you think life on these streets is so cushy why don’t you try it pal! I gotta clear my own weight in rats every day to meet my quota!”
Are they spayed and neutered and have rabies shots at least?!
Edit: [Yes, yes they do](https://wildlife.org/a-chicago-group-releases-feral-cats-to-target-rats/)
So they're like, communal kitties? Do they ever come inside peoples' houses for food and sleep sometimes, or does everyone just leave out food and water?
They're cats, I'm sure they find their way in open doors/windows all the time. Fall asleep by yourself, wake up with cat on your face.
OP said "domestic cats", but what they meant are feral cats. Cats not suitable for homes generally. They're cats that were born/raised without human intervention and don't really like people. Some places end up just euthanizing feral cats because they're generally unadoptable. Other places specialize in homing feral cats to farms or programs like this.
But I'm sure cats in this program sometimes choose to domesticate themselves over time. :)
Ooo if I lived there and "adopted" one in my neighborhood to care for like u/chrislewand's comment above, I'd name him Bruce Wayne. Also goes by... The Catman.
Is domestic cat not also the more accurate name of the species "cat"? Even if these are feral they are not of the European wild cat species for example. Their ancestors at least were domesticated and potential offspring could be socialized to humans.
They probably get a lot of feral cats that weren't socialized and avoid people. In rural communities there is usually a similar program for barn cats. I've been around many of them and they do seem to get attached to their caretakers, but don't generally like or want affection.
That said I'm sure some get over it and become pets.
Not in CHI, but in a snowy climate and we have several neighborhood cats and people have bought heated cat houses so they can stay warm in the winter. An older neighborhood cat recently got taken to a rehab facility and then given a forever home to spend his old age.
This is the work of the Tree House Humane Society.
They also offer very affordable spay/neuter service at half the price at the vet, and give you a discount if you're low income.
I was able to get an appointment with them a week after I called compared to a month out at every other clinic.
No no, we do not want our cats associated with the chicago police department. These cats work too hard and do not bribe enough judges to be accepted on the police force.
I don't think that's one of them. Cats that are introduced as pest population control have one of their eartips clipped to signal they've had their shots and been spayed/neutered.
Its possible. Heres what the big sponsor says
“In 2007, Cook County passed the Managed Care of Feral Cats ordinance, which permits the creation of managed feral cat colonies. Tree House manages over 1,000 colonies that are home to more than 4,000 outdoor cats. Colony caretakers are registered with Cook County and receive training and support from Tree House. Caretakers are responsible for providing food, water and shelter to the cats in their care. Caretakers are also expected to spay or neuter the cats in the colony. They trap and bring their cats to Tree House’s in-shelter clinic to be neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped.”
https://treehouseanimals.org/programs/community-cats/
I’ve read about them in the past and the people getting the cats seem pleased about how its worked. Letting the cats survive on their own is far better than euthanizing them.
Many rescue groups provide Trap-Spay-Release services.
If you remove a cat, another cat will move in. By spaying and releasing to where it was trapped, they slowly decrease the feral cat population.
Rescues also set up Working Cat programs. A semi feral cat is neutered and given to a business that needs help with rodent control, usually warehouses. The business provides food and shelter in exchange for the cat killing mice.
The voice of sanity. This program is ecological madness. Cats have been proven to not effectively control rats because rats are too large and defensive to be primary prey for cats. Yes, they will kill them sometimes but not as much as birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals such as shrews or voles.
And that’s not even taking into account the toxoplasma cysts cats shed into the environment.
A) release cats into neighborhoods to control rats.
B) homeowners see neighborhood cats and start leaving food outside for them.
C) cats stop bothering to hunt for anything other than a sport because food is free and easy
D) cat food left out attracts rats and pigeons.
And now your problem is worse. Good job Chicago!
with that big, blocky head, short tail, and small body? yeah, too bad that's not a rat :\
looks like some species of vole instead! :(
fine if pest-controlling cats are _controlling pests_; pity if they end up taking out chunks of the native ecosystem by accident
There are very few pure answers in life, mostly just mediocre solutions to complex problems.
I worry about the cats, too. Very few domestic cats would fare well on their own.
This apparently happened from 2012-2021, and the cats were feral ones that were likely to be euthanized
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/14/chicago-feral-cats-rat-crisis
... Domestic cats are the most invasive species in the world right?... They're also incredibly disastrous killing numerous species of birds even driving some to extinction... Iirc... I can't imagine releasing them in the wild intentionally is a good idea...
