Do the people of Deming hate cats? (Rio Rancho, Dora: house, subdivision) - New Mexico (NM) - City-Data Forum

ioneoskay · 02-20-2007, 08:38 PM

Do the people of Deming hate cats? I sure hope not

_yb · 02-20-2007, 08:43 PM

The coyotes love them.

shammy · 02-21-2007, 07:38 AM

Hey coyotes have to eat just like us.
We used to have (right in our yard on any given day):
Roadrunners
Quail
Snakes (good snakes)
Horn toads
Jack rabbits
Cottontails
Tarantulas (these are good (but ugly)- don't hurt them if you see one).
Blue tail lizards
other lizards

Now Eldorado has cats, an occassional coyote to prey on the cats (thank God for coyotes) and Californians who bring cats.
What a loss of all the great wildlife.

Towanda · 02-21-2007, 12:24 PM

I am very sad to hear about the wildlife in Eldorado. I was hoping to see a lot of it when I move there.

I wish residents would keep their cats confined.

shammy · 02-22-2007, 09:27 AM

Towanda -
the last time I saw a deer in Eldorado was 12 years ago, and that was lying dead on 285 (18 or so years ago deer were fairly regular). Our last roadrunner was 3 years ago. Before that we had them living on our property. Haven't seen a horney toad in years and one snake last summer. But I see loose cats and dogs every day now.
Suppossedly there was a starving bear seen in Eldorado during the drought 2 years ago but that might be hearsay.
One Californian came to our block (less than 500 feet from our house) with 9 cats. Our next door neighbor has 2 constantly loose cats - one leaves "gifts" in front of our door.
You wonder why we dread "outsiders"?
But it's too late now - all the people who swore they would never change things - have!

LLD · 02-22-2007, 09:34 AM

How interesting..... I live close to Enchanted Hills in far north Rio Rancho. That subdivison has been around for years. My subdivision is relatavely new. We have all kinds of dogs and cats around -- not a ton of stray dogs but cats, unless they are house cats are not usually confined.

And we have tons of wildlife all around. I see Roadrunners all the time. And my neighbors have killed some VERY big snakes. And I see the lizards and I had a field mouse get in my AC system in my car and it cost $250 to get that dead thing out! LOL... It had had babies in there too!

I would have to wonder if there aren't other reasons for the wildlife depletion in El Dorado. Just hard to believe it's all due to domesticated dogs and cats.

shammy · 02-22-2007, 09:47 AM

It is possible the loose dogs do more wide spread damage to wildlife than the cats. We have twice been attacked by packs of loose dogs, and last winter witnessed a dog attack against a 10 year old child on a sled that was terrible. We have (many times) witnessed loose dogs down in the greenbelts chasing after rabbits and coyotes.
But the local damage by cats has been obvious, the roadrunners and quail have left our block. The cats don'r roam so far and chase as long, and especially the cats don't chase down wildlife in packs.

LLD · 02-22-2007, 10:14 AM

That's terrible about those dog attacks. We don't have any loose packs running around. But the other day some big dog got out of someone's yard and attacked and killed a smaller dog.

I get really irritated at irresponsible pet owners. I think people that have big dogs or certain kinds need to have a dog run or something. I don't think they should be allowed to be left alone outside or unattended.

As to cats, I just haven't seen huge damage by them anywhere I've ever lived and they don't attack and kill kids and people either. We had cats while growing up in Texas and it was great -- they kept the snakes away from the house and kept the rodents out of the pump house and the garage. But they didn't have some huge impact on the entire local wildlife.

Towanda · 02-22-2007, 10:47 AM

Well, even here in Kansas, in my suburban subdivision, I have experienced wildlife attacks by loose cats.

I used to feed the birds in my backyard, and enjoyed watching them come to the feeder.

Then some stray cats began coming into my yard to kill the birds I was attracting there! It made me sick.

I have two dogs, that are NEVER NEVER NEVER allowed to run loose, both for their protection and the protection of others. When they are not in our fenced yard, then they are on a leash when we go for walks.

I DO NOT think any cats OR dogs should be allowed to run loose.

catman · 02-22-2007, 10:58 PM

I have two indoor cats. I agree that all pets should be kept indoors (or at least confined), although I'm sure that loose dogs are much more injurious to wildlife (and people) than cats, being much larger and likely to travel in packs. As you can see from my username, I am most definitely not a cat hater!