Can a Feral Cat Survive at a Remote Nevada Campground?

[DonTom]

There is nobody else around here for many miles. but a black cat has been hanging around here. It wants to keep my distance from me of around 30 feet or so, but I see it often.

I don't know anything about cats, never had a cat, just many doggies over the years.

The cat looks heathy enough to me, but can it survive out here?

What about when winter comes?

-Don- Boondocked at Kingston Campground, NV (middle of nowhere and the middle of NV),

 

[jymbee]

There is nobody else around here for many miles. but a black cat has been hanging around here. It wants to keep my distance from me of around 30 feet or so, but I see it often.

I don't know anything about cats, never had a cat, just many doggies over the years.

The cat looks heathy enough to me, but can it survive out here?

What about when winter comes?

-Don- Boondocked at Kingston Campground, NV (middle of nowhere and the middle of NV),

Last year we traveled with 3 Blink cameras that I set up around the coach to see what might be lurking about while we slept. Recorded everything from squirrels, to racoons, to skunks, to Javelinas as well as numerous cats.

Although obviously feral most actually looked healthy-- at least with respect to weight. Wife would put out food for them overnight and I expect we weren't the only ones as the cats made the rounds from site to site at night searching for food.

Some would even come in around during the day but never would get close enough to touch, preferring instead to stay back as if to say "Well? Where's the food /water?!"

Bottom line is that more than likely, depending on the environment where you are of course, they do pretty well.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I read somewhere what's the difference between a house cat and a feral cat? About 6 weeks. Fluffy the kitty instinctively knows how to hunt as long as it's not declawed. If there's people around supplying food and water so much the better. My grand daughter is part of a feral cat rescue deal, which amounts to sterilizing them and letting them go. Once they're wild they don't domesticate well. I wouldn't feel sorry for them, they're in an environment they're well suited to survive.

Feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds in the United States every year, making them the single greatest human-caused source of mortality for native birds and songbirds.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[DonTom]

Last year we traveled with 3 Blink cameras that I set up around the coach to see what might be lurking about while we slept. Recorded everything from squirrels, to racoons, to skunks, to Javelinas as well as numerous cats.

Although obviously feral most actually looked healthy-- at least with respect to weight. Wife would put out food for them overnight and I expect we weren't the only ones as the cats made the rounds from site to site at night searching for food.

Some would even come in around during the day but never would get close enough to touch, preferring instead to stay back as if to say "Well? Where's the food /water?!"

Bottom line is that more than likely, depending on the environment where you are of course, they do pretty well.

Water will not be a problem here, water runs all year in the creeks. But I wonder how long it will take the poor kitty kat to be eaten up my a coyote or a Mtn Lion or whatever.

I assume it was either lost from its owner here or people who do come here have been feeding it. It does stay around these campgrounds, I have been seeing it every day here at the site or one of the other empty sites.

-Don- Kingston Camp, NV

 

[TheBar]

We had cats hanging out in our factories. Some were recently abandoned and were friendly right away or tamed down quickly. We allowed those to stay for life because cats are way better than mice, rats, and snakes. Cats are clean animals who bury their #1 and 2 outside the buildings. What farmer doesn't have a dozen barn cats? They are working animals. Campgrounds shouldn't remove feral cats unless they overpopulate.

It was amazing to me how many big strong men are afraid of cats. Cats transmitting disease is rare. Even cats feral from birth don't attack humans.

 

[John From Detroit]

I grew up on a farm we had many "Barn cats" they are outdoors all the time.

With one exception they survived rather well (An amorous tom who tried to get overly friendly with a Queen not interested in him... She lost half her tail. He lost half his face. She survived easily. He did not) I once dug into a mouse nest they scattered at least 10 in all directions. She launched and when she was done lined them up and counted to make sure she got 'em all... she did.

I would no worry about an adult cat that is out an about in a rural area.

Now when I moved to the big city Detroit The area I lived in was not healthy for outdoor cats..
And won't be till they come up with a vaccine.,

 

[Ex-Calif]

I read somewhere what's the difference between a house cat and a feral cat? About 6 weeks. Fluffy the kitty instinctively knows how to hunt as long as it's not declawed. If there's people around supplying food and water so much the better. My grand daughter is part of a feral cat rescue deal, which amounts to sterilizing them and letting them go. Once they're wild they don't domesticate well. I wouldn't feel sorry for them, they're in an environment they're well suited to survive.

Feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds in the United States every year, making them the single greatest human-caused source of mortality for native birds and songbirds.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

My mom lived across from an empty field. She got field mice. I told her to stop feeding the cat. She was mortified but in a week he was killing 2-3 a day. In 2 weeks the cat was going hungry and no more mice.

Cats are badass hunters.

OTOH - rv park cats can get out of control. At a place I long stayed they were being fed by a resident and breeding - maybe 29 in total. Many complained about cats under their units doing their business and the odors were bad.