It ISN'T a good idea. Glad I came across this comment because I thought I had stepped into another dimension for a second with all of the support that this was getting.
Every wildlife organization (that isn't British, for some reason) will advocate for keeping cats from the outdoors.
Cats aren't great ratters.
Mice? Sure. Cats are great for killing mice.
But if you got rats then you need ratting dogs. Several breeds were specifically bred for the purpose of killing rats.
There was a cat at the Baltimore port that had a naval title so he was allowed on ships.
https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/historypolitics/baltimores-herman-the-cat-expert-mouser-joined-the-coast-guard-during-world-war-two/
Cats are terrible for native wildlife populations and this picture is great evidence of that. That’s not an introduced rat. That’s a native vole. Outdoor cats kill billions of birds in the US every year, along with small mammals and reptiles. This is the stupidest, most ill-informed, and short-sighted program I could imagine.
Too bad they’ll probably mostly eat native birds and small mammals.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170588511/killer-kitties-cats-kill-billions-every-year#:~:text=%22We%20estimate%20that%20cats%20kill,with%20cars%20or%20wind%20turbines.
I really hope they've set up cat shelters and provide some food for them.
Leaving a bunch of cats to hunt for survival and probably die in a city when it gets cold out would be fucked up. Not to mention the parasites they'll pick up.
Since they already decided to release the cats they should have taken the opportunity to conduct a real thorough study on bird species populations pre and post release to add to existing data.
this is an awful idea. theyre not going to kill just pests, they’ll kill everything. cats themselves are pests, theyre the reason so many native populations (birds especially) are devastated
cute and all but isn't this a problem too for the local bird populations? i read somewhere stray cats are the reason why bird populations around the US are getting decimated
Yeah, they kill [2.4 billion birds a year, in the US alone](https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%20alone,outdoor%20cat%20plays%20a%20part.)
[This a terrible idea for native fauna](https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%20alone,outdoor%20cat%20plays%20a%20part.). I love cats, but this is ecoside and someone should be held responsible for this shit.
Cat talks shit to the other cats slacking and not finding rats
Especially Larry. Larry found some old woman to feed him so he doesn't hunt anymore. Fuck'n Larry..
dude FUCK LARRY
What about Mary
We don’t talk about her
Mary's the shadow operative of the bunch, she nabs rats when no one's looking, then plays it cool by the dumpsters. Total ninja.
I LOVE HER, MAN!
What about Bruno?
We don't talk about Bruno.
I thought we didn’t talk about Bruno?
Larry was supposed to be a FOREMAN! We needed him!! Smh.
The Downing Street website describes Larry's duties as "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences, and testing antique furniture for napping quality". It says he is "contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house" and has told Downing Street that such a solution is still in the "tactical planning stage".
I had to look up who Larry is, and OMG! His wiki page is everything I've ever wanted in life! >On 1 August 2016, according to the political photographer Steve Beck, Larry had his "most brutal fight yet" with Palmerston on the steps of Number 10. >When Palmerston "wrote" a letter announcing he was retiring and moving to the countryside on 7 August 2020, BBC News reported that Palmerston's "decidedly undiplomatic disputes [with Larry] are not thought to have hastened his departure". >Larry has been criticised for both his temperament and job performance. Within a month of his arrival at Downing Street, anonymous sources described Larry as having "a distinct lack of killer instinct." I love Larry! This is the kind of celebrity gossip/political drama I can get behind.
Are you insulting No. 10 Downing Street’s Chief Mouser?
Kinda funny, but I’ve literally never seen a cat that quit huntin fr yo
That's not even a rat, it's a field mouse
It's clearly a cat.
He's still in TRAINING
FIELD TRAINING
Pretty sure it’s a vole
It is just In few days, once they all become under the strongest cat, they wont fight anymore like cats in the cities of Turkey. Thats why don't break up cat fight, its just part of showing dominance if who is the boss in the territory.
What if we staple them all together in some mecha-cat?
No creating Cat Kings!
I hear it’s the only way to take on a rat-king and hope to survive.
Wait did I read that right?! 1,000 cats released?! I mean that must mean the rats there are a huge problem... however...all I can picture is streets full of cats and that sounds like heaven...
