That cat on Four Mile Run trail

[baiskeli]

@bobco85 98681 wrote:

I sometimes see an orange tabby (probably the same one) at the intersection of the Bluemont Junction Trail/W&OD. He’s nice and friendly, and I pet him whenever I see him (I can’t help but pet a kitty when I see one).

Different cat. This one’s name is Blue. He lives at the other end of 6th Street, though he spends most of his time near the trail.

[dasgeh]

@wheels&wings 98679 wrote:

In the U.S., free-roaming domestic cats each year kill an estimated 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 to 20.7 billion mammals. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists domestic cats as one of the world’s worst non-native invasive species because they’ve contributed to so many extinctions. Life outdoors is dangerous for the kitties themselves… outdoor cats generally live 2 to 5 years, while indoor cats can surpass 15. Also cats spread illnesses like toxoplasmosis (via feces — linked to birth defects, Alzheimer’s, etc.), rabies, and parasites. It’s better to keep cats indoors.
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html

I would LOVE to have a cat. I am totally a cat person. My daughter recently asked for a cat and I almost melted. But I can’t stand to leave a cat indoors. I keep researching how bad outdoor cats are, looking for a loophole, but I haven’t found one. So no cat for us.

[baiskeli]

[cyclingfool]

Toonces lost his bike.

[baiskeli]

That darn cat!

[Brendan von Buckingham]

My Arlington Forest list serve (we’re along Four Mile Run between Bluemont and Columbia Pike) was all abuzz last week about a bald eagle that was having a kitty feast in someone’s back yard. The cat does not always win.

[Raymo853]

This thread reaffirmed my need to stop looking at bike forums on-line. Exception will be made for Freezing Saddles.

[supernova]

Met Hobo today. Little did I know that I was meeting a famous feline.

Hobo the trail kitty by Erinn Shirley, on Flickr

[Terpfan]

Well, after I saw a nearly 2′ rat on T and 9th NW the other evening, I think there is a place for some feral cats to destroy some mammals.

[mstone]

@Terpfan 103583 wrote:

Well, after I saw a nearly 2′ rat on T and 9th NW the other evening, I think there is a place for some feral cats to destroy some mammals.

A feral cat is generally not desperate enough to go after something that dangerous, and would rather eat a nice native bird or endangered shrew. Or a nice defenseless bat, they’re a yummy and easy to kill treat.

[PotomacCyclist]

I haven’t seen any rats recently, but I did have to kick a rat once because he was charging at me. This was on M Street some years ago. I was tired of waiting for a taxi, so I kicked the metal handrail along the stairs. Apparently, this transmitted vibrations into the ground and woke up the rats nearby. A huge one came rushing at me. I stomped my feet to try to scare him away but he kept rumbling at me. I jumped and inadvertently kicked him. (Since rats are known to carry diseases, I would have kicked it voluntarily, to keep it from biting or scratching me.) I was nowhere near a garbage dump and that block has well-kept buildings.

I didn’t bike back then. If I did, I wouldn’t have kicked the handrail and I wouldn’t have been accosted by the rat. But then I would also be ignorant about how close they are to us.

Bottom line: There are a lot of rats out there.

[Author]

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