Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Lee Slikkers on January 07, 2012, 12:27:43 am
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I've been running a small trapline in hopes of adding a few nice sized coon, fox and muskrats to my pile of skins to tan in use for various primitive projects. This big ol' guy must have thought since the bucket set had fresh, moist cat food in it (the coons love the chicken & liver flavor) it was meant for him. I don't like catching domestic critters but I have no qualms about removing a free ranging cat from the food chain. He should make a real nice possibles bag or a shorty quiver for one of my boys.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EY0uGrHSEO0/TwePTI0U2xI/AAAAAAAAD0U/Ah9Q5zgi0GQ/w324-h243-k/CIMG2407.JPG)
Cheers~
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For those that are bothered seeing poor old Moggy in the above pic, maybe you should spay and neuter your cats and keep them indoors.
I've had to "clean up" feral cat populations and it bothers me. But letting them continue breeding out of control and wreaking havoc on game birds, song birds, and other wildlife is even worse.
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Good side bar JW, if this pic or topic bothers anyone or the Mods let me know or just kill the thread...not trying to be brash or crude. Thanks~
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I'm happy that you are planning to use it. Don't forget to clean and save the gut. Good hafting material and I've heard it makes a good string! ;) Josh
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LOL, thanks Josh...any tips on the prep/processing of the "hafting" material?
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The meat taste good, too, so what I've been told. ::)
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The meat taste good, too, so what I've been told. ::)
:o >:D :o
want me to smoke some for ya? LOL
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Kitty... It's what's for DINNER!!! >:D
-gus
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If you dont plan on eating it, at least ya got some good coyote bait.....if thats legal where you live.
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To clean it, squeeze it between thumb and forefinger and pull it through. That will push out most of the solids. It should be mentioned don't do this close to the house where it can accidentally get tracked in on the carpet. I learned the hard way on that one. The next step is to stretch it out straight and flush it with the garden hose for a couple minutes . It will stretch over the end of the hose like filling a water balloon. Then I will string it across the rafters in my shop with a couple pounds of weight tied to both ends. When it's good and dry, coil it up and store it like you would sinew. Works good for stone axes, atlatl points, spear points , and stone knives . When you need to use some, cut off what you need and soak it overnight. (I wouldn't recommend chewing it like sinew ) ;) That's pretty much it. Josh
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I live in the middle of a 50 arcre farm. My nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away any cat seen back here is feral and in need of removing.
Now as far as using the cat guts for strings, etc... I had plans to that with the last feral I shot. Now, not much bothers me as far as cleaning and skinning critters. BUT, even with latex gloves, when I started squezzing the intestines and 100's of tape worms came out, game over! I double bag it and took to the front of the farm where my dogs done go, pour gasoline on the worms and struck a match.
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I live in the middle of a 50 arcre farm. My nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away any cat seen back here is feral and in need of removing.
Now as far as using the cat guts for strings, etc... I had plans to that with the last feral I shot. Now, not much bothers me as far as cleaning and skinning critters. BUT, even with latex gloves, when I started squezzing the intestines and 100's of tape worms came out, game over! I double bag it and took to the front of the farm where my dogs done go, pour gasoline on the worms and struck a match.
Thats pretty bad.
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I do believe that would stop the process for me. Luckily ,I haven't encountered that yet. The regular contents are bad enough! Josh
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I completely agree with killing all feral cats. They destroy the small game bird and songbird population, as well as small reptiles. I would be a little careful however about talking openly about killing them. In some states the humane society has managed to make it a felony to kill them.
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The best course of action is what JW suggested. I have always spayed or neutered any cat I have had.
I like cats and always have but I don't like seeing any domesticated animal, feral or domestic, roaming around and causing a problem. I don't blame the cats though because they are just trying to survive, like anything else would try to do. The real problem is the humans who don't give a ****.
Contrary to what some may think, catgut is not made from cat intestines.
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Thanks for clearing up that misnomer Marc. I haven't tried making a string from it, but had considered it many times. What is a catgut string made of then if I may ask? Just to clear up any misconceptions, the cats I processed were roadkill. I don't like wasting materials that I might have a use for. That includes sinew and Turkey feathers . Both of which are common finds where I live. It is ironic and hypocritical that the HSUS pushes such outrageous penalties, when it has been reported that they destroy 95% of the animals they get custody of! Josh
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Howdy, I've read that that "cat gut" strings are made from the intestines of sheep. I'm not a string player so that may be wrong or outdated. I believe that the material for instrument strings is processed to remove most of the intestine. The inner layer of tissue (mucosa) and outer layers (serosa and muscles) are stripped off leaving only the submucosa, which is relatively cell free and nearly all collagen. The submucosa is also the portion of the gut that is used for sausage casings and 'gut' sutures.