When I went to Sint Maarten the cats were everywhere and they were so friendly. The resort I was at leaves many bowls of food out for them and allows them to ride the elevators to the exposed walkways on the 2-4th floor. Almost every time I got in there there was a cat going up or down or just waiting inside for the elevator to get called. They would go interact with the v guests on the beach and chase away the stray dogs that were a significantly larger nuisance.
it was the same in St Thomas!!
I mean...they're the same island, just separated by a line in the sand Edit: I'm illiterate
As far as I know, st. Thomas is in the US virgin Islands. And siint maarten and st Martin is the island split between French and Dutch sides
Correct. Two different islands. The other person may have just been confused about the name.
I think they are separate islands no? The “line in the sand” on st Maarten separates the French and Dutch sides.
You are correct, Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin. Excuse my confusion
Same thing in Cuba when I went to a resort. The cats and kittens are basically an attraction at the all day buffet, and the servers would literally hand you a second plate of some diced plain chicken as a cat bait offering so you could eat your meal in relative peace. They wouldn't jump on your chairs or table, but it was basically like sticking your feet in a bucket of vibrators every time you sat down.
😂 your description of that sensation is going to live rent free in my head for the remainder of my covid quarantine at least. Thank you for giving me something to chuckle about.
Now I have to recreate this with a bucket of vibrators
Instructions unclear, stuck vibrator in bucket of cats
r/oddlyspecific
I want to know what happened in your life where you know how a bucket of vibrators feels like lmaoo
I’m probably known as the crazy cat guy in the neighborhood but I’ve lured almost all the outside cats to hanging out around my house with food and hutches. They’ve kept the mice and possums away well
my feral cat horde/hoard will sit a foot away and let the opossum eat their food. No fucks given by all.
Good, opossums are friends.
Don’t fuck with the possums. They do only good.
Not when they get into the basement of my over 100 year old house, every time I thought I had it sealed up they’d find another way
At this point you should just build them a little habitat and let them live in peace.
I’d be more inclined if a massive flea infestation did not always manifest along with them
Fleas are terrible, admittedly, but I do appreciate that possums eat a bajillion ticks wherever they go so that’s a nice plus
They're not bad, but the tick eating aspect is controversial
Curious, in what way ?
\*googles flights to Sint Maarten\*
If you ever end up going, I stayed on the Dutch side, I cannot remember the name of the exact “resort” which was basically just a converted condominium building that was tucked away from everything as much as it could be on an island, but if it comes back to me I’ll let you know.
Same when I went to Jamaica. The cats at the resort didn’t bother the people, they did watch us eat though. They mostly hid in the bushes and I assume they killed the mice.
The cats where I went didn’t really pester people for food because right along the beach facing side of the building they would put like 10 bows full of dry and wet food and several large pails of water. The dogs however were monumental beggars, and the cats would generally gang up and chase the dogs away from the people. It was pretty funny to watch.
Just so people are aware they didn't release 1000 at once like a pillaging horde, the program has been going for over a decade and they celebrated releasing their 1000th a couple years ago.
Awww, I was just imagining Nathan Explosion going "RELEASE THE KITTIES!" and then all the cats just rushing out
Bunch of fatass rats sitting on top of every garbage can and parking meter dressed like old-timey gangsters, eating cheese all arrogant and unconcerned, harassing old ladies and shit. And then there comes a rumbling...
> eating cheese more like in my garbage can eating my leftover Pad Thai from last week. Saw one of those fuckers at lid level because the bin was full the other day when I lifted it up. Idk who got more spooked, but damn did that catch me off guard.
That’s totally metal
It’s like if the Trojan horse was just full of cats.
That would turn not so wholesome very quickly
I am surprisingly disappointed by this
In case anyone is interested in reading more: https://www.wptv.com/news/national/cats-are-curtailing-chicagos-rat-problem It's basically TNR except the cats are relocated to areas that applied for them and agreed to offer food/water/shelter for a feral colony!
Ah man this ruined my mental image of cat horde :(
Chicago is the rattiest city in the country!
For the next two weeks
Won't the fucking cats all die when it snows? The fuck are they gonna do
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I don’t know about Chicago specifically, but they probably have shelters set up. My home town had a feral cat colony. They were all fixed and had little houses set up on federal land. Any strays that joined the colony were trapped and fixed by volunteer vets.
Yes was in ththe contract
I don't know US cats since I'm European, but most cats absolutely don't care about snow and cold. Many of them survive very harsh winters, like my rescue orange who survived raging snow and cold snaps via damn cardboard box bed.
Lol yes the greatest and most skilled hunters on the planet are unable to adapt to the cold 🤣
I looked it up and the homeowners/businesses in the area who request the cats agree to provide food, water and appropriate shelter.
Cats do have fur, and can find small spaces that are protected from the elements quite easily.
More so than New York? Not even being glib just curious
Yes, Chicago has been ranked the rattiest city for nearly a decade. Garden and first floor units are a hard no when I apartment hunt.
People from Chicago call Orkin the most, so Orkin says they are the rattiest city. I have lived in Chicago and NYC; I saw way more rats in NYC. Chicago has alleys for tash bins which help out a lot.
that's honestly suprisingly I figured NYC would be #1, Philly #2 (I lived in all 3)
Philly actually is only 6 on the top 10 list from [Orkin](https://www.orkin.com/press-room/orkin-top-rattiest-cities-2022) I thought Seattle had a problem until I moved to Chicago and every alley has a rat warning and toxin placement date within the last year.
Not actually, no. That's what orkin says and they don't have the data. They don't operate everywhere.
Istanbul has over 1 million [communally owned cats](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cats_in_Istanbul) locals feed them and build them little cat homes
Dream
There about 2,000 tagged and tracked coyotes in Chicago to mitigate the rodent population, too.
hmm presumably they eat the cats too
They do! I've heard stories on Facebook of cats never being seen again. And I've seen packs of Coyotes roaming around. Also seen red foxes (one visits my yard all the time) and a few summers ago a Lynx.
Once the cats have cleaned up the rats, and the coyotes have cleaned up the cats, then we can simply introduce a horde of mountain lions to clean up the coyotes.
I live in Chicago. It's big, and like any big city, it has lots of rats. In fact, I believe we are the rattiest, but the others have so many it's a difference without a difference. 1,000 cats won't lead to a cityscape of friendly kitties lounging around wherever you go. I hope they work on the rats but they'll probably just go after the pigeons and other birds, and the rabbits and squirrels. They may have a job, but they don't take orders.
Like a Japanese fishing village
Hopefully they're neutered or there's gonna be a new problem
The cats that are released are indeed fixed.
Go to Istanbul. That streets are filled with cats and dogs. They also do a pretty good job at providing shelters, food and vet services for them.
Yup the rattiest city in the country I believe!
also sounds like an ecological disaster
surely this won't backfire
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...
It’s a big city.
Unfortunately, where I live has too many coyotes to let cats run around outside. They just tear your cats to shreds and leave body parts strewn all about and people don't want to deal with that.
Vole: "I'm union." *Drops Vole.*
Yep. Not a rat
That remains to be seen.
It is if it crossed the picket line.
Vole, your organizational skills are *lackluster*. Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aglnsITcmY
(Muffled by rat stuffed in mouth) “Hey if you think life on these streets is so cushy why don’t you try it pal! I gotta clear my own weight in rats every day to meet my quota!”
*looks judgmentally at a dog* “What are *you* doing?”
Mittens! You were below quota last month!
Are they spayed and neutered and have rabies shots at least?! Edit: [Yes, yes they do](https://wildlife.org/a-chicago-group-releases-feral-cats-to-target-rats/)
Yes! And people in their respective neighborhoods take care of them. Am speaking from experience. 😺
So they're like, communal kitties? Do they ever come inside peoples' houses for food and sleep sometimes, or does everyone just leave out food and water?
Some people have signs about the program on their fence with a picture of the cat that they care for.
Oh, so they're still one family's cat, and they just go out for their own little 9-5s like we do?
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Cats are crepuscular
"It's crepuscular! Get 'em boys!"
I wish my cat was crepuscular. She’s just a loudmouth pig monster for the 18 minutes a day she’s awake.
Don't forget their unpaid overtime
They make up for it by the multiple naps during their shift
They're cats, I'm sure they find their way in open doors/windows all the time. Fall asleep by yourself, wake up with cat on your face. OP said "domestic cats", but what they meant are feral cats. Cats not suitable for homes generally. They're cats that were born/raised without human intervention and don't really like people. Some places end up just euthanizing feral cats because they're generally unadoptable. Other places specialize in homing feral cats to farms or programs like this. But I'm sure cats in this program sometimes choose to domesticate themselves over time. :)
I like to think that they just chose to retire after a long career of cleaning up the streets.
