Wisconsin Cat Hunt
A friend of mine in Minnesota asked me recently about the feral
cat hunting proposal in Wisconsin and whether feral cats were
such a problem here that we needed a special law about it. Feral
cats are not 'wild cats', per se, but rather house cats gone
wild, that is feline domesticus (I'm pretty sure that's the
correct latin designation) or as they're more colloquially known
'barn cats'. Or maybe just homeless cats would be a more fitting
designation for these animals.Are they a problem in Wisconsin?
Well, I'd never heard they were before this and frankly most
farmers who have problematic barn cats just take care of them
without bothering to worry about a hunting license.Cats are - of
course - the only domesticated animals that did not start out
originally as either a pack or herd animal. They were
domesticated by the Egyptians aeons ago for the purpose of
taking care of vermin in grain silos. Possibly the
pro-cat-hunting lobby here was concerned that these wild house
cats were themselves vermin, representing a disease vector,
since they tend to still hang around with humans and aren't so
clean.
Or there could have been a concern that these feral house cats
were now part of the Wisconsin eco-system and represent a new
species with nonatural predator and thus could overwhelm its
fragile balance. Although, I can think of plenty of animals out
here in the woods that would find them a wholesome snack -
wolves, hawks, eagles, maybe bears. (oh my)
What I really think is that these hunters figured that these
cats are animals, they're out in the woods, so why not hunt
them? You need a little target practice between all the other
hunting seasons, don't you? And, I don't know this first hand,
but I hear that cats are real yummy if you cook them right.
I've never been a hunter myself and will never get exactly
what's 'fun' about hunting. There's something atavistic and
chemical that must happen in most male brains that seems to be
entirely absent in mine. I can understand it from the aspect
that it's sort of a coming-of-age male bonding type thing and
you're going out and enjoying nature and most often drinking-
which I've also heard can be fun. But other than that, it holds
no interest for me.
Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against hunters. I
know far too many people that I respect that also hunt. So, even
if I don't understand why it's enjoyable for them and doesn't
seem like it would be a good time for me, I can still accept
this difference of opinion. And I do appreciate the aspect of
them getting potential road hazards out of the way (deer, wild
turkeys, ducks, etc). Thank you for that, Hunters.
My only real problem is that since I live so far out in the
woods, there are certain times of the year that I can't safely
go out of my house wearing my favorite antler hat and brown
furry suit. Also, there's this rumor that certain twisted
multimillionaires in Minnesota have been buying up land in
remote areas of the state and then kidnaping famous sports
figures and hunting them down as human game. I'd definitely draw
the line there.
That's only a rumor, though; If I hear anymore about that, I'll
let you know. By the way, the Governor of Wisconsin said that he
would veto any bill like this that came his way. I'm not even
sure that this was a bill thatwas actually introduced as
legislation or just a proposal that was floated around
somewhere. It got a lot of national attention and tended to
makethe whole state of Wisconsin look real silly, when it was
only a few people who thought it was a great idea and I'm not
sure why they did.
Maybe if I heard their reasoning they could convince me.
Steve Sommers is the author of Breakfast with the Antichrist.
Visit his Website at http://www.breakfastwiththeantichrist.com
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