Random Discussion

[Rocky998]

Where did dinosaurs come from?

I used to keep Australian finches and small parrots. I ended up losing them all to the neighbours and their cats (cat war of 89). Basically the people over the road had 3 cats and used to put them out at night. The cats would cross the road, jump the fence and go into my backyard. We had big properties back then so it wasn't just jump a small fence and walk a few feet. The cats then proceeded to attack the birds at night when the birds were asleep. The birds used to panic and fly into the wire. I was woken up most nights and had to set up lights and try to get the birds settled back down. In the morning I would find bodies on the floor of the aviaries.

I set cage traps next to the aviaries and caught the neighbour's cats. The first few times I returned the cat in the cage and took any dead birds with me. I asked the neighbours if that was their cat and they said yes. I let their cat out of the cage and asked them to pay for the dead birds. They told me to go fuplie myself. This happened 3 times before I stopped going back and I started killing their cats.

Over the next 6 months they got another 30+ cats and used to let them wander wherever they wanted. I called the council and reported them because you aren't allowed to have that many cats in a suburban neighbourhood. The council went around to investigate and said the owners only had 3 cats. I said that is a lie and you know it. I was watching the council worker talk to the neighbours and we all saw dozens of cats run out of the house when the people opened the door to talk to the council. There were also half a dozen cats rubbing themselves all over the council worker's legs while he was there talking to the people.

The council did nothing. I continued to catch and kill any cat that came into my backyard. One day I came home from work and one of the aviary doors was open. I wasn't sure how that happened so I put a brick in front of each door to stop them accidentally coming open. They shouldn't have come open but the brick was a back up.

A few months later and all the aviary doors were open and the bricks were holding them open. I reported it to the police who did nothing.

I put chains and padlocks around each door and door frame so they couldn't be opened without a key to the padlocks. I came home from work and someone had cut the chains and opened the doors up again. I reported it to police who did nothing.

I replaced the chains with thicker ones and bigger padlocks and stuck a padlock on the gate into the backyard. A few months later I came home and someone had cut the wire on every panel of every aviary and pulled the wire apart so an adult human could walk through the holes. There were human shoe prints all over the floor of the aviaries and they weren't mine. All my birds except for 2 finches and a female quail were missing. Some were in the trees in the backyard but most were gone. The 2 finches and quail were sitting on eggs.

I reported it to police who came out and said there was no evidence people did this and it was probably a cat. I said the wire has been cut from top to bottom (the aviaries were over over 6 feet high) and cats don't use wire cutters and don't cut every single section of wire. They didn't care and didn't do anything. So I went nuts and killed every cat in the area and left the bodies on the neighbour's front lawn. They moved shortly after that. I lost over $10,000 worth of Australian finches that day and haven't kept birds since, with the exception of a canary I caught in the backyard about 10 years ago. And I have hated cats ever since.

Was killing cats the right thing to do? No. Can you judge all cats based offf that experience and hate them all? No. But you could still hate the neighbors. I wouldve shot the cats with paintball guns and maybe BB guns... The cats wouldve learned. I also wouldve set up sprinklers and cameras to catch them doing it.

I hate to say this but I think you exagerated the story with the police. They wouldve had to do something. I mean seriously.

 

[Crispii]

I don't have finches but I have a parakeet I wanted finches, by my sisters said "No we want a parakeet", then got bored of poor Wink and now he is mine!

Edited to add photosView attachment 151556

What kind of finches are you interested in and what's your fave?

 

[Oblio]

I used to keep Australian finches and small parrots. I ended up losing them all to the neighbours and their cats ...

I love cats, and birds, and fish, and spiders.
Hate roaches.

Cats are natural predators, they do what they do. Your neighbors sucked.

 

[OliveFish05]

What kind of finches are you interested in and what's your fave?

I really like society finches. I don’t know a ton about them, but I know they are rather social. I would love to have a small group of them. Their brown and white coloration is so lovely, I feel like names along the lines of Hazel, Heather, Bramble, or Twig would be very fitting.

I think that Star Finches look like rummynose tetras!

 

[Colin_T]

Was killing cats the right thing to do? No. Can you judge all cats based offf that experience and hate them all? No. But you could still hate the neighbors. I wouldve shot the cats with paintball guns and maybe BB guns... The cats wouldve learned. I also wouldve set up sprinklers and cameras to catch them doing it.

I hate to say this but I think you exagerated the story with the police. They wouldve had to do something. I mean seriously.

I used a sling shot with cape lilac berries initially but it didn't stop the cats. I asked the neighbours to do something about it, they told me to get fuplied. I returned their cats the first 3 times after I caught them and they refused to pay for any of the dead birds.

Cameras weren't common place back then and cost thousands of dollars. And I shouldn't need cameras in my backyard at all, let alone when I have a padlock on the gate. This was Australia in the late 80s, not an American city.

I even contacted the RSPCA and the council. Nobody cared.
The cops didn't give a crap. They really didn't care. The only option I had left was to get rid of the cats.

And it still happens today when there are state government laws saying all cats must be sterilised, microchipped and kept on their properties at all times. People still put their cats out at night to fight, pee and crap on other people's properties, and to kill the native wildlife.