Ron
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The HSUS is the group helping with the spay and neutering for the group that is releasing and feeding the feral cats in the Park here. And the Audubon Society is about to go to war with them.
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Kill 'em all Lee. Except my pet kitty and any other pet kittys, I love cats. I hate seeing gnarly wild cats running around. I "relocated" a few last year from around our house because they wizzed all around and it stinks bad.
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Yes I believe that catgut is made from Sheep intestines.
I don't hate feral Cats or abandoned Cats, I feel sorry for them. Many of these animals were someones pet that they decided to get "rid" of and quite often it is done when the animal is very young. To me that is cruel beyond belief. I would rather put a bullet in an animal than throw it away like useless garbage.
A couple years ago just before Christmas we found a small kitten abandoned near our house, he was living under an abandoned house. This kitten was no more than a few weeks old and there was no way he could have fed himself even if there had been no snow on the ground. All he had to look forward to was a slow, freezing death. I went out 3 or 4 times a day to bring him food in -20 degree weather. In over a month he never put on any weight, most likely using all the energy from the food I gave him just to keep warm. He finally trusted me enough that I was able to grab him and I brought him into my shop where it was heated. Then he started to put on weight
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The real problem is the humans who don't give a ****.
There lies the blame for 99.9% of all problems.
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Problems?
There are no problems... The Sparrow cares not, nor the Bobcat or the Bear.
Only Humans have problems, and I'm loosing my Hair...
-gus
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Post pics of the quiver when done! I want to see that. Dom. cat used to be considered a furbearer back in the day.
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LOL, thanks Josh...any tips on the prep/processing of the "hafting" material?
DO NOT use the siphon water like a garden hose method :P just a suggestion ;)
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I'm not much of a cat person but Ole Bubba done warmed my heart some.
My daughter had a dream about a pure white cat once about 10 years ago. I was in a gas station about a week later and a lady came in crying because "Cat's Are Us" was out of room and she was torn up about having to take the cat to the local pound. I looked at that pure white cat and said to myself I just have to take it home to Katie. Well long story short is Katie went off to collage and is in grad school now about to graduate with her doctorate and I'm still here at home with Zeekie. Life takes a strange twist from time to time.
I sure do dislike folks who won't take care of animals they take home with em when theor all cute and cuddley. I have two dogs here that folks have dropped off in my neighborhood as strays. Just can't bring myself to pulling a gun out and ending something not the animals fault.
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It's good that you want to use the animal and not waste it and it is no fault of yours that it was caught. As Marc and others have stated it is a problem caused by mismanagement of animals( be they domesticated or not). people think they want a cat but cant flip the bill to get them spay or neutered. They are just killing machines whether they are hungry or not.
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An inexperienced hunter can learn a lot by watching a Cat hunting.
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I'm not much of a cat person but Ole Bubba done warmed my heart some.
My daughter had a dream about a pure white cat once about 10 years ago. I was in a gas station about a week later and a lady came in crying because "Cat's Are Us" was out of room and she was torn up about having to take the cat to the local pound. I looked at that pure white cat and said to myself I just have to take it home to Katie. Well long story short is Katie went off to collage and is in grad school now about to graduate with her doctorate and I'm still here at home with Zeekie. Life takes a strange twist from time to time.
I sure do dislike folks who won't take care of animals they take home with em when theor all cute and cuddley. I have two dogs here that folks have dropped off in my neighborhood as strays. Just
can't bring myself to pulling a gun out and ending something not the animals fault.
A strange twist it is Jon.
Use to trap coyotes across the US and cats always made the best attractant/bait. I'm all for protecting native wildlife and such and have removed my share of cats. I now have a 9 year old daughter that is in love with all cats and now have 3 spayed/neutered as pets. I agree it all falls on the lack of responsibility of pet owners not necessarily the pet.
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Problems?
There are no problems... The Sparrow cares not, nor the Bobcat or the Bear.
Only Humans have problems, and I'm loosing my Hair...
-gus
No, only humans create problems, and we have. There is a problem because they do not belong in the ecosystem. They do at least as much damage to the ecosystem as the feral hog. So why is it so easy to hate the hog and love the cat. It was proven years ago that the house cat kills more species than any other predator on the planet, man excepted. Look at Australia for a perfect example. The feral cat came into a system with no predators for many of the small animals. Consequently they have almost eliminated rabbits and many bird species. If it is feral, whether it be hog or dog or cat or something else, remove it.
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Indeed! Feral anything plant or animal that does not belong needs to go. We have lots of plants in Yosemite that were brought in by settlers and visitors from all over the US. PITA trying to get rid of them. PS> Australia did not have rabbits until the british took them there. New Zealand did not have Deer until europeans took them there. Hawaii did not have snakes or some speices of frogs until they stowed away in cargo. Yes we as humans have made a mess of things. Those of us who are willing to begin the process of turning the tide have a long way to go.