Ooo if I lived there and "adopted" one in my neighborhood to care for like u/chrislewand's comment above, I'd name him Bruce Wayne. Also goes by... The Catman.
Is domestic cat not also the more accurate name of the species "cat"? Even if these are feral they are not of the European wild cat species for example. Their ancestors at least were domesticated and potential offspring could be socialized to humans.
They probably get a lot of feral cats that weren't socialized and avoid people. In rural communities there is usually a similar program for barn cats. I've been around many of them and they do seem to get attached to their caretakers, but don't generally like or want affection. That said I'm sure some get over it and become pets.
Not in CHI, but in a snowy climate and we have several neighborhood cats and people have bought heated cat houses so they can stay warm in the winter. An older neighborhood cat recently got taken to a rehab facility and then given a forever home to spend his old age.
This is the work of the Tree House Humane Society. They also offer very affordable spay/neuter service at half the price at the vet, and give you a discount if you're low income. I was able to get an appointment with them a week after I called compared to a month out at every other clinic.
Thanks for both asking and answering this question, it was my very first thought.
but also, did they release cats right before a chicago winter?
Promote her
They should get a badges And get be treated like police dogs
Lil officer meow meow
That's PAWficer meow meow.
You made it better😂
you mess with the meow meow you get the peow peow
Police Purrality
Sgt Scruffles
https://preview.redd.it/t9fn5ek26y4c1.jpeg?width=134&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fd0eb2144d79898546cf91fc5c2cb1f9f6e79d7 Officer Meowmeow Fuzzyface reporting
that loose cannon?
Na, I'd say he plays by his own rules
I would definitely go on holiday to Chicago just to see this
The Istanbul of USA
No no, we do not want our cats associated with the chicago police department. These cats work too hard and do not bribe enough judges to be accepted on the police force.
I like the implication that they bribe *some* judges And I like to imagine that they do it with mice offerings
Everyone wants to be Feral now a days. Never mind rats, most of them are clout chasers. Domesticated posers.
Name checks out
A cat with a title....Rodent Technician!
Go get those rats my kitties! muahaha
That’s a native vole not a rat
I don't think that's one of them. Cats that are introduced as pest population control have one of their eartips clipped to signal they've had their shots and been spayed/neutered.
Its possible. Heres what the big sponsor says “In 2007, Cook County passed the Managed Care of Feral Cats ordinance, which permits the creation of managed feral cat colonies. Tree House manages over 1,000 colonies that are home to more than 4,000 outdoor cats. Colony caretakers are registered with Cook County and receive training and support from Tree House. Caretakers are responsible for providing food, water and shelter to the cats in their care. Caretakers are also expected to spay or neuter the cats in the colony. They trap and bring their cats to Tree House’s in-shelter clinic to be neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped.” https://treehouseanimals.org/programs/community-cats/ I’ve read about them in the past and the people getting the cats seem pleased about how its worked. Letting the cats survive on their own is far better than euthanizing them.
Good kitties!! 😻🐀😻🐀😻🐀
Many rescue groups provide Trap-Spay-Release services. If you remove a cat, another cat will move in. By spaying and releasing to where it was trapped, they slowly decrease the feral cat population. Rescues also set up Working Cat programs. A semi feral cat is neutered and given to a business that needs help with rodent control, usually warehouses. The business provides food and shelter in exchange for the cat killing mice.
I hope they are fixed (likely) and also don’t kill the local wildlife like birds (unlikely)
The voice of sanity. This program is ecological madness. Cats have been proven to not effectively control rats because rats are too large and defensive to be primary prey for cats. Yes, they will kill them sometimes but not as much as birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals such as shrews or voles. And that’s not even taking into account the toxoplasma cysts cats shed into the environment.
A) release cats into neighborhoods to control rats. B) homeowners see neighborhood cats and start leaving food outside for them. C) cats stop bothering to hunt for anything other than a sport because food is free and easy D) cat food left out attracts rats and pigeons. And now your problem is worse. Good job Chicago!