Cats aren't native to Australia and do not belong here. If people keep them as pets and keep them indoors and on their properties, it's not an issue. But when people put them out at night to "do their thing", that is not acceptable.

There is an estimated 80 million feral cats in Australia and they kill on average 2-3 small birds or animals each day. This does not include the domestic cats, of which there is an estimated 20 million. There are only 25 million people in the country.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I used a sling shot with cape lilac berries initially but it didn't stop the cats. I asked the neighbours to do something about it, they told me to get fuplied. I returned their cats the first 3 times after I caught them and they refused to pay for any of the dead birds.

Cameras weren't common place back then and cost thousands of dollars. And I shouldn't need cameras in my backyard at all, let alone when I have a padlock on the gate. This was Australia in the late 80s, not an American city.

I even contacted the RSPCA and the council. Nobody cared.
The cops didn't give a crap. They really didn't care. The only option I had left was to get rid of the cats.

And it still happens today when there are state government laws saying all cats must be sterilised, microchipped and kept on their properties at all times. People still put their cats out at night to fight, pee and crap on other people's properties, and to kill the native wildlife.

Cats aren't native to Australia and do not belong here. If people keep them as pets and keep them indoors and on their properties, it's not an issue. But when people put them out at night to "do their thing", that is not acceptable.

There is an estimated 80 million feral cats in Australia and they kill on average 2-3 small birds or animals each day. This does not include the domestic cats, of which there is an estimated 20 million. There are only 25 million people in the country.

And this is how Colin took to eating cats for dinner, he had to take things into his own hands

 

[Crispii]

I really like society finches. I don’t know a ton about them, but I know they are rather social. I would love to have a small group of them. Their brown and white coloration is so lovely, I feel like names along the lines of Hazel, Heather, Bramble, or Twig would be very fitting.

I think that Star Finches look like rummynose tetras!

Oh nice. Societies are gorgeous. Interesting fact is that they never existed in the wild and that they're a manmade bird. Very peaceful bird in the fact they get along with many birds and they even take care of eggs that are not theirs! Only bad thing about this bird imo is that they're sexually monomorphic.

 

[Colin_T]

And this is how Colin took to eating cats for dinner, he had to take things into his own hands

I started eating cats during the pandemic because there was no food in the shops and I was starving to death. There were cats all over the neighbourhood causing problems and the council wouldn't do anything about them. I was hungry and there was no food in the shops. There was food coming onto my property every night waking me up. Do the maths.

 

[OliveFish05]

and they even take care of eggs that are not theirs!

I have a funny story! We bought a muscovy duckling from a farmer once. He said one of his muscovy hens went around the yard and collected random eggs from his other birds, made a nest, and hatched a muscovy duck, 2 peafowl, and 2 guinea fowl! He said the muscovy hen lost interest after they hatched and that he didn't have the means to raise the duckling indoors, so we bought it from him for $5, raised it inside with a group of ducklings we bought from someone else, and the little duckling grew up to be a big, strong drake. He was so cute, when he was hungry he would come and try to steal my flip flops to get my attention!

 

[Crispii]

I have a funny story! We bought a muscovy duckling from a farmer once. He said one of his muscovy hens went around the yard and collected random eggs from his other birds, made a nest, and hatched a muscovy duck, 2 peafowl, and 2 guinea fowl! He said the muscovy hen lost interest after they hatched and that he didn't have the means to raise the duckling indoors, so we bought it from him for $5, raised it inside with a group of ducklings we bought from someone else, and the little duckling grew up to the big, strong drake. He was so cute, when he was hungry he would come and try to steal my flip flops!

Oooooh. Interestingly, societies will raise chicks that it's not their own. I've seen and heard other people's societies raising zebra chicks.

 

[OliveFish05]

Oooooh. Interestingly, societies will raise chicks that it's not their own. I've seen and heard other people's societies raising zebra chicks.

That's adorable

 

[Oblio]

We need the two red button meme with @Colin_T choosing between killing the cat. or the pond snail

 

[Colin_T]

Oooooh. Interestingly, societies will raise chicks that it's not their own. I've seen and heard other people's societies raising zebra chicks.

zebra finches do too, and you can sex zebra finches.

Most Australian finches live in colonies so if you want a group of colourful finches, how about Gouldian finches. They have beautiful colours, are very peaceful, reasonably easy to keep, have a lovely little whistle although it is very quiet, and make wonderful birds for a planted aviary.

 

[Colin_T]

We need the two red button meme with @Colin_T choosing between killing the cat. or the pond snail

cat, snail?
cat or snail?
do i kill the cat or the snail?
cat, snail?
cat yes, snail yes
ahhhh, boom

 

[OliveFish05]

zebra finches do too, and you can sex zebra finches.

Most Australian finches live in colonies so if you want a group of colourful finches, how about Gouldian finches. They have beautiful colours, are very peaceful, reasonably easy to keep, have a lovely little whistle although it is very quiet, and make wonderful birds for a planted aviary.

A planted aviary sounds incredible, and Gouldian finches are absolutely stunning! Out of curiosity (and absolutely random), is welded wire safe to build a bird enclosure with? I have heard no, because it has zinc coating?