Good Samaritan

Indeed, and I'm sure that The Strait that connects it to the High Street owes its name more to 'straight up' than anything else!

I'm sure I've been lucky. Over the past year or so I've had lots of experience of my local hospital. And must admit to being surprised about how well I've been treated by pleasant staff. After reading and hearing so many horror stories. And being of an age where most of my pals are now needing medical attention, it seems to be they are having decent care too.

Of course I do realise things may not be the same everywhere in the country, and in every branch of the NHS.

To me, the admin side of the NHS needs improving. Which would also increase efficiency. But that goes against the popular view of cutting back on that and spending on the front line.

We first bought and started carrying a mobile phone when we started motorcycling, specifically as a safety line.

My Mum (89) has only started keeping her (i)Phone charged and with her because she mainly uses it for IM and other social messaging / media.

We have put all the main numbers she needs in the address book in that and her house phones but she seems to just remember them or copy type them out of her diary (allowing for more typos etc).

Given that she's getting noticeably more hard-of-hearing, using IM over voice is more understandable and whilst she can can't always hear what we are saying, I'm pleased to say she has been able to use her mobile in semi emergencies (or got someone else to call us on it for her).

Just because you have a mobile phone, doesn't mean you need to use it or be on it all the time.

I'd suggest a very basic phone with a long standby time (several days) and an O2 321 PAYG SIM and you should be covered.

The Mrs has a Doro clamshell that whilst not the cheapest, does tick most the boxes above. We stuck £10 on it when I first ported her over from an old T-Mobile tariff (45p/min or some such, now 3p) and she's got most of it left. ;-)

The only rider with the 321 is that you do have to make a chargeable call (voice, text or data) once every 6 months or so but she uses it regularly enough not to need to do that especially.

No one is suggesting that you can't live without a mobile phone, just there is the chance you might live longer with one, if the emergency services can find and get to you quicker etc. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

If cats could kill us they would.

Bill

I believe Terry has a plan for me to get him there in the van and park illegally with a "Electrician on call" card on the dashboard.

I have never actually seen it open.

Indeed. Cats are the ultimate racists. Things are either potential prey, potential predators, or deeply uninteresting.

Humans are in the latter category mostly

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, T i m snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk> writes

Oh, I have one, but it is not charged very often, and carried even less frequently. Picking it up is just not a habit, although I know it should be.

Current one is wife's reject Motorola which, for reasons unknown, has decided it doesn't have a SIM card, when it does.

In message snipped-for-privacy@binnsroad.myzen.co.uk>, Graeme snipped-for-privacy@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes

Try gently cleaning the Sim contacts. I usually give mine a scrub on my trousers:-)

Well quite, and like big dogs (as opposed to little dogs that are cat sized) big cats *do* kill us, including their 'keepers' in some cases.

The point was, more native wildlife *is* killed by (non native) cats than any other 'pet' and possibly any other wild animal and therefore

And they aren't just bringing in weak / injured animals, as I have seen when I have set such free.

I get that it's 'nature' but cats wouldn't be around in the quantities that they are today, if it wasn't for people and so (again) it's 'people' that are part of the problem (of negative impact to the wildlife, along with the more obvious like loss of habitat and use of pesticides etc).

So, when people take on (or worse, go and get) an 'outdoor cat', they are either ignorant to impact such is likely to cause to the native wildlife, the impact cased to others buy their fouling, stealing fish from ponds and other damage (scratching cars as the jump over them) or simply don't care. Neither should be considered acceptable to a 'good citizen?

When taking on dogs we considered everything. From picking up their poo, to the training (and it's cost / effort), getting them chipped, the cost of getting their meds, grooming, food and treats and ensuring they had sufficient exercise and other enrichment, including managing how long they might be left alone.

We also consider how much they might bark and how that might affect neighbours ... and do something about it, if it were a problem (it isn't).

Part of a dogs 'high' is chasing things, be it a ball, squirrel or bird but unlike a cat, in most cases with ordinary 'pet' dogs, it is just that, a 'chase'. Dogs don't generally hide in a bush and then pounce on a bird on a bird table for example.

So, way before the dog has got close to such it's flown away or run up a tree, just as it would with most of our native predators like Foxes. It's the *chase* that gives dogs their buzz, even with ratters. Animal stops, they lose interest and walk away (and this is all a massive generalisation etc. It's obvious that sight hounds like greyhounds are bred to chase and kill but wouldn't be typically be let off the lead if in an environment where they might chase / kill something they shouldn't).

For the record, I have nothing against cats as a species, I have issues with the impact of any non-native animal that is introduced into an environment when uncontrolled or where it becomes a nuisance [1], be it signal crayfish, grey squirrels or cats.

Cheers, T i m

A RSPB study showed that cats were not normally capable of catching strong, healthy birds. The ones they catch are generally the weak and sick, who were unlikely to breed. Whether that also translates to small mammals i don't know, but I do know that, even having cats in the house, I had to use traps to get rid of the mice.

And legislation now criminalises owners who take the line HM Treasury took[1] in the 19th century when the Admiralty sought funds in its Estimates for food for the Admiralty cat:

"If the Admiralty cat is doing the Admiralty cat's job of catching Admiralty mice it needs no food at public expense.