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No matter what exotic species do it's small change next to what humans have done.
The one issue I have with saying cats don't belong in the ecosystem of NA is that man has drastically reduced the animals that fill the same niche as a cat does so their impact is likely about normal.
Put back all the Fishers and Martens, let the bobcat and cougar cover the entire continent and see if things don't end up about the same.
Usually an introduced predator in a land devoid of a similar predator will have a huge impact because the prey won't recognize it as a threat or is unable to escape.
There isn't a native bird in NA that doesn't have an inherent fear of anything that looks like a cat.
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we have some feral cats..but they live and stay on our property...I've seen them hunting in the woods and field.
They've done a great job of stopping rabbits from coming onto our land and eating our plants and vegetables.
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I had a two year battle with a feral cat. It was a monster orange tomcat that had a unique skill of dodging 22 bullets. The thing would spray all around the house and fight with our basset hounds to take their food. It cut up their faces on several occasions. One winter morning I finally connected while it was backing down one of the dogs. He was an old warrior. His teeth were all worn down and some were broken. I didn't want the dogs to mess with it so I threw him in the back of the truck so I could put him in the dumpster at work the next day. That night we had a big ice/snow storm. That dumb cat was froze solid in the pile of fire wood in my truck bed. It took almost a week for it to warm up enough to get him out of there.
For anyone wanting to get a cat, try your local animal shelter. They spay/nueter them, and give them vaccinations before they let them go. We just adopted a young cat a couple of months ago and the fee was about half the price of getting all of that done at the vet.
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I sure got no problem with cats or Dogs,I got 2 dogs and of course Bubba the cat. :) :) :) All I say is keep them on you land and off mine,unless they are invited, then we won't have a problem. :) Cat the other white meat. ;) ;D ;D >:D Sonny Inman use to have that bumper sticker on the back of his camper,it got a lot of funny looks. :) :) :)
Pappy
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maybe that's what we need to try frying @ the Classic? :o Not Bubba of course. I've never eaten cat knowingly, but if others are eatin, so am I. ;)
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Nice catch as long as you dont find a picture of a missing cat on the power pole or at the post office! ;D That would make a interesting quiver ;D (conversation piece) lol
Josh
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There isn't a native bird in NA that doesn't have an inherent fear of anything that looks like a cat.
Great horned owls are the largest predator of cats in North America. Yet another reason to keep ol' Moggie in at night!
My GHO lived on a fellow's ranch for 18 months and accounted for a number of cats before he came to us at the Black Hills Raptor Center.
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"There isn't a native bird in NA that doesn't have an inherent fear of anything that looks like a cat."
When I was in Tucson and active in falconry, I had a friend with a Harris' hawk that loved cats. My friend was unhappy about it, especially when several feral cats found a way into his hawk's pen. Cats are greasy and really put the weight on a hawk. My friend would finally get his bird down to a good flying weight and then he'd go out to find another 1/2 eaten cat in the pen. He finally found and patched the hole, but he lost ~ 3 weeks of hunting that season.
Ron
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"There isn't a native bird in NA that doesn't have an inherent fear of anything that looks like a cat."
When I was in Tucson and active in falconry, I had a friend with a Harris' hawk that loved cats. My friend was unhappy about it, especially when several feral cats found a way into his hawk's pen. Cats are greasy and really put the weight on a hawk. My friend would finally get his bird down to a good flying weight and then he'd go out to find another 1/2 eaten cat in the pen. He finally found and patched the hole, but he lost ~ 3 weeks of hunting that season.
Ron
ROFLMAO!!! I gotta tell this story to the others that volunteer at the center!
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Most feral cats are loaded with mites, ticks, and a lot have distemper. Removing them will help the wild critters.
When I was in Vietnam at a place on the mountains called Khe Sanh we caught a small wild cat in a booby trap we had set. We tried to eat it but it was a lot worse than our C-rats. One of the other jarheads skinned it and treated the skin with C-rat salt. He then streched it onto his helmet. He stunk so bad that we kicked him out of our bunker.
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An inexperienced hunter can learn a lot by watching a Cat hunting.
so true Marc - as a suburbanite woodlot roaming kid, I spent hours watching cats stalk feeders and squirrels. My wife had a old, snow white one that still regularly managed to kill many songbirds back when we were dating. Lecturing her on this point wasn't a good idea back then... ;D
I like cats and enjoy the ones my friends / neighbors have, but
I do think Ferals and "outside" cats are a big threat to small animal populations and native furbearers, IMHO.
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I of course meant all the birds that Cats are supposedly making such a huge impact on.