Became a big fight. I left before resolution. Fortunately I was about 500 feet from their source of food and they didn't invade my area.

 

[Wasillaguy]

Indoor cats average 12-15 year lifespan.
Outdoor/feral 2-5 years.
Besides all the obvious advantages, housecats are routinely given antiparasitics, which likely prevents other health problems later in life.
Data shows people should do the same.

Toxoplasmosis – A Global Threat. Correlation of Latent Toxoplasmosis with Specific Disease Burden in a Set of 88 Countries - PMC

Toxoplasmosis is becoming a global health hazard as it infects 30–50% of the world human population. Clinically, the life-long presence of the parasite in tissues of a majority of infected individuals is usually considered asymptomatic. However, a ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[garyb1st]

But I wonder how long it will take the poor kitty kat to be eaten up my a coyote or a Mtn Lion or whatever.

That will only happen if the cat doesn't see it coming. In a face to face competition with a coyote, my money is on the cat. They're much faster and know where to strike.

 

[bigbAZ]

That will only happen if the cat doesn't see it coming. In a face to face competition with a coyote, my money is on the cat. They're much faster and know where to strike.

We have lots of hungry coyotes right here in the middle of town and it's common to see the remains of cats they got during the night. A client of mine had small dogs and they were outside one day with the dogs, a coyote jumped the patio wall, grabbed a small dog and jumped back out. They never saw the dog again.

 

[DonTom]

That will only happen if the cat doesn't see it coming. In a face to face competition with a coyote, my money is on the cat. They're much faster and know where to strike.

At my Auburn house, my next door neighbor found their cat dead, mostly eaten by whatever. No clues what it was.

I once had a fawn carcass in front of my house there, which was an obvious mountain lion kill, IMO. I did see a cougar near by Auburn house about a week before then.

-Don- Kingston Camp, NV

 

[RayIN]

I read somewhere what's the difference between a house cat and a feral cat? About 6 weeks. Fluffy the kitty instinctively knows how to hunt as long as it's not declawed. If there's people around supplying food and water so much the better. My grand daughter is part of a feral cat rescue deal, which amounts to sterilizing them and letting them go. Once they're wild they don't domesticate well. I wouldn't feel sorry for them, they're in an environment they're well suited to survive.

Feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds in the United States every year, making them the single greatest human-caused source of mortality for native birds and songbirds.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

edited to correct grammar.
Side note; If all the birds on earth suddenly disappeared, within 20 minutes humans could not go outside a building without protection from insects. I read that perhaps 50 years ago in a science magazine.

 

[DonTom]

Side note; If all the birds on earth suddenly disappeared, within 20 minutes humans could not go outside a building without protection. I read that perhaps 50 years ago in a science magazine.

I assume you mean from insects. And not just birds, but bats, it is amazing how many insects are eaten up every second.

• A little brown bat can catch ~1,000 mosquito-sized insects in an hour.
• A nursing mother bat consumes ~4,500 insects per night.
• The ~20 million Mexican free-tailed bats at Bracken Cave, Texas, eat about 400,000 pounds (~220 tons) of insects in a single night.

And there are 300 million bats in the USA. Add the birds to that. And lizards and . . .

-Don- Kingston Camp, NV

 

[bigbAZ]

Speaking of insects, they are declining which is not good for the future of all life on the planet. Unfortunately the insects we don't want, like crop pests, seem to be more resilient.

 

[DonTom]

Speaking of insects, they are declining which is not good for the future of all life on the planet. Unfortunately the insects we don't want, like crop pests, seem to be more resilient.

As I said before, man's natural purpose must be to destroy everything possible--it is what we do best.

-Don- Kingston Camp, NV

 

[RayIN]

Speaking of insects, they are declining which is not good for the future of all life on the planet. Unfortunately the insects we don't want, like crop pests, seem to be more resilient.

Yep, honey bees is just one. The widespread use of pesticides has had a large negative effect on pollinators.

 

[Chef Duane]

The insects are the most numerous and diverse group of species on Earth, both in terms of numbers described and in total estimated diversity.

• Scientists have formally described over 1 million insect species.
• Insects make up roughly 75% of all described animal species.
• Some estimates suggest the actual total could be 10–20 million species, far exceeding the number of vertebrates.
• Insects are the largest group of arthropods, with over 30 orders, including ants, beetles, butterflies, bees, and many more.

Why insects dominate the count

• They occupy nearly every ecological niche on the planet.
• They have a high reproductive rate and short life cycles, allowing rapid population growth.
• Their small size and wide distribution make them easier to find and study, though many remain undescribed.

And of the insects, beetles (order Coleoptera) are the largest group of insects, accounting for 1/4 of all living animals. (That's a lot of freakin' beetles.)

And the beetles shall inherit the Earth. They love you... yeah, yeah, yeah...

SOURCE: entomologist.net.