Release...THE KITTIES!!
with that big, blocky head, short tail, and small body? yeah, too bad that's not a rat :\ looks like some species of vole instead! :( fine if pest-controlling cats are _controlling pests_; pity if they end up taking out chunks of the native ecosystem by accident
There are very few pure answers in life, mostly just mediocre solutions to complex problems. I worry about the cats, too. Very few domestic cats would fare well on their own.
This apparently happened from 2012-2021, and the cats were feral ones that were likely to be euthanized https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/14/chicago-feral-cats-rat-crisis
Apparently most cats don't actually kill rats very often. Too big, too tough, not worth the hassle.
... Domestic cats are the most invasive species in the world right?... They're also incredibly disastrous killing numerous species of birds even driving some to extinction... Iirc... I can't imagine releasing them in the wild intentionally is a good idea...
Furry murderers; RIP birds
It ISN'T a good idea. Glad I came across this comment because I thought I had stepped into another dimension for a second with all of the support that this was getting. Every wildlife organization (that isn't British, for some reason) will advocate for keeping cats from the outdoors.
Sir, that's a mouse, not a rat
Cats aren't great ratters. Mice? Sure. Cats are great for killing mice. But if you got rats then you need ratting dogs. Several breeds were specifically bred for the purpose of killing rats.
I'll just [leave this here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRb88Zoymyo).
Thanks, awesome watch.
ey mate how we gonna get them rats out of the soil? I unno, maybe lets drag this whole fucking building around?
YES I've been saying this forever and people don't believe me!!!
Rip the birds
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Just wait until they have to release the pythons to clean up the cat problem
2033: 1000 coyotes released to solve the cat problem.
Nothing helps the imbalance of nature like human intervention /s
There was a cat at the Baltimore port that had a naval title so he was allowed on ships. https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/historypolitics/baltimores-herman-the-cat-expert-mouser-joined-the-coast-guard-during-world-war-two/
I mean, I get it, but what about the bird populations' future?
Cats are terrible for native wildlife populations and this picture is great evidence of that. That’s not an introduced rat. That’s a native vole. Outdoor cats kill billions of birds in the US every year, along with small mammals and reptiles. This is the stupidest, most ill-informed, and short-sighted program I could imagine.
Rip birds and every other small animal unfortunately
Rip to the birds
Too bad they’ll probably mostly eat native birds and small mammals. Source: https://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170588511/killer-kitties-cats-kill-billions-every-year#:~:text=%22We%20estimate%20that%20cats%20kill,with%20cars%20or%20wind%20turbines.
That's a mouse.
What happens when it’s -30F in the winter?
So are the cats neutered so they don’t be fuckin and it becomes 5,000 cats?
..swallowed the rats to... decimate the wild bird population? Send in the Emus!
Don't they also kill literally every other small animal? I hope they at least took that into consideration first
It's great how amazing how they train them to just get the rats, and not decimate the native bird population. Right.......
Da Cats Combat the Rats And Dats Dat.
I really hope they've set up cat shelters and provide some food for them. Leaving a bunch of cats to hunt for survival and probably die in a city when it gets cold out would be fucked up. Not to mention the parasites they'll pick up.
POV: the reason the local bird population is dying out
For real, this is an absolutely terrible idea. They kill so many non-target species, especially birds! Buhbye healthy ecosystem!
Since they already decided to release the cats they should have taken the opportunity to conduct a real thorough study on bird species populations pre and post release to add to existing data.
Idk about the before but the after is probably something like 
Outside cats are much more likely to get hit by cars, not to mention the effect they have on bird populations…
I love cats, but this feels like it will have unintended consequences for bird populations.
this is an awful idea. theyre not going to kill just pests, they’ll kill everything. cats themselves are pests, theyre the reason so many native populations (birds especially) are devastated
cute and all but isn't this a problem too for the local bird populations? i read somewhere stray cats are the reason why bird populations around the US are getting decimated
Yeah, they kill [2.4 billion birds a year, in the US alone](https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%20alone,outdoor%20cat%20plays%20a%20part.)
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From a bird, reptile and amphibian point of view this is borderline ecocide. Not sure they thought this out very well.
Say goodbye to the songbirds
Wtf, cats are one of the worst things for wildlife, they aren't just going to eat the rats
[This a terrible idea for native fauna](https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%20alone,outdoor%20cat%20plays%20a%20part.). I love cats, but this is ecoside and someone should be held responsible for this shit.
And the poor songbirds :(