If the Admiralty cat is not doing the Admiralty cat's job of catching Admiralty mice it deserves no food at public expense."

Mind you, that was before the state entered into the pension business so Larry (Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office) may not need to worry.

It wasn't more than 5 minutes from there once when I was sitting in a restaurant and a guy came in, sat at the bar, then left again.

Then I realised the charity box had gone... I chased him out, shouting "stop thief". (This was of course a mistake - I should have run up quietly and grabbed him).

I recall running after this guy, with about a hundred people all standing there watching. Finally one joined the chase.

We didn't get him, but we got the box back!

Andy

So what of all the studies that so show a strong link between domestic cats and small animal predation in general? Was it just about sick and injured animals?

'Generally', therefore many that they do catch would have gone on to breed more offspring, don't?

Not that I've heard specifically.

By definition small reptiles are slower than birds, as are many small mammals and so by definition would be easier to catch than birds in any case (and share the same disadvantage as cats and that they can't fly away from trouble). ;-(

Sure, there are bound to be example of lazy cats, or 'indoor cats' but if only 50% of the 10M domestic cats in the UK kill one small mammal, lizard or bird a week ...

Ok, let's face it, more small wild animals are likely to die because domestic (specifically) cats and for the most part, no practical reason as the cats would be fed by us (directly or by scavenging) and often don't eat what they kill (or just mame) in any case.

Can you name a single other 'pet' that does such damage to the wildlife for no reason?

Can you see the acceptance of 'outdoor' cats going on indefinitely?

Cheers, T i m

Going off on a complete OT tangent I have wondered while visiting there which we do fairly often as SWMBO has a relative there and going down the hill then back along the next road to the left called Shooters Lane how a Southampton Corporation Electricity cabinet got to Shaftesbury. I can only think the old Southern Electricity Board must have been pretty thrifty and repurposed it.

It isn?t that clear on google maps but the old arms of Southampton Borough are there on the front of it.

GH

As I say below, I don't know how that translates into small mammal predation.

From the RSPB study:

'It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.

Those bird species which have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.'

How many reptiles are likely to come into regular contact with domestic cats? I reckon the buzzards and kites I see around are much more of a threat to them.

Mine weren't lazy. One was a particularly keen hunter, even if his success rate was fairly low. He certainly wouldn't have survived by his hunting skills in the wild. Inside the house, I knew where to put the mouse traps from watching where my cats were listening to the sound of their movements. They just didn't come out of hiding when my cats were near.

With four cats in the house, the rate was more like one every month or two and that was mostly down to the one cat.

Dogs can attack and kill many small animals, including other dogs. It is also why a dog with any sort of history of chasing prey should not be left alone with a small child. Cats are not likely to kill a child.

I am unhappy they even have 'an impact', let along a 'major one', giving how we are already seeing a decline in numbers in general'

So is the 'if' there allowing the possibility that predation from cats could still be an issue?

So, 'cats aren't responsible for the decline in numbers across all breeds of bird' (duh).

In the UK, I suggest few, but domestic cats are found in countries where small lizards are more common and cats are predating on them.

Quite, like they don't have enough problems with *natural* predation, they don't need this extra man-made issue, especially as they are already having to deal with our pollution.

;-)

Funnily enough I saw the exact same process in our terrier the other day (he heard something in the grass when out walking, pinned it's location down by moving his head around and then pounced (a bit like a cat) on that location). Didn't get anything of course ... ;-)

In your sample of 4 in 10M. Q. Why would various agencies publish warning and reports suggesting domestic cats are a risk to a small range of wild creatures if they weren't? It's not like most cat owners are going to do anything about it, even if they accepted the facts?

They can indeed ... especially those trained to do so *but* dog aren't generally allowed lose in the environment to do so and their owners would be held responsible if they did so.

Every dog has a 'history' of chasing prey (DNA wise) and many need to do so to get stimulation (for some dogs, chasing a ball or other inanimate object is their whole reason for living).

Ignoring the fact a child isn't a small wild animal (although some might question that distinction <g>) an insignificant number of dogs kill children compared with cats killing small animals.

Not directly no, but you are whisky-dave and I claim my £5. ;-)

This isn't a dogs V cats, this is cat's V small wildlife, and their negative social impact.

If we get onto the comparison of dog V cat as the definition of the qualities of good 'companion animals', I question the ability of any pet to be 'a companion' if it's not in the house with you.

And if you aren't in the house, what good is a companion animal that you have to leave there? Our daughter just took a walk up Snowdon and took her dog with her for example.

'Mans best friend' isn't a cat, as the saying tells us, they are for 'crazy old cat women'. <weg>

Cheers, T i m

At least you got that right.

you'll be blaming cats for leaving the EU next.

But they have got it wrong it has be proved they've been getting it wrong.

And 67 million humans who also never kill anything.

Despite the large numbers of birds killed by cats in gardens, there is no clear scientific evidence that such mortality is causing bird populations to decline. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.

Those bird species which have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.

Get yuorse;f education f****it.

Not before breakfast or dinner or supper or evening meal or late night